Negative social media comments happen to almost every company. The difference between the companies that last past those comments and those that don’t are how the comments are handled from the start.
Scenario I
Customers publically posting to social network: “I had the worst experience at your store today! The salespeople were rude, and your products were really expensive!”
Internal Social Media Team Response: “Quick! Delete that post! We don’t want other people to see it!”
The post is deleted, and all seems to be forgotten – until a review pops up via Google that explains what happened, and points to the deleted post. Or, word simply gets around that the company can’t handle any complaints. Either way, it’s not a good outcome.
Scenario II
Customer publically posting to social network: “I had the worst experience at your store today! The salespeople were rude, and your products were really expensive!”
Public social media team response: “We are so sorry that you had a bad experience! Call us at this number (number listed here), and we will take care of the problem right away!”
The customer calls the number, the complaint is handled to the happy satisfaction of the client, and the client returns to the original social media post (feeling badly about leaving the post as-is, since it’s no longer the case), and writes, “the problem was resolved quickly and professionally – thumbs up!”
Social Media Honesty Is Vital
All eyes are on you when it comes to social media. Whether you have ten followers or thousands, details about how your clients are treated (or mistreated) can spread very quickly. Prep your social media team to handle these kinds of negative comments with tact and respect. In the eyes of social media, your client is always right because you simply don’t want to start a fight with a client when a lot of other people are watching you – and this is something that most savvy shoppers now know.
When someone wants to get service quickly, today’s shoppers (or your clients) don’t bother with customer service numbers – they go straight to social media. Why? Because an immediate response is what they will get. Make sure those responses are positive, honest, and entirely accommodating. Since social media is a huge part of your upcoming trade show experience (or it should be!), make sure that your social media team is prepped well in advance of posting anything about the show on any social media site.
Connecting Your Booth With Social Media
Social media really doesn’t stop when you are offline. Think of social media as a large part of a larger marketing plan, and that plans continues to and past the show that you are going to attend. Let people know that you are on various social networks, create hashtag games, and make sure that your presence on any network is a positive one. You can’t look at marketing in small pieces – you really have to look at marketing as the lifeblood of your company.
We can help you combine any social media and larger marketing strategy that you have with the trade show booth that we will develop for you. We understand and know how important marketing is, and that means that we will work tirelessly with you to get your angle and brand across to anyone that attends your show. Call us to speak with a member of our design team, or ask us about a trade show booth and booth display. There’s far more to a trade show than simply showing up with a salesteam and a trade show booth – make sure that your exhibits stand out!