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Success Through Strategy!
Strategy Matters delivers news, tips and strategies for effective communications through traditional and social media.
We're committed to bringing you success through strategy--
whether you're communicating with employees, customers, consumers or the media.
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Responding to Negative Consumer Feedback
Today's marketers must realize that, if they are communicating online, they're involved in a conversation--many conversations actually. That can be a very good thing; after all marketers today can spread their messages far more broadly and at far less cost than they could ever do in the past. But, it can sometimes be a bad thing. Tick someone off in web-space and the conversation can quickly go viral.
I encourage the vast majority of my clients to be active online (after all, as I often say, "if you're not online, you virtually don't exist"--pun intended!). But, I also offer some general advice to help maximize the good, and avoid the potentially bad, impacts of online conversation.
- Be proactive. Consider and develop a process, up front, to be prepared to respond to instances when consumers post negative or critical information online.
- Policies should be developed to indicate who will respond--and how--and should be communicated widely and frequently to all staff.
- Key messages can be developed and approved in advance to ensure that responses will be prompt and appropriate.
- Responses to comments online should be consistent with responses to similar comments received through more traditional communication channels - e.g. via email, by phone, through letters to the editor, in public forums, etc.
- Make sure that individuals are assigned to monitor online activity on a regular basis. Tools like Radian6 can help to automate this process.
- Ensure that responses to comments are prompt. A quick and appropriate response can help to diffuse a negative situation.
- With highly charged situations or comments, attempt to move the discussion "offline" through a general response in the public forum that includes an invitation for a one-on-one conversation with the poster. Consider also responding via other channels if possible (e.g. by private message, email or phone).
Keep in mind that consumers recognize that even good organizations sometimes make mistakes. Making the mistake is not what matters most. What matters most is how you respond.
For more information on effective consumer communication, visit our blog.
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Web Site Analysis
As we've worked with clients to assist with their communication needs one area of common concern is whether their web sites are performing well enough to meet their objectives. Many clients are interested in improving the functionality/value of their web sites.
We recently introduced a new service for clients that includes an assessment of their web site that starts with a questionnaire they complete to provide information on:
- The overall goal of their site (e.g. to generate prospects, to generate sales, to establish themselves as thought leaders, etc.), along with any specific target metrics they might have.
- Their positioning statement/value proposition (e.g. what is the image/offer that they are hoping to convey)?
- Their target audience.
- Their top 3-5 competitors.
- Their top 10 keywords or phrases.
Based on this input we then review their site, their competitors' sites, their search results and any analytics they're able to share and develop a report that includes specific recommendations for improvement designed to help them achieve their goals. They can implement the recommendations themselves or ask us to create a proposal based on their unique needs.
It's already proving to be a popular service and, better yet, we're really enjoying the process. You can learn a lot when you focus on some specific criteria, take an outsider's look from a customer perspective and evaluate search engine results to identify opportunities for improvement.
If you're interested in learning more, or would like to see a sample report, let us know.
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| Strategic Doing!
I have long been interested in strategic planning and have been involved in strategic planning efforts as a participant, leader and facilitator for organizations that I've worked for as an employee and, now, as a consultant. I've researched and written about strategic planning in articles, blogs and books. I believe in strategic planning and I can honestly say that I enjoy the process (nerdy, I know...).
But I've come to believe that there's something more important than strategic planning--strategic doing.
The reason so many plans fail to be implemented, I think, is that so much of the focus and energy throughout the process is on planning, and so little is on actually doing. I recently shared some of these thoughts with a health care publication for an article on planning in the health care industry. But, it's not just the health care industry that experiences these challenges. All organizations do!
How to overcome the challenges and boost the odds that your plan will actually be implemented? Here are some things to consider before you being planning:
- Who will ultimately be responsible for the successful implementation of the plan?
- How will you build the tactics you develop into the way you run the organization--e.g. into job descriptions, work plans, evaluation processes?
- What reporting process will you use to stay on top of both progress and results? (As part of this process, actually identify participants and schedule meetings where these updates will occur.)
- What steps will you take to address areas where performance is either not meeting, or exceeding, expectations?
- What schedule and process will be used to update the plan on an ongoing basis, including the identification of key inputs?
Remember: It's not the plan that's important; it's the implementation of the plan that really matters.
For more information on strategic planning, visit our web site.
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Volume: 4 - Issue: 7
July, 2012 |
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