After Facebook unveiled a new advertising system, individual Pages emerged as major customer interaction hubs for an array of brands irrespective of size or domain. Simultaneously, the complex logistics of managing a vast amount of fan conversation had to be developed as well, especially when things go wrong. a business needs to have in place a comprehensive strategy to manage such situations more tactful.
A case in point is Lowe’s that recently pulled its ad campaign from a reality TV program showcasing American Muslims, after receiving a barrage of complaints from aggrieved community, the Florida Family Association, in particular. The North Carolina-based firm apologized, stating, ‘it appears we managed to step into a hotly contested debate with strong views from virtually every angle and perspective.’
Once the news of its backtracking, other customers joined in, and soon they were expressing their displeasure against the advertising on its Facebook Page as well. A particular post on the Page received almost 28,000 comments – of all hues – in only a few hours. Under normal circumstances, such hateful or profane would have been deleted. Lowe’s would normally delete these types of comments. However, the backlash was so severe that the company simply failed to moderate its fans and handle the scale of adverse comments in such a short span of time. Lowe’s (Home Improvement social media director), Brad Walters, was quoted as saying:
“Lowe’s received thousands of comments from many sides of the issue. We let the debate continue on social media sites of the company, removing only the most hateful ones and, in some cases violent, that clearly violate our policy. While we do appreciate the desire to discuss previous ads, the focus of our social channels is helping customers with their home improvement needs.”
Learn to deal with negative news flow
But the fact remains that the company didn’t have a contingency plan to deal with the sudden swift scale of comments it was bombarded with in no time. It opted to delete the original post, and so also the thousands of comments along with it. Thankfully, the situation has been controlled with a piece of handling once the company finally regrouped itself.
The point to be made here is that it wouldn’t suffice for a brand any longer to scroll through its ubiquitous Facebook Wall, responding, moderating and managing user-driven content intermittently at its own convenience. This can hurt in case of a sudden negative development. The adverse comments’ flow can be better handled with help of experts whose timely intervention can acquaint with services, tool and best possible practices to pacify users and tackle a wave of comments that can dent your online reputation and adversely affect the brand image.
Online reputation managers can work closely with you to form review/ escalation processes for testing peak events.
