Responding to criticism...saving face on social media

Back in my day….

If you were on air in the 90’s you got fan mail, hate mail, and creepy mail.  As a DJ at 104.1 The Blaze, I got letters proposing marriage (from a lifer at the state penitentiary no less), letters regarding my “annoying voice”, and letters suggesting I play roughly 200 times more Megadeath than was scheduled.  Those letters were easy to dispose of (or frame in the case of the proposal). Occasionally, instead of letters I received phone calls of the same ilk...maybe jarring, maybe flattering, but easy to dismiss.  

 If you are on air in 2017 those letters and calls are often published on social media where your flaws can be promoted and agreed upon by thousands.  Make a mistake?  Uh oh!  You are a trending topic, a meme, or the subject of an online petition calling for your job. I once accidentally called the TV show “General Hospital” GENITAL Hospital, but this was in the dark ages before MySpace…PHEW!

Even if you don’t do anything objectively wrong, you can still get raked over the social media coals.  It is easy to take it personally and try to win the battle of words by responding with anger or snark...but in doing so, you will lose the war of public opinion.

To clap back or not to clap back, that is the question.

Earlier this year week a rather famous political pundit named Ann Coulter went after Delta Airlines on Twitter about a seating issue on her flight.  She indicated that the airline switched her seat – a seat she had pre-booked- upon boarding.  Coulter tweeted @Delta about this incident more than 50 times (not counting comments or retweets). 

Tweet 13 of 1,586,456,145,888 (roughly)...

This is big both in sheer number of complaints from, and the notoriety of, Ms. Coulter. Maybe you agree with Ann, maybe you don’t.  But what matters here is how the brand responds to this level of public criticism – don’t forget as a media personality YOU ARE A BRAND!  We can all learn from the successes and missteps of these public battles.

Lesson 1 - Try to solve the problem

Delta indicted that their customer care teams and social media teams tried to contact Coulter privately to resolve the matter right away.  That’s a good thing – resolving a customer complaint in private is a better option than in the court of public opinion.

If a listener/viewer comes at you on social media with a clear problem like “I was really offended by what you said on the air about immigration” you can respond with “I PMed you so we can talk more about this” or “I’m sorry you feel that way! I messaged you so we can discuss this further”.  These types of responses show that you want to fix it, but still protect you from hashing it out in public.

Lesson 2 - A quick and direct response

One day into the tweet storm, Delta tweeted back at Ms. Coulter.  This response was much quicker than some other brands who tried to ignore controversy or give a half apology *cough cough United Airlines*. Delta responded quickly, but I would argue that it was not fast enough.  A 2012 research study by Oracle indicated that 81% of customers expect a same day response from a company on Twitter.

Click here for the full Oracle study

When attacked, responding quickly, calmly and clearly is essential.

Lesson 3 – If you can’t fix it, reinforce your brand

Ann Coulter has made a career of being provocative.  In this instance, there is a good chance Delta wasn’t going to change Ann’s mind 30 tweets into it.  After this became obvious, Delta responded in a way that would shore up support for their brand with those “watching” this fight.  They defended their employees and the passengers in question, they offered her a refund, and took her to task for insults they called “unnecessary and unacceptable”. 

Remember, it’s not all about that ONE person.  In a “crisis of brand” where someone has attacked you, a public response is not simply about the negative poster him/herself.  Others are watching to see what you say. The way you respond will shape the public’s view of you/your company. If you can’t fix it, at least be the “you” that your fans love.

You can’t control everything

Social media is not meant to be a one-way form of communication. According to Carolyn Mea Kim in her book Social Media Campaigns: Strategies for Public Relations and Marketing - “Social media is not a tool used to plaster information in front of users, but rather a dynamic communication platform to foster two-way relationships in an unscripted environment.”  Embrace the back and forth instead of fighting it. Being a public persona means being a brand that will be both praised and insulted in front of everyone.   When someone posts a negative comment ask yourself “Is there a conversation that can take place here?”. Remember, you can’t have the GOOD (broader audience reach, real-time kudos, ability to create a stronger brand than ever before) without the BAD (others using that same reach to share their opinions about you/your company…sometimes with a lack of information and/or empathy).

Try to respond to negativity with an eye toward improving yourself, communicating quickly and clearly, and knowing who you are…oh and don’t block people just because they don’t like you.  Reserve that feature for the folks who truly threaten your safety and the total creeps.  

-Kaci