Your Reputation is Your Lifeline!

Dealing with complaints is never an easy task, and given the “mass open forum” that social media is, we are seeing more and more people offer their opinions and dissatisfactions with various individuals, brands and companies alike. Negative comments can hinder these brands overall reputation, and they are facing an even more daunting task in that the negative comments can be seen by anyone. The days of private complaints are coming to a close. There was a time when a brand was so successful it didn’t mind turning a cold shoulder to someone w
ho experienced some dissatisfaction with the product. But when that complaint goes public (hence social media) it’s substantially harder to ignore.

A recent issue came about when United Airlines baggage handlers broke a customers guitar. The “victim” took an aggressive approach and attacked the brand on all accounts, even producing a viral song and video about his dissatisfaction with the handling of his guitar. United Airlines initially did nothing for the man, and didn’t show much consideration to his unfortunate circumstance. Considering this man was gaining support for his claim, United should have seen that and addressed the situation to prevent it from spreading. Since they did no such thing, they are a prime example of what can happen when negative publicity hits the masses.

What United Airlines should have done is offered a sincere apology and compensation to this passenger, because he was victim of their negligence. If I was responsible for managing United Airlines online reputation, this is exactly what I would have done. He would receive a personal phone call with an apology, and a way to come to a viable solution in response to his property being damaged. I feel when this consideration is shown to the man, he will be less prone to make produce other publicly negative comments on the brand. When someone pays for your service, and you fail to meet the ethical standards (especially from a company the size of United Airlines) you have to make amends in any way possible.

Once an understanding could be mutual with this client, I would then take to the social airwaves to offer a reputation enhancing comment, such as, “We have solved the ‘United Breaks Guitars’ issues, and we guarantee that this will never happen again.” I would then set up a link to that post that was directed towards the blog, to which I’d add:

“This is an unfortunate and unacceptable act on the part of our employees. We here at United Airways value our customers, their property and their overall well-being. Those responsible for this have been dealt with and we will use this situation to build a better and more responsible airline. We continue to value your support and confidence in our brand, and we will not disappoint.”

Customers are the backbone of any brand, and you have to be willing to listen, engage and resolve any issues. It’s vital to maintain a positive brand reputation at all times.

Analyzing “beIN Sports USA” Social Media Strategy

beIN Sports is a global network of sports channels that has recently launched two additional channels in the United States. beIN Sports televises many of the worlds greatest events, predominately football (or soccer). In analyzing beIN Sports USA’s social media efforts, I have drawn the conclusion that they keep their content entertaining on social media, just as they do on television.

One thing that stands out to me is the way they get their audience involved in matches. They love to hear their followers opinions on who they think is going to win, what matches are they looking forward to, what team are you rooting for, etc? All of these types of questions bring in a variety of engagement between followers and the brand. It also assists beIN because they are able to promote the events they are showing, while letting people interact. beIN also utilizes the # (hashtag) features of social media brilliantly.

beIN Sports USA are highly active on social media and never skip a beat. They are involved in social media on any event that is in relation to their product. This is a great lesson for people to learn that work with building a brand on social media. Getting involved, listening, communicating and engaging with the audience enhance beIN’s overall reputation. When a brand puts their content into what is trending on social media, it gives them a better chance to promote their brand, as well as communicate with current and potential audiences.

They have the voice that can appeal to any soccer fans. Every post has enthusiasm, just as if you can hear it in your head. The way they present their content brings the post to life, something that is hard to do with only text, not speech. Here is an example of this:

beIN achieves successful journalism, communication and engagement with their audience. Their content is consistent and continuously entertaining and informative. It also brings out the “die-hard fans” that can have conversations with others who are similar, just based off of a social media post done by beIN. Soccer fans (especially those in America) can unite in the fact we are now given a more in-depth, real and personable style of social media communications from a network who prides themselves on the great game of soccer.

