Someone is talking to my organisation using social media so what do I say back?
Posted under: Here’s a short guide to responding to your audience online, taken from Helen’s blog.
Essentially, these are just principles that make good pr practice but lots of us aren’t used to this new level of engagement so I hope they help.
So: once you know your content is good, it’s relevant to your audience, useful and entertaining etc. what do you say back? How do you foster an ongoing conversation and deal with criticism?
Here are four main types of response – service, query, attack and compliment – and how to handle them. Plus a few other thoughts.
Service: e.g. “The cake you sold me was stale/the receptionist was rude”
Say sorry, even if it’s just to say sorry that they aren’t a happy customer/citizen.
Say you want to help.
Ask them to DM/inbox details: take it offline if possible – their contact details shouldn’t be bandied about the net and it helps if the details can be expanded upon in an email or phone call.
“Sorry you didn’t enjoy the cake/ you weren’t happy with the service. We want all our cakes to be delish/everyone to be happy & will do our best to resolve probs. Pls DM your details & we’ll deal with it straight away”
Attack: e.g. “Your organisation is corrupt/wrong”
Understand. It can be frustrating if you think you’re dealing with an organisation that isn’t fair. Acknowledge that there will always be an opposite point of view.
Link to webpage/blog for full explanation
“We understand your point but we have tight budgets & unfortunately have had to make tough decisions. An explanation from our CEO can be found here: www.verysorry.co.uk/sorry”
Follow up with fresh post stating you position for everyone to see. If one person thought it, many others might too. This is your chance to tell people why your organisation behaves as it does. The ‘attacker’ has done you a favour by drawing your attention to their point of view.
Above all – aim to answer everything. In most cases, you can say a minimum of “Thanks for your comments which have been passed on to the relevant department.”
Compliment: e.g. “Wow, I love your new offices. Great to see you’re employing locals in my area.”
Always say thanks – when we’re angry we’re more likely to make ourselves heard so when someone makes the effort to compliment it warrants a ‘thanks’. This person should mean a lot to you as a valued citizen/ customer.
Ask if you can use their statement in promo material.
“Thank you, glad you like the offices! Would you mind if we quote you in our promotional brochure? Not a prob if you’d rather keep it between us
”
Query: e.g. “What decision was made at your Cabinet meeting today re: dog poo enforcement?”
If you don’t know the answer then say so! The medium is immediate and expectations are higher. Give timeframe for when it’ll be answered. Stick to it. Otherwise they might feel ignored.
“I’m not sure, will check with our officers and be back to you by the end of the day.”
If you can answer in one post, do it – “Hi, all members voted in favour of recommendations to increase fines for dog fouling offenders.”
Ideally you would link to more info on the web to answer further: “All in favour – minutes can be found here www.myweb.com/minutes or the local paper coverage is here: www.localpaper.com/dogpoo”
Repost the info to everyone – thank original questioner for bringing it to your attention.
[...] @HelReynolds of Monmouthshire County Council and ReynoldsPR.com has some tips- I recommend the article. [...]