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Social Media Adoption – Reasons Some Fear It.

18 February 2009 | social-media | 1 Comment

scared-eggs

We’ve essentially heard it all when it comes to fears of adopting social media as a part of a company’s business strategy.  So you should know that it doesn’t trouble me- seriously, it doesn’t.  The cost of succumbing to fear in anything is far higher than ignoring the obvious reality that social media is here to stay, and in fact is fast becoming a normality in the lives of consumers- they don’t know it as social media, they simply know it as their community of choice.

As consumers, we love to give our opinions and recommendations of products, services, as well as people we like, and even worse, we love to tell the world of products, people, and services we hate (our little way of getting back at The Man, I suppose).  How do you combat such a phenomenon? It’s really simple- you join the conversation.

The number one question we’re asked when presenting social media is how to handle attacks on products or services, and the answer is very simple- not being present allows misunderstandings and misconceptions to become reality, and this is what’s happening now without your presence in the conversation, so be present!

As I said, the cost of not acting is far higher than actually actively engaging.   You’ll note that I didn’t say “reacting,” I said engaging (there’s a time to react, but you’re essentially reacting to a nameless face with nothing to lose).  And who you’re engaging has nothing to do with actually engaging the reputation assassin, it’s about being known and allowing others to know better, it’s about interacting on a much higher level- on the relationship level with the crowd.  Sharing information, absorbing information through constructive listening, affirming and endorsing others within the space that share feedback with you, among other things solidify you as a member of the new media culture.

Why is this so much more important than the strategy of selling?  Because, it’s what’s empowers the 5 minute rule in social media.  What’s this 5 minute rule I speak of?  Essentially, it’s when you feel you absolutely must dive into a word slinging contest to combat utter nonsense in a comment or review of you, your product, or service, that rather than hit that permanent ‘submit comment’ button, instead, you hit “delete” to your reaction, and wait.  Wait… wait for it… here it comes… someone else steps in and either comments something in defense of you, or skips right over the negative words to post a comment absolutely contrary to the negative comment.  It’s well known in the new media space that by just waiting 5 minutes, someone will either change the subject or defend you anyway, thus reducing the impact of a negative slight on your brand’s reputation.

There are many strategies to handling these types of attacks on your brand- yes, I’ve only named the primary rule, but there are others.  My duty in this post is simply to affirm that your initial fears are merited, and I’ll affirm that reality, so long as you allow me to affirm the absolute truth that doing nothing is far worse than doing something- engaging in honest and authentic relationships online for the right reasons and in the right manor, and understanding how to listen, is ultimately the best strategy, but getting a strategy is really the point here, isn’t it?

Being afraid to engage is tantamount to being out of business- online, and irrelevant. I’m sorry, but it’s true.  Allowing the word social in social media to throw you into a fit of “I’m not the partying kind” is the first step to failing to understand that social really only means people, and anytime people congregate anywhere in numbers, human nature will surely take over.

For whatever reason people hate is irrelevant, you can’t change human nature, you can only do what you do every day in business- overcome objections and correct misconceptions by stating your point of view clearly and authentically, and sometimes that means denigrating yourself when the issue is true, a failure occurred, and an apology is here for you (the consumer) without condition when merited.  Other strategies include offering to take the conversation live in some manor when you truly believe it will help- but to serve my ultimate point up on a silver platter for you- none of these solutions are even probable if you haven’t even embraced what I said before in that not being present closes the doors on any solution simply because you’re not present to even know it’s happening.

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1 Comment for this entry

  • David H. Deans
    February 18th, 2009 on 5:37 pm

    Perhaps we can confront each common fear, and offer examples that might help free people from their own self-inflicted inertia — the excuse that holds them back.

    My favorite excuse, the fear of already being obsolete — “I’m too old, so I’m excused and don’t have to compete with the young people who already know this social media stuff.”

    If you consider yourself a life-long learner, then you must embrace the future of your profession — no matter where it takes you. Yes, especially when it takes you out of your comfort zone.

    Think like Jonathan Livingston Seagull — dare to leave the flock, embrace the unlimited idea of creative freedom, and fly without limits way above the gray clouds where the ordinary choose to reside.

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