Engagement Leads to Relationship Building on Social Media

Building positive relationships on social media is one of the main elements that accompany a successful brand’s image. There are multiple interactions that take place when a brand is communicating with their followers. This ranges from complaints to simple questions, but regardless of the type of communicated content, the customer has to be listened to. The public appreciates social media contact, and brands that guarantee responses to customers, like KLM, are receiving much appreciation on social media.

KLM notes that there is a downside of facilitating open dialogue on social media is it can yield public criticism. KLM accepts the criticism, which is a great way to interact on social media. It shows the world that regardless of the comment, they listen, care and value all of the feedback. As they say, thee ultimate reward is seeing people’s sentiment turn from negative to positive and spreading the word. This is a great outlook on the situation by KLM, and any successful brand should mimic such brilliance.

I feel KLM found their voice on social media with the way they choose to interact with all of their customers. First of all, they are genuine! Nothing prevents them from staying consistent in the way they engage the consumers, regardless of the issue. This brings about a humanization element to the brand that shows they are friendly and understanding. It all contributes to part of building lasting relationships.

The way I find my voice on social media is similar to KLM. I feel every comment should be a guarantee answer. Whenever I post feedback or a comment to a brand on a social media platform, I always appreciate a response. Whenever that response doesn’t come, it lowers their reputation in my eyes. If you don’t answer all (if not most) of the content directed at your brand, you lose the opportunity to engage and build a relationship. It’s not worth losing a current or potential customer because you chose to ignore personal messages.

Building successful relationships with “clients” on social media involves listening, responding and more listening. This is all part of the engagement process that can ultimately separate your brand from others in a similar marketplace. If you can continue to find your voice, stay consistent and acknowledge the comments about your brand, you will find yourself in good standing in the eyes of your customers.

I Trust You Colin Cowherd, You Herd Me?

Trust on social media is a hard to come across. From my experience, I rarely “initially” trust an individual on social media unless I have prior knowledge of who they are. These people are usually those who I see in alternate media outlets outside of social media. This doesn’t mean I don’t follow random people on social media if I see them making good points, but I don’t “entirely” trust them initially. To me, trust takes time and observation. If they keep their content consistent and relevant, I’m more likely to continue following them.

One individual that has stood out to me on social media is Colin Cowherd, an ESPN personality who, to me, is a realist. I’ve been a supporter of Colin for years now, and have thoroughly enjoyed his television shows, writings and radio programs. The main reason I admire him is because he doesn’t hold back on his views. He keeps his content entertaining, thoughtful and informative, and does it in a way that is quite appealing to the avid sports fan.

He displays a controversial, but “real” style of behavior. He says things that those in a similar position as him, shy away from. He isn’t scared to tackle any topic that comes his way. Of course there are times when I don’t agree with every viewpoint or argument that he brings up, but that doesn’t prevent me from thinking about it from his perspective. I feel he keeps the overall “interest” factor at a high. I can’t think of any better way to describe him, then he does with the title of his recent book publication, “You Herd Me! I’ll Say It If Nobody Else Will.”

Consistency is huge with Colin. He has certainly established “his own voice” on social media. I admire the fact that he responds to negative comments about him on by usually re-posting or re-tweeting them. This proves to me that he knows what and who he is, and regardless of the negativity shown to him, he won’t change the way he does things. That is a highly admirable and trustworthy quality that I have found with Colin.

The way that Colin benefits from earning my trust is that he knows fans, like me, are supporting him. He welcomes interactions and comments from viewers and will take whatever they are head on. He welcomes debate, sees it from the other people’s side, and then offers his take on it.

In the many years I’ve avidly followed sports, Colin is one of the few expert individuals who I trust. If you are a sports fan like myself, or just enjoy entertaining and slightly controversial content, check him out:

Twitter | Facebook | Blog

 

Being “Trustworthy” on Social Media

In order to gain the trust of people on social media, you have to be dedicated. In the ever-increasing tough marketplace that social media has become, building credibility, validity and a reputation is not easy. Successful people and brands on social media have developed the ability to stand out in the crowd with their own voice. Many of times, these voices come with a sense of honesty, which is why they are a popular follow on various social media platforms.

