MackCollier.com

by

Three steps to saving your company from a social media firestorm!

Last week I was contacted by a company that found itself in an unfortunate position.  One of the products it produces had been failing, and bloggers were taking to the internet to voice their displeasure.  The end result was that if you Googled the company and its product, the majority of the top results were, you guessed it, from angry bloggers.

So what happens if your company finds itself in a similar situation with customers running with pitchforks in hand to their blogs and Twitter to rake your company over the coals?  What’s your plan of action?  Here’s the advice I gave them for correcting this issue, and how your company can handle a similar crisis in three steps:

1 – Fix the problem.  No amount of social media or ANY other type of on or offline communications will help you until your company FIRST fixes the problem.  If you have a defective product, or shoddy customer service, or whatever, you have to first address the ROOT CAUSE of the customer complaints.  And once you have a solution in place for the problem….

2 – Actively respond to customers via social media.  Find the customers that are blogging and twittering and Facebooking their displeasure over your company, and let them know that first, you hear them and thank them for their feedback.  Second, that you apologize.  Third, that you have a PLAN IN PLACE to fix the problem.  Fourth, that you’re here and listening, and invite further feedback from them, and give them a way to get in touch with you.

Last week when Graco announced a recall to one of its strollers, the company turned to Twitter to interact with customers and get them information about which strollers were and were not affected by the recall.  Timely communication such as this also helps stunt the spread of rumors and misinformation, which only makes the company’s crisis management efforts twice as hard.  Additionally, customers loved how Graco was proactive in reaching out to them, and a potentially negative situation for the company became a positive one.

Customers want to know that you hear them, and what you are going to do to correct the problem.  If you can show them that you are listening, that you are taking their criticism to heart and ACTING on it, then that criticism will slowly turn into positive evangelism for your company.  That means those existing negative Google results for your company and product will begin to turn positive.

3 – Start getting correct information out via social media channels.  But your company still needs to ‘tell its story’.  Many people will be doing research on Google for your product before they buy, so you need to make sure they see the correct information about your product and company.  If you have a blog, this is where you can let customers know what you are doing to address the situation, and how you are correcting the problem.  If you aren’t currently blogging, this is a great excuse for starting one.  Dell’s company blog had barely been in place for a week in 2006 when the ‘exploding laptop’ issue ‘blew up’.  But having the blog in place gave Lionel and the rest of Dell’s blogging team a channel to get relevant and accurate information out about the situation, and what Dell was doing to correct it.

So there’s a simple 3-point plan for avoiding a social media firestorm; Fix the problem, Respond to customers letting them know you have fixed the problem, Get the word out via your OWN social media channels that you have fixed the problem.  But again, the starting point is to fix the problem.  If you think that you ignore the core issue and just use social media to ‘push down’ negative Google results, you are setting yourself up for failure.

The only thing worse than a company that doesn’t respond during a crisis is one that DOES respond, yet still doesn’t fix the problem.

Pic via Flickr user chaosinjune

by

Why have customers when you can have fans?

There’s a question I’ve been wondering about recently. Why do the people that buy most company’s products look like this:

Customers

And the people that buy the products that most rockstars sell look like this:

Sarahconcert2

Why do companies have customers, and rockstars have fans? This was the key question I posed last month at Social South during my What Rockstars Can Teach You About Kicking Ass With Social Media session.  I think the ‘easy’ answer is to say that rockstars sell an entertainment product, and that it’s much easier to create fans for such a product, as opposed to just customers.

But I think there’s much more to it than that.  In my session, I outlined four reasons why rockstars have fans, as opposed to customers.  I also looked at how companies can use social media to replicate the methods that rockstars use to move from having just customers, to having passionate fans.

And that’s what I’m going to do this week.  Each day we’ll look at one of the four reasons, starting tomorrow and running through Friday.

Coming tomorrow: Reason #1 – Rockstars are fans themselves.

by

What Rockstars Can Teach You About Kicking Ass With Social Media

Last week at Social South in Birmingham, I debuted a new presentation, What Rockstars Can Teach You About Kicking Ass With Social Media. I have to say that although this presentation combines two of my favorite topics; music marketing and social media, I was a bit worried about how the audience would take it.

Somewhat to my surprise, Social South attendees loved it. In fact, it was the most enthusiastic response I’ve gotten to any of my presentations so far. Richard Binhammer told me it was a ‘mindflip’ for him.

