May 2010 Newsletter
by admin on May 4, 2010
It’s enough to make the average business owner run in fear: the thought anonymous people on discussion forums criticizing their business. While many business owners are afraid of conversations on discussion forums that cast them in a negative light, such occurrences are in fact a tremendous opportunity
Pete Blackshaw of Ad Age believes businesses need to have a strategy when responding to negative conversations online, and not just start answering without a coherent plan.
“You have to have the right message, you need to be perceived as sincere and credible, and you have to be prepared for backlash”.
He goes on to talk about a three step plan for responding to negative threads.
- Shore up the home front: Don’t get caught off guard by the person who posted the negative comment. Make sure you have all the information necessary in front of you before you respond.
- You’re talking apples, let me sell you oranges: Be respectful. Try to empathize with the poster and understand where he/she is coming from. But never sell.
- Solve the problem: Don’t advertise. Make sure you get all the pieces of the problem solved first. Onced solved, this is a great opportunity for your business to learn from the problem and fix it for the future.
As a sponsor within the Northcutt Media network, you have the opportunity to address negative posts (comments) head on. This allows you to connect with the customer and solve the problem directly. Responding to negative comments and posts can be a great advantage when building your online reputation.
The team at Northcutt Media is here to coach you through this process every step of the way. We know this is foreign territory for a lot of companies because it is such a new way of advertising, but you can feel confident and rely on our expertise to help you along the way.
In other news, we’d like to share a story with you about a young man named Kyle Abbate, Texas A&M Class of 2011. Kyle is an intern with Northcutt Media, and we’re proud to have him on board. The Division of Student Affairs recently published a story about Kyle:
http://studentaffairs.tamu.edu/node/173
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