As promised, today I plan to finish my discussion on getting involved in conversations on the internet. What I have to say here today is merely a grouping of suggestions and ideas. When thinking about what to say in any conversation in person or on the internet there is no cure-all. Sometimes staying out of a conversation completely is the best way to handle a situation.
In the last few posts, I have been talking about how to locate conversations about your business on the internet. I hope that by now people have taken advantage of these resources and have found something being said about their businesses. Finding all of this information is the easiest part of the conversation. Now we move onto the next step: Getting into the conversation.
Often times on the internet you will find people saying good things about your business. Maybe they love your product, or maybe they loved the service they got at your store. They post something online (perhaps a picture) and say how great your product is. Well, why not say thank you? These praising conversations are the easiest to get involved in. If somebody says something nice about you a little “thank you” can go a long way. This unexpected engagement shows people that you are listening to what they are saying, and that you care about what they have to say. Also if you are posting as a brand it could add a celebrity feel to your comments. Think of it this way: If you posted a picture on Twitter and said, “I really love my Nike shoes”, and Nike replied to your tweet, wouldn’t you feel pretty important? The fact that a big company takes time out of their day and gets on a consumer’s level means a lot. Even though your company is ant-like compared to something like Nike it still generates the same type of goodwill.
The next type of conversation that happens out there is the one that involves a person or group asking questions about your product or business. The first thought might be to jump right in and answer the question; however, I recommend sitting back, waiting, and responding smartly. For example if a person asks about “plant x” and its growing habits, perhaps it would be useful to wait and see what others have to say. In some cases consumers may feel that you are being too pushy if you jump right in and give them the grower facts. My overall recommendation for situations like this would be to wait a little bit, and if an answer does not appear then post a little piece on where to find more information (a link to your website). This way you aren’t pushing an answer, but if the consumer trusts you then they will follow the link and obtain the answer.
The last type of conversation that can occur is of course the negative kind. What do you do if somebody is online bashing your business or product? This is often the toughest situation to deal with. As a human you undoubtedly will have the urge to jump in and justify your motives. To that I say “WAIT!” You don’t want to start a fight. That will damage your reputation far worse than one small comment of negativity will. The first thing you want to do is to analyze the conversation. Do the people have their facts straight? If they do and the person simply doesn’t like your product or business for x,y, or z, I suggest you just leave the conversation alone. People are going to dislike your business. It’s how the world works. You can’t please everybody. However if the person is lying about your business, then maybe an option would be to post a link to the facts. Don’t engage the attacker, but rather just simply copy and paste the link to where people can find out the true information on the topic. Also if you can find a source for information that was not generated by your company perhaps it would be best to post that.
No matter what people are bound to say things about your business. People talk, it’s the way the world works. If people aren’t talking about you then you don’t exist. Believe me it is better that one person post something that they don’t like about your business, than if no one posts anything about your business. Remember that negatives can lead to positives. If someone doesn’t like your product(s) ask them why, and use their answers to help make your business better.
My biggest advice when joining conversations is be respectful, grateful, and speak the truth. If you do those three things people will trust what you say. Also don’t be so defensive. There are products that you undoubtedly don’t like. The same goes for everybody else.
As I said earlier thee are just simple suggestions and every situation is different. If you have any further questions find me here: Email mday55@gmail.com , Twitter @mday55, or LinkedIn http://www.linkedin.com/pub/mason-day/20/9aa/233 .
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