Looking further into how to achieve trust on social media, Steve Rayson offers a “Trust” Formula that looks as follows:

Rayson’s formula works, but I feel it’s missing something—Responsiveness! As being helpful, knowledgeable, friendly and selfless are beneficial, there has to be a sense of timeliness. On social media, people want answers—and they want them quick. For instance, when someone on Twitter “tweets” at a brand, they are looking for immediate assistance, they aren’t willing to wait a day or two. If brands can focus on engaging the conversation and resolve any problem close to the moment it happened, they are more likely to receive positive results from the initial post.

This ensures the user has been included as a part of the ongoing efforts brands have to assist their consumers. This was also prominent in an engagement between Northern Rail and a customer. Where it was evident that people respond well to conversation and interaction, they want to know their comments are being taken into consideration. It adds to the credibility of the brand, because it is now trusted. With credibility and trust, brand’s “positive” reputation increases.

Responsiveness ties directly into “Reliability.” Meaning, you are there when you are needed. Justin Kings offers his method of the formula by adding “Reliability’ to the initial formula by Rayson, and I completely agree with it. When adding to Rayson’s formula, we can conclude:

Listening, Engaging and Creating Relationships are also highly beneficial on social media. You first have to understand what the audience is saying. This comes with monitoring and tracking what your audience is saying and how it’s being said. Then you engage into those comments by creating a conversation. This conversation tells the audience that you are active and behind your brand. That you are able to solve problems, tend to issues and make adjustments. Finally, you come to the stage where you have created a relationship with your audience who trusts in your brand. They know what they are getting and by staying “consistent” you can keep the audience on board!

Snapchat’s Ethical Implications (Assignment 1)

Every social media platform’s “terms of service” varies, but one commonality with all is that they are centered on protecting the brand name. No social media platform is willing to risk their reputation and value based off the actions of its users. Therefore, as users, we are required to accept each platform’s “terms of service” in order to use their product. As this is a valid approach to any business, many times these terms are lengthy, confusing and not read by the user.

In looking further into the whole aspect of these “terms,” I’m going to dig into “Snapchat.” A social media photo application that is home to over 30 million users. The app let’s you send “temporary” images, video and text to fellow users that vanish in seconds after opening, leaving no trace of the content. Snapchat’s “Terms of Use” is relatively lengthy, but there are some ethical implications that are associated with it.

Explicit messages have been a prominent and controversial issue with Snapchat. There is nothing in the terms of use that entirely prohibits these types of acts. This has led to much scrutiny of the app, which has been labeled as a hotspot for “sexting.” This could directly prevent the best interest of users because this type of shared content isn’t deregulated. This is a risk that Snapchat has taken with their service. Anytime this type of material can be distributed, it puts the users and the receivers of the content at risk.

Another problematic ethical implication with the app is the regulation that prevents users from taking any
pictures of individuals without their consent. Many images that are sent, in fact do show other people, and at times, those are people who might seem out of the ordinary to the person taking the picture. “Snapchat Leaked” and similar sites are home to many images that were taken without consent. Nothing has been done to people
who do this, and even though Snapchat prevents it in their terms, it seems to have fallen on deaf ears (or eyes in this instance).

Snapchat has recently settled with the FCC over the guarantee of content “disappearing forever,” to which 4.6 million phone numbers usernames were exposed. In an app whose selling point is vanishing content, it was still exposed. This brings into question the safety of using the product and whether or not Snapchat’s integrity has been compromised for good.

 

Terms and Conditions?…More Like Long and Boring!

Small print, perplexing content and lengthy wording—do you agree to the Terms and Conditions?