The presentation centers around one key question; Why do rockstars have ‘fans’, and companies have ‘customers’?  In the end, it all goes back to how rockstars approach the people that buy their products.  They WANT to interact with them, they WANT to embrace them, they WANT to be like them.  Whereas many companies see the people that buy their products as people they ‘have’ to be in contact with.  As if customer-interaction is a ‘necessary evil’.  Rockstars WANT that interaction, and thrive off it.

I think this is where many companies have REALLY missed the boat with social media. They now have these tools that give them greater ability than ever before to embrace and empower their evangelists.  But many companies are after amassing more ‘followers’ and ‘friends’ or targeting ‘influencers’.

As I said in Birmingham, find the people that are wanting to sing your praises, and give them a microphone.  Social media can be that microphone for your company.

Based on the overwhelming positive reaction I had to the Rockstar presentation at Social South, I’ve added this presentation to my Speaking page, and am now accepting requests for this topic at public and private speaking engagements.  Please email me if you’d like to discuss my speaking at your event on this, or any other topic.

Here’s the deck, I hope you enjoy it!

What Rockstars Can Teach You About Kicking Ass With Social Media

View more presentations from Mack Collier.

by

Think Like a Rock Star: How to Create Social Media and Marketing Strategies That Turn Customers Into Fans

Collier_cvr_alt

“Think Like a Rock Star is the rediscovery of the simple but powerful truth: the ability to acquire new customers depends on the ability to engage, ignite your existing customers and convert them into passionate fans.”

An Amazon Bestseller and the most requested McGraw-Hill publication ever submitted to NetGalley, Think Like a Rock Star is for any brand that wants to learn how to cultivate passionate fans that drive real business growth.  Every single chapter has detailed, step-by-step instructions showing you exactly how to create a fan-centric brand.  Tired of reading books that are long on ‘why-to’ and short on ‘how-tos’?  Then you’ll love Think Like a Rock Star.

Here’s some of the many areas covered in Think Like a Rock Star:

  • An entire chapter with detailed, step-by-step instructions showing your brand how to respond to customers online, especially customers that are leaving negative comments about your company online.  Including multiple case studies of businesses that correctly and incorrectly handled criticism from customers, this chapter shows you not only how to respond to angry customers, but to do so in a way that can actually convert them into fans of your brand.  
  • How to design a content strategy that focuses on The Bigger Idea and cultivates fans of your brand.  Creating compelling content is an area that many brands struggle with.  I show you what the three methods are to creating compelling content that your customers will find value in, and that will convert them into fans.
  • How to structure an Influencer/Blogger outreach program, and a detailed look at the advantages and disadvantages of these programs versus connecting with your fans.
  • The exact blueprint for creating a fan-centric brand.  Everything is covered, right down to internally and external staffing, core responsibilities of each employee position, everything.  Additional sections cover creating and launching a brand ambassador program, even a section on how to measure the ROI of your efforts.

 

Still not convinced? Check the reviews on Amazon and GoodReads.  Here’s what some of them are saying:

“THINK LIKE A ROCK STAR is so engaging, well written and useful that it should be required reading not only for marketing and PR professionals but for anyone who represents a brand, from the CEO to the sales team to the receptionist who takes the customer’s first phone call. The very fact that I now want to sing this book’s praises is testimony that what Collier writes about in this title actually works.” – Angie Finley

“I am actually considering buying a copy of this book and sending it to the marketing departments of each of my favorite companies – those to which my undying loyalty goes largely unnoticed and unappreciated, and to the small local businesses I support that DON’T make the effort to get to know me despite my status as a frequent customer.” – JL Keats

“This is one book that I will be sharing with my team, from our customer service superstars to our editorial team to our sales group. Aside from being engaging and easy to read- I mean come on, we all love rock stars!- Mack provides the reader with concrete, actionable take-aways that can be immediately applied to any business setting.” – Rebecca Amy Todd

Here’s a video review from John Bellamy, who works for Dell (one of the case studies in the book)

Hopefully by now I’ve sold you on why you should buy Think Like a Rock Star.  But if you still aren’t convinced, email me and I will be happy to send you the Introduction from the book, which will give you an idea of what it’s all about.

Here’s some of the places where you can buy Think Like a Rock Star online:

Also, if you would like for me to present Think Like a Rock Star at your event or do a workshop on how brands can connect with their fans, please email me for pricing and availability.