Accept the bitter with the sweet

Bringing the hammer down on a publicly disgruntled employee isnt a good idea

As I talk to people around the country about their social media efforts, I find most people take the former approach rather than the latter.

My first experience with implementing social media occurred several years ago as our CEO announced to the marketing group, We need a Facebook. Ive set it up. Use it.

Im not a believer of blocking social media sites at work. I know there is some potential for people to waste time or complain, but prohibiting people from accessing Facebook on their browser isnt going to stop people from checking their Facebook. You may be interested to know that more people access Facebook and other social media via their smartphone than a web browser. And theres always the possibility that someone will say something negative about the company they work forbut isnt that really just a symptom of a problem?

Nobody likes to see complaints or negative comments broadcast to the world on social media. Unfortunately, even if you have a great company and you strive to make every customer interaction positive, there will always be people who are prone to complain. My Mom used to say about the constant complainers in her life, Theyd complain if you fed them with a silver spoon.

Simply because they understand how to use social media tools does not mean they should be responsible for your social media efforts. Our goal is to provide value, offer best practices, and thought leadership to our audience. Its not a realistic idea to assume that someone without experience in your industry would be able to do that. Dont allow what Ive observed on more than once to take place within your social media, I dont know anything about this industry, but Im sure excited to be a part of the team and learn from all of you.

With the success of social media like Facebook, Twitter, and Linkedin, gazillions of hot shot social media entrepreneurs seem to sprout up every day. There is social media I experiment with personally that we dont use at Lendio. Its not that they arent viable and interesting social media toolsits a matter of relevance and resources.

Im a big n of whats right with social media. One of the reasons its been so successful is the natural way people collaborate with each other. However, Im not sure that a lot of what the social media gurus share as best practice really is best practice. Here are some of my suggestions to reap the most reward from your social media efforts:

Its not the toolits about relevance and resources

I look at negative comments as an opportunity to demonstrate our commitment to provide the best service we can to our customers. Nevertheless, because were not perfect, we sometimes make mistakes. We try to correct our mistakes whenever possibleand online complaints are no different. I actually consider it a bonus when someone makes a problem public on one of our social media channelsit gives us the opportunity to address it publicly. Of course,new york asian escort model like everyone else, our knee-jerk reaction is often to delete the comment and ban the complainerbut that is almost always the wrong reaction.

As a Main Street business evangelist and marketing veteran with over 25 years in the trenches, I write about leading people and small business issues for Lendio ( I try to make the issues and challenges cing small business leaders accessible by weaving personal experiences, historical references and other anecdotes into a regular discussion around effective leadership approaches that maximize the effectiveness of teams and organizations.

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I occasionally remind the employees who are linked to Lendio social media that I ask myself two questions before I post anything:

A close friend once expressed frustration with a conversation she had with her boss on Facebook. Within a couple of weeks, she had been let go. Of course they blamed something else, but it sure looked like a duck and waddled like a duck (if you know what I mean).

We determine whether or not we have the manpower to haShould You Rethink What Youre Doing on Social Mediave a meaningful presencedo we need to hire additional headcount?

Strategy first

cebook business (Photo credit: Sean MacEntee)

Im willing to admit that if I had more hours in the day or a bigger team, I would likely introduce new social media into our content marketing mix more frequently than I do. Nevertheless, Im sure there would still be media we didnt use. Im not a believer in being social just to be social or using any particular social media tool because its the next hot thing. We have goals and objectives for our content/social media efforts and try to focus those efforts in areas that are likely to be relevant to our audienceand which we have the headcount to manage and successfully execute.

Unfortunately there wasnt much thought given to a strategy behind how we would use Facebook, Social Media which made our social media presence there problematic and ultimately caused us some grief. At Lendio, before we jump into a new media we make sure there is a well thought out plan to our approach, which means:

If the answer to both questions is no, Im good to go. Have your employees ask the same two questions. Its that .

Put the right people in the right place

It may be the new hot social media tool, but if it isnt relevant to our goals and our audience, I likely wont dedicate our resources to participating.

Regardless of business type or industry, Im convinced a sincere apology accompanied by an offer to make amends defuses what could otherwise be a public PR nightmare when complaints suce online. Most people lash out when they feel they are being ignored. Once their voice is heard, along with an honest effort to make things right, a nightmare is averted and a social media success is achieved.