A 2011 survey concluded that only 7% of people read the full terms when using a service online. The reason why? Because it’s absurd! We are provided with this overly detailed information that we must read and accept in order to attain a product or service. Well if we are going to use the service regardless, why even bother to read it? The content of terms and conditions are hard for even the most educated people to “entirely” comprehend. I think we’ve come to the point where we say, “the hell with it,” and just agree to the terms without completely reading them.

Personally, I rarely read any terms and conditions—that is—unless they are brief and comprehensible. In our digital world, we are accepting these terms and conditions on a daily basis because we have very little interest in reading borderline incomprehensible information. I’ve always wanted these “contracts” to be written in layman’s terms, so I can actually understand what the hell I’m reading.

In reading Facebook’s “Statement of Rights and Responsibilities,” I’m bombarded with the opening statement of each sentence being, “You Will Not…” I think this is taking the “blame” off Facebook for anything because they are not using the wording as “we,” but solely placing any liability on the user. While this might seem reasonable to outright protect Facebook from almost any kind of backlash, the users becomes confused because it seems like they aren’t safe posting anything even slightly controversial.

In order to make Terms and Conditions more user friendly, I feel we have to “dumb down” the language to a reasonable level. We hire lawyers because the majority of people don’t understand the complexities of lawful language, but we don’t have Internet jargon heroes that we hire to “translate” what websites are actually trying to communicate to the user.

If the language, word choices and length were changed, people might be more responsive. For instance, here is an excerpt from Twitter’s Terms of Service:

We also reserve the right to access, read, preserve, and disclose any information as we reasonably believe is necessary to (i) satisfy any applicable law, regulation, legal process or governmental request, (ii) enforce the Terms, including investigation of potential violations hereof…and so on.

…What!?!?

I have to actually read this a few times to understand what they are saying. My recommendation would be to dim it down a notch or two, something like:

We have the right to use information we feel necessary to enforce legalities. In doing so, we are protecting the rights, property and safety of Twitter, its users and the public.

Social media is still relatively new. In the future, I see these problematic issues being solved, while social platforms move forward and advance, not take steps in the wrong direction. As long as these platforms continue to keep users as the forefront in making decisions, we’re in good hands!

Debating Ethical Approaches

Making ethical decisions are never easy, in fact, they are extremely complicated. We are faced with certain situations and we chose to go about them in a certain way. For someone who is making decisions on what to communicate and how to do it to a mass audience, it’s vital to find a balance between, “Can I push the boundaries?” or “Should I be more restrictive?” It’s important to ensure the action(s) you opt to employ are those in which you feel your audience will appeal to.

It’s important to note that ethics are not laws and there is that level of transparency as to what is deemed appropriate v. inappropriate. An example that can be brought up is whether or not a journalist is crossing the line if he/she contacts a friend of a murder-victim with his/her personal profile without identifying who they are. As stated before, there is no “exact” right or wrong answer; I would find this type of reporting as somewhat unethical, based on a few different scenarios.

If the journalist allows ample time to the family and friends to grieve over the loss of a loved one, then I see that as a more ethical approach. The one negative to this is if you allow that time gap between the interviews, then the story could lose relativeness based on time. The audience today wants breaking news, and the story that dominated headlines today, could take a back seat tomorrow.

I think timeliness plays a huge role in this example, not so much about someone identifying himself or herself on Facebook. Again, it really depends on what ethical position you want to take. If your duty is to get the story and quotes from people who were actively involved in it, then you have to adjust your approach.

As a journalist though, I would be very respectful to someone who lost a loved one. I understand the value of getting the story, but I also understand people’s emotions and how they need their space sometime. If I had to get the story the day of the incident, then I would look to take other measures to make sure the story was accurate, valuable and publishable.

