Mediaboss Marketing

April 3, 2013 by Dr. Anderson Uvie-Emegbo (anderson@gapsacademy.com @andyemegbo) 1 Comment

Dr. Anderson Uvie-Emegbo

Recently, I read an interview a newspaper had with the social media manager of a prominent brand. At the end of the interview, the impression I took away was that the manager and, by extension, the brand was unhappy with the amount of resistance they face on various social networking sites.

The views of individuals and organisations regarding social media range from apprehension, uncertainty, opportunity to risk. Whatever your view is, you probably have several examples to support your position.

It is not uncommon for an organisation to start out seeking to exploit the opportunities in social media. A couple of unsavoury experiences later and they are ready to give it all up. What frequently starts as a love relationship may soon become one of suspicion or hate. At this point, it becomes a frustrating experience for all parties the decision makers (within organisations), the marketing communications teams (responsible for managing the brands engagement on social networking platforms) as well as its customers. For some organisations (like the public institution I mentioned earlier), it may become an us versus them mentality.

This is not how the script was meant to play out. Typically, in scene one, the brand signs up on social networks. In scene two, the customer is thrilled that brand has finally adopted social media. During scene three, the honeymoon begins, as the brand and the customer appear to be getting along. Scene four reveals that cracks are beginning to emerge. These test the resolve of both parties. In scene five efforts at mending the cracks become inadequate. This is the stage for buck-passing and name-calling. More often than not, one or more of the parties reduce the amount of investments (effort, time, money, etc) they put into this relationship.

How to overcome social media resistance?

The following is an approach organisations can take to overcome the resistance people may have to the brand on social media.

Identify the root causes of resistance

Sometimes resistance to a brand on social media can be attributed to a lack of trust. Mistrust can arise from a history of failed promises or persistent service failures. The inability of a brand to bridge the promise-expectation gap may inadvertently alienate even its early advocates on social networking sites. There are brands whose turnaround time for resolving customer complaints on their social media pages is significantly faster than the time taken to resolve the same issue through their non-digital channels. This is a frequent source of disconnect as it creates varying service delivery standards for different channels owned by the same organisation. Not every customer would take to social media to resolve issues with a brand. It is up to the brand to treat every transaction with each customer with the utmost diligence it deserves irrespective of the channel the customer uses.

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Overcoming social media resistance