nestle wasn't the very best

In one of my earlier posts I mentioned that you, as a small business owner, have an advantage over big companies when it comes to social media marketing.

Why? Simply put, it is mainly because with huge companies, there is little or no actual interaction between the person doing the social marketing and the customers. Now, add to this fact those two horrible words, "corporate culture," and what should be a multi-way conversation with people often becomes just another platform from which the company talks about itself.

As a result, the way the company talks to people in its social media can come across as insincere, fake, and even rude. Consumer packaged goods giant Nestle provided an excellent example of this just a few weeks ago.

It all started when environmental activists on the Nestle Facebook page altered a Nestle product logo in an unflattering way and the Nestle Facebook writer posted a stern, threatening response. From there, it was a heated exchange between the Nestle writer, Nestle fans, and detractors. When the dust settled, the only sure thing was that the writer had lost their temper, been nasty to fans and detractors alike, and Nestle was branded as the first worst case scenario in corporate social media.

Now, think about your own business. We've all had hard to please, unpleasant customers. It's just human nature. But think about the ways that you communicate with them about their complaints when they are right in front of you. Chances are you treat them with respect and try to diffuse the situation, even when they are wrong.

How you handle a disgruntled customer or potential customer in the real world is exactly how you should handle them online. Respect and kindness, even when the unhappy customer is wrong, is often the most effective way to diffuse a situation because it has positive end results: the customer can leave satisfied and tell others about a negative that turned out well, or even say nothing at all, rather than telling others that your company stinks.

Maybe this is even more important online, because just as social media can get your marketing messages disseminated exponentially, it can also do the same for negative feedback.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when considering the "dark side" of social media:

Be prepared. There are always going to be negative people with negative things to say. Decide beforehand how you will handle negative comments, reviews and criticisms. Create a strategy and remain consistent. Don't respond when you are mad, take time to cool down and review your strategy.

Be upfront. Is there a controversial side to your business? It might benefit you to turn that negative into a positive by posting about how you're dealing with a negative issue. By bringing it up before others do helps communicate that you are honest and aware. Asking people for their ideas and feedback can create the conversation social media strives for.

Be respectful. As the Nestle writer found, it was hard to remain nice when posters were really slamming the company. As the writer probably also found, it's even harder to now have the distinction of being the worst case scenario example of social marketing. Being disrespectful of negative posters will only feed the fire and make you look bad. It's an old rule of the Internet: no one wins a flame war.

Now, nobody wants to be a doormat, and at some point in some cases, you have to tell the customer "no." But the way in which you do that, especially online, makes all the difference.