The Conversation Turns Ugly Online. What's Your Next Step?

Facebook is an inexpensive and effective way of spreading the word about your products and company. It's a great tool for gathering input from your customers, for hearing what they have to say. But be prepared. What they have to say may not be all good.

With social media like Facebook and Twitter, you've got to be willing and prepared to receive and engage with folks about the good and the bad. The scathing criticism. The negative critique of your product. Even the unsubstantiated rumor.

When those kinds of comments appear on your Facebook page, do NOT delete them. Remember, social media is a conversation. It's an open forum that needs to be respected as such.

Don't ignore negative comments. (And, a word of caution here: you can appear to ignore negative comments because you're not paying attention, so keep a watchful eye.)

Think of negative comments as an opportunity. Step back, seriously analyze what the negative comment is really saying. Develop a strategy for addressing your critic. And jump into the discussion.

Don't be defensive. Realize instead that this is a great opportunity for you to demonstrate that your company really cares about what its customers think. If you're really interested in serving them better, this is the time to show that.

As you engage in an open, online discussion with your critic, you might just discover something that could be done better. When you do, take steps to improve your product or service, then go back online and tell your fans about it – and thank the critic for bringing it to your attention.

A critical comment could be the beginning of many interactions with your fans/customers as they see that you not only “talk the talk” of social media engagement, but “walk the walk” of truly engaging in a conversation. And, as other customers chime in with their unsolicited, positive comments about your company, you'll benefit from a third party endorsement that is invaluable.

SOCIAL NETWORKING: WHY YOU NEED IT — EVEN IF YOU THINK YOU DON'T

Lately there's been a lot in the news about tweeting. No, the media isn't excited because spring is right around the corner and the robins are on the way. They're talking about Twitter, the latest social networking platform that's fast becoming all the rage.

If Twitter isn't already one of the tools in your public relations toolbox, then you need to come up to speed fast. In fact, Twitter co-founder Biz Stone said that “Twitter is the messaging service we didn't know we needed until we had it.”

Deep, huh? Well, like a lot of quips, it speaks volumes.

Shaquille O'Neal tweets about being at the mall – just like a regular guy. And he's using this simple tool to build his fan base.

Ashton and Demi go directly to fans with their news, short-circuiting tabloid reports.

Perez Hilton tweets observations about the Hollywood glitterati. Grows his number of blog followers.

Interesting, but not serious enough for you?

Dell can trace the sale of over $1 million in its electronics to its 2008 Twitter program.

One of the world's only profit-making airlines, Jet Blue, uses Twitter to inform and communicate with its customers.

Overstock.com is building its legion of bargain-hunting buyers with little tweets about its latest deals.

Lots of smart businesses are using Twitter to driver traffic to their Web sites.

Got your attention now?

Twitter is the newest part of a social networking landscape that includes blogs, Facebook, LinkedIn, My Space, etc. It's a micro-blog. Just 140 little characters that can pack a wallop. Think about how candidate Obama and his election team used Twitter to reach out to tens of thousands of people and build his base. That effort cost way less than expensive campaign commercials on TV. And it got results.

More and more, blogging and micro-blogging isn't just for kids or bored people obsessed with telling the world about their lives. It's a brave new world of “social media” that can be a useful business tool. You should embrace that world and make it part of your PR efforts.

Okay, you don't buy into the hype that social media is the end all and be all. I'm with you there. Like anything else, the early adopters are frenzied with enthusiasm. There are social media “gurus” so enveloped in the online world that they'd have you believe that people won't be getting their news any other way in the very near future. You can spend thousands going to seminars to hear social media evangelists – and they hope you do. After all, they're running a business too.

But if you're in the trenches of business every day, you know that we're in a transitional time for marketing. Publicists who only use the old tools of PR are heading the way of the dinosaurs. Ok, social media platforms aren't going to replace PR staples like press releases and good-old fashioned relationship-building with the main-stream media right now. But tools like blogs and Twitter are growing in importance as legitimate business communications channels.

Sure, it's troubling that news channeled through social media is often reported by folks who aren't trained like journalists. They have no boundaries, no ethical parameters, and no fact-checking rules. Their world is kind of like the wild, wild west. But, you can't deny that social media deserve a place in the PR toolbox. It's all about impact and influence.

So, put aside your prejudices and embrace social media as another communications channel. Only this channel talks back. And you have to listen. That provides a golden opportunity to interact directly with your current and future customers. It can also connect you to important media who are online and increasingly using social media to pick up tips and story ideas.

Social media fosters emotional connection – and that's the essence of relationships. It's people to people. One on one. Community. And, in the end, no matter what PR techniques or channels you use, your ability to educate and influence is directly connected to relationships and building a community of interest in your business and products.

If you haven't figured out how to network effectively online, then you need to do it soon. If you don't have the time or skill to do it yourself, then hire a PR firm that has the smarts and experience to help you. Build a following on Twitter, get a Facebook page, become LinkedIn, launch a blog, connect with bloggers interested in what you’re selling.

Oh, please. Stop thinking you already have a great online marketing program because you've got a Web site.

It’s not just about a Web site any more.