Feature Article: Getting Savvy With Social Media

Irish playwright Oscar Wilde famously said, "The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about."Generations of marketers took this as an unspoken truth. Careers were built on the belief that there's no such thing as "bad publicity." But in the world of Twitter, FaceBook and YouTube, does this famous aphorism still hold true?It depends.The rise of social media has demolished the old one-way paradigm, giving people the means to publish their opinions in ways we never could before. At the same time these tools give marketers a whole new way to interact with customers, one that should not be ignored.Take the example of Ford Motor Company's social media strategist Scott Monty. When Ford threatened to sue blogger Jim Oakes for copyright infringement, he posted his outrage and the protest spread.
Monty quickly got in touch with Oakes and worked out a mutually satisfactory agreement. As he did, he sent tweets to his list of 5,600 contacts like "I'm on it.... Trying to stop a PR nightmare."
Following the agreement, Monty tweeted it and Oakes blogged about it. Monty's timely, honest and personal updates diffused the situation and prevented what could have been a disaster.So was Oscar Wilde right? It turns out there is something worse than not being talked about. It's being blogged about in a negative way. With millions of bloggers actively talking about the brands they love and hate, diving into this unprecedented ocean of feedback is a marketer's must. Consumers expect it.However, many companies are reluctant to develop a social media marketing strategy. According to MarketingSherpa, 46% of respondents said that "lack of knowledgable staff" was the most significant obstacle to engaging in social media, whether an organization has used these tools or not.This lack of experience can cause missteps and discourage marketers from leveraging these new channels. The good news is that with preparation and investigation the on-ramp is not as steep as it may appear at first.Even if you're not ready to host a blog, it's time to dip your toe in the water of social media.Once you have engaged, you'll become more confident and credible. A stagnant Facebook group doesn't mean that ‘social media just isn't for us' - it simply suggests that there's more to learn. Moving from the traditional one-way monologue to an engaged dialog is simply the way to go and will have both measurable and intangible benefits for your organization.

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