Ethical instances, such as this one, are a commonality when it comes to getting source information. You want to dig as deep as possible into the story, but it depends on whom the person is in relation to how far they are willing to go. It might have something to do with pressure from your employer or your ego that needs to get the story. I think care ethics is intrinsic to maintain a positive reputation. When you specifically keep the person in mind and you opt to build a relationship with them, you are then able to be trusted more by the source. And in turn, you are able to trust the source even more.

Test

Test

The Sports Riport

Background

Approximately 63% of the American public watch sports, according to a USA Today Gallop Poll. Those numbers are staggering when you think about it. People love the sporting industry, simple as that. How many times do you see sports team being promoted on people’s clothing, cars, houses, etc.? When you go to restaurants, stores and people’s houses—how often do you see sports on TV? I for one can say that I can’t remember a day to which I didn’t tune into a sporting event. They are what drives many people, brings excitement and passion into their lives. It’s not just coincidental that the most recent Super Bowl, Super Bowl XLVII, was the most watched television program in the history of the United States.

Due to the rise in the popularity of sports, we are also seeing a rise in sports networks, broadcasts, reporters, writers, websites and blogging. There is money to be made in sports, but only if you can find a way to appeal to the fans. Just as sports rely on fans, so do sport’s programs. Without fans, the industry is obsolete. So the question is, what type of “production” could bring in these fans?
Personally, I feel we are lacking an overall sports program that appeals to the hardcore fan. Believe it or not, there are people out there who really live and die by their team. It’s a part of their life, a passion, something to look forward to every time their team plays. These fans have a passion, and many times, go great lengths to let their passion be shown.

I’ve said it once and I’ll say it again. In order to find space in this competitive marketplace, you have to find a way to reach the fans by giving them something original, unique and entertaining. There is no competing with the big business of the major sports networks like ESPN, CBS, and FOX. They have established themselves in the upper echelon of sports, and they have gained trust in the public with their diligent reporting and amazing broadcasts. The best option to enter into the big sports outlets is to have one of these networks actually pick up your program—easier said than done.

 

Focus

What I’m looking to create is an online sports program that brings a new style of analyzing and reporting sports. I’m going to establish a more “personable” sports broadcast, with few limits. The overall concept is to let people discuss sports as they would with their friends, family and fellow fans. The overall uses of profanity, aggression and smack talking are more than welcomed. It is a program that is uncensored, it let’s people say what’s on their mind and debate with other fans on the topic.

Sure, it could be looked at as distasteful and questionable when you provide people an open and uncensored forum, but there is a market for that. Social media has become a dominant outlet in people discussing and engaging with fellow fans on various sporting events and programs. The program will look to hit on trending topics and issues, while motivating people to become involved. There needs to be a sports program that is uncensored, real, and at times, inappropriate.

The program that I’m looking to establish is called “The Sports Riport.” Along with my friend who has background in web design, VFX, graphics, filming and editing—we are looking to get the ball rolling as soon as possible. The name was chosen to show that we are promoting the “edgy” side of sports. That we aren’t “reporting,” we’re “riporting.” In translation, we are “ripping” or being “controversial” on many sporting issues, and encourages our audience to do the same.

 

Target Audience

I feel out most beneficial key public would be sports fans in general. Predominately, the one’s who are “actively” involved in the industry that can relate to more of an “advanced” style of sporting conversations. Once a descent fan base can be established for the program, we can then look for them to promote our brand. The way I’m looking into going about it is through social media engagement. We need our audience to know that we want to hear people’s thoughts and opinions, while offering a response, ultimately creating a productive conversation. Our demographics would range in more of the “adult” range, considering there will be limited censorship.

 

Promotion

Effectively promoting a brand, especially a start-up, is invaluable. Without successfully getting our brand image and message out, we are putting ourselves in a nearly impossible situation of trying to attract an audience. Considering we are in the beginning stages, we are looking to hit social media hard. The best way to do this is to stay on top of trending sports topics, engage audience’s topics, send personal tweets and encourage them to support our brand. We have to build that initial audience in order to progress.

