Stick to Your Guns Without Shooting Your Foot Off!

by | Sep 5, 2013

The power of social media is an amazing thing, unless you find yourself on the wrong side of it! The wrong side being, of course, negative responses to your business, person, or products. If you’ve stepped in it, the right way to do damage control on your reputation management will be to take responsibility for your misdeeds and move ahead. Don’t slip into flame throwing matches online, as you’ll inevitably be the party that gets scorched!

What if you ARE right?

There are times when through no fault of yours, the defecation hits the fan. There are many ways this could occur, such as a boisterous unhappy customer, wrong or inaccurate press, or even contributions from devious competitors. So while it’s terribly unfair, the fact remains that everyone is talking trash about you and your company. How will you manage that? Since we know that we don’t want to slug it out in public, how can you keep from appearing the complete wimp to everyone?

Be sure and stick to your core message!

The primary method for you to stick up for yourself is by remaining close to your core message and beliefs. Often these unintended social mishaps can come from new products, changes to your services or products, as well as other changes you’ve instituted. (People hate change!) You’ve likely spent a lot of time rolling out these changes, and they were considered carefully. If that’s truly the case, show some spine and stand up for them. Answer your critics with positive, patient and diplomatic words that will assure them that while you do care about them, these changes were made for a reason, and you support them.

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How to do this right – Sticking to your message with Shake Shack

One fine example of a company weathering an onslaught of negative social comment is reported by SocialMediaToday.com. Shake Shack, a New York City restaurant found itself in the deep fryer when it changed the shape of its french fries. Soon the Twittersphere was chirping negative, and the fight was on. ShakeShack, to their credit however, answered by staying on message, and defending the change, while taking the time to answer each objection with care. When you’re right, sometimes it is possible to stick up for yourself. Just make sure you’re right!

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Clarence Fisher