THE SITUATION: Social media can impact the national and global agenda with astonishing speed ... and it can also put people and institutions on the spot, instantly.
- National opposition to the Stop Online Privacy Act, (SOPA), reached its peak at a critical moment.... and stopped the legislation in its tracks, despite a well-financed support campaign from major content providers like the Walt Disney Company and NBC Universal. These numbers tell the story:
- Before the social media protests, SOPA votes: Senate: 48 supporters and 6 opposed. House: 32 supporters and 25 opposed.
- After one day of social media protests: Senate: 37 supporters and 22 opposed.House: 26 supporters and 95 opposed.
- The plans of senior leadership at the Susan G. Komen for the Cure foundation to pull funding from Planned Parenthood suddenly became one of the hottest online topics, generating over 1.3 million Twitter posts in a single week.
3 TAKEAWAYS FOR MARKETERS:
TAKEAWAY #1: Do a "Tone Deaf" audit. Otherwise smart companies, such as Netflix and Bank of America made poor decisions recently that hurt their customers and their credibility. How could they have been so out of touch? Be humble and do a "Tone Deaf" audit by consulting your stakeholders and customers about important decisions and announcements so you do not become the next victim.
TAKEAWAY #2: Improve how well you listen to your customers and constituencies. Being out of touch with their customers and how they might react to major decisions was a key factor which contributed to the missteps of the organizations cited above. Make sure you are using multiple "listening posts" to stay close to the voice of your customers and constituencies. Use a combination of the following: depth research, social media: Facebook and Twitter, surveys: on-site, email and phone, customer service and customer feedback and analytics.
TAKEAWAY #3: Stay Flexible. Know when and how to change course if a hurricane descends. It is sometimes better to cut your losses, regroup, and issue a humble apology than to engage in a "debate" whose outcome is already clear ... and that your brand cannot possibly win.
Ernan Roman is President of the marketing consultancy, Ernan Roman Direct Marketing.
Recognized as the industry pioneer who created three transformational methodologies: Integrated Direct Marketing, Opt-In Marketing, and Voice of Customer Relationship Research.
Ernan was recently inducted into the Marketing Hall of Fame.
Clients include Microsoft, NBC Universal, Disney, Hewlett-Packard and IBM.
Ernan was named to "B to B's Who's Who" as one of the "100 most influential people" in Business Marketing by Crain's B to B Magazine.
His fourth and latest book on marketing best practices is titled: Voice of the Customer Marketing: A Proven 5-Step Process to Create Customers Who Care, Spend, and Stay.
Ernan is also the co-author of "Opt-In Marketing: Increase Sales Exponentially with Consensual Marketing" and author of "Integrated Direct Marketing: The Cutting Edge Strategy for Synchronizing Advertising, Direct Mail, Telemarketing and Field Sales."
www.erdm.com
ernan@erdm.com