Once the brand attains recognition, whether that’s on a small or large scale, we will then look to begin on “incentive type promotion.”

Such as:

“Tweet us your sports topic, and we will debate it.”

This will get people involved, hopefully we can answer some of their questions.

“Who will win the NCAA Basketball Tournament? Winner receives $25 gift card.”

We would chose a random person out of all the people who got predicted the champion, then directly message them if they win, as well as post the winner on our social media channels so other’s will know it’s a legitimate promotion.

“Click here (a bit.ly) link to visit our website The Sports Ripport”

Utilizing bit.ly will be important so we can monitor where we are receiving the most success based on each platform. Also will add a link to our “shop” page and offer various discounts with promo codes.

 

Utilizing Proven Promotions/Campaigns

Taking advice of some proven social media promotions, the New Jersey Devil’s NHL Hockey team created a “Mission Control” on social media to bring fans closer to the team. The best part is the fans basically worked for the team. As volunteers, they would monitor social media channels and answer questions. What this allowed for was more engagement with their audience. A big issue with engaging followers on social media is actually being able to individually respond to each message sent to you. What the Devils did was bring in people to answer questions; they acted as a “support team” for the organization.

The Devils actually profited from the campaign, almost doubled their Facebook fans and had their Twitter account reach over 25,000 followers. I feel the success came because instead of looking at a viewer as “part of the crowd,” they individually catered to them, thus increasing the overall “personal” feel. You want to get your audience and customers involved in your social media campaign, and if you can make them brand advocates, it can be successful. I feel the NJ Devils stand as a symbol of one of the most effective sports social media campaigns to date.

 

Implementing a Similar Promotion

In order to create a similar promotion to “Mission Control,” we need fan involvement. We can do this by providing rewards to people who participate. By monitoring a certain social media platform, those who are the most engaging as far as being advocates, will receive the most attention. We will take a handful of people and put them into a drawing, and the winner would receive a prize. These prizes won’t be anything extravagant, a gift card, or half off at the store—something of that nature.

Due to the continual increasing of popularity in online incentives, we can’t afford to skip on it. As a start-up brand, there has to be a “reason” for people to chose us. If we can reach an audience of sports followers, let them know what we do and that we run various promotions for our followers—then we have a chance to compete in the marketplace.

 

Monitoring

Keeping a firm grasp on our analytics will be crucial for this brand. With using real-time analytics, we will be able to monitor visitor activity as it happens; therefor we limit the risk of falling behind with our audience. This will be effective when people visit our website, so we can see exactly the experience they had. As much of our program is involved with social media, we still need to attract visitors to our website. The website stands as the centerpiece of this brand. Social media acts as our outlets to bring in engagement and conversation, but ultimately getting them involved in our website is our main goal.

 

Analytics

Collecting data is a key part of any online campaign. We want to ensure we continue to monitor each of our online platforms. When people take the time to offer conversation to us about our brand, it is our responsibility to return an answer.

Adding social plug-ins will also assist in our effort of advertising. The audience needs to easily be able to connect to all of our digital spots.

Social media marketing will also be essential. Social listening will allow us to learn about what conversations are happening and where. We need this information, simply because we have to fin da way for people to notice our brand.

Google Analytics will also be necessary. We are firm believers in trying to stand out the best we can on anything Google related. Every blog post will be connected to our Gmail account to increase our SEO. Google’s “Activity Stream” will be utilized. It will assist us in monitoring online conversations, one of our primary focuses.

Final Goal

Although currently in the beginning stages, I feel bringing a more personal and uncensored side to sports could yield a big audience. Fans are passionate people and they enjoy the aggressive and competitive side of sports. They aren’t always polite, reasonable or respectful to other fans or teams—but it’s all part of the game.

Attracting the appropriate audience, supported by 2 sports enthusiasts who create original, entertaining and controversial sports content can find a place in this industry.