Oh, the power of social media! Where once we might have been limited to telling 15 of our closest friends about our negative experience with BrandX, we now have the bully-pulpit of blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and a host of other channels by which to trash our least-favorite brand of the moment. Using social media to complain can be very effective, or it can just trash a brand\u2019s reputation to no good end.<\/p>\n
Admittedly, sometimes,\u00a0it feels like they deserve it.<\/em><\/p>\n On the other hand, saying \u201cYou SUCK, BrandX! You are the WORST people on the planet!\u201d is kind of a waste of everybody\u2019s time. You know \u2013 be very specific. \u201cYou suck\u201d is hardly an actionable complaint. Maybe you think you don\u2019t care, and you\u2019re vengefully hoping they never figure out how to make it better, because there\u2019s a sucking black hole for companies like BrandX and you\u2019d be delighted to see them buried in it, under 16 tons of elephant poop. You\u2019re righteously angry, and you have the faceless Internet Horde on your side. You\u2019ve got Brands A, B, and C\u00a0 gleefully courting your business now and offering you competitive discounts. BrandX made you feel like a nobody, but its competitors know just how important and valuable you are. They\u2019ll treat you right.<\/p>\n Did you bully the other kids on the school playground? Did that get you \u201cin\u201d with the popular kids?<\/p>\n I\u2019m willing to bet money that somewhere down the line, BrandA, BrandB, and BrandC all suck \u2013 for someone. Maybe even for you, once they\u2019ve courted you and won your business. How disappointing is that? And if all you do is shout, \u201cYOU SUCK!!\u201d in all caps, they still won\u2019t know what they can do to make\u00a0your<\/em>\u00a0life any happier. Sure, they\u2019d all like for you to like them (believe it or not, no company has on its annual goals, \u201cGet 70% of our customers pissed off at us, for one reason or another\u201d), but if you bully them and don\u2019t say anything but \u201cYou suck! Everybody go tell BrandX how bad they suck!\u201d and start swearing at and about them, they\u2019ll give up trying and focus on the nice people. Because, really, you\u2019ve just told them that there\u2019s no reasonable thing they can do to make you a happy customer. They\u2019re not going to chain you up and make you keep buying BrandX when you\u2019ve just announced to 5 billion people that you will never do that again.<\/p>\n On the other hand, if you go through the proper, normal channels to get redress for your grievances with BrandX, and still get no satisfaction, you\u2019re not wrong to vent, or to use social media to communicate with the brand. In fact, if you tweet out, \u201cHey,\u00a0@BrandXSocialMedia<\/a>, I got put on hold for 16 hours, fell asleep, and came back to find my support ticket was closed without a fix!\u201d you may get help from higher up and maybe they can prevent the problem from happening to other customers. Everyone\u2019s happy. The larger brands probably have millions \u2013 if not billions \u2013 of products out there. Honestly, if only .01% of a million customers are unhappy, that\u2019s still 100 unhappy people. It\u2019s not like they\u2019re trying to screw you over, personally.<\/p>\n Now imagine there are only 100 customer service reps trying to respond to everything from \u201cHow do I turn this thing on?\u201d to \u201cI\u2019m getting an error code 666666 \u2013 does that mean my digital display toaster\u2019s now possessed by the devil? Why the frig didn\u2019t I just stick with the old one where I just pushed the damned bread down with my jam knife?\u201d You can imagine how a generalized \u201cYou suck\u201d just sinks right to the bottom of the to-do list, even as it demoralizes real human beings who probably don\u2019t suck and had nothing to do with whatever pissed you off in the first place.<\/p>\n I\u2019m not here to judge. I’ve been guilty of ineffective bitching and moaning on social media, too.\u00a0 I\u2019m just here to offer some tips on more effectively using social media to communicate what you want and need from brands. They\u2019re usually quite sincere when they say they want to \u201cengage\u201d with you, but you have to help by meeting them halfway. A few things they will always need from you: contact info (and a way to get that privately, unless you want it blasted all over the ever-lovin\u2019 Internet), specifics of the problem or suggestions, and assurance from you that it really is worth their time to make it right. That\u2019s \u201cassurance,\u201d not \u201cthreats.\u201d<\/p>\n Try to make sure you\u2019re complaining to the right social care account, first. How do you know? Does it have a little \u201cVerified\u201d checkmark in a blue circle? Does it contain some variant of the word \u201cSupport\u201d or \u201cService\u201d or \u201cHelp\u201d in the handle or bio? Is it active? Look at the Tweet stream, news feed, or recent posts to see if anyone\u2019s minding the store. If it hasn\u2019t Tweeted at all in 473 days, is it fair of you to complain that it didn\u2019t respond to\u00a0you<\/em>\u00a0in two?<\/p>\n Make sure that you spell BrandX and its products\u2019 names correctly \u2013 just like what you see on the packaging for their thing you bought. You\u2019d be amazed at how much this helps those folks searching through the haystack. Odds are, Coca-Cola\u2122 won\u2019t find an obscure reference to \u201ckoca koola.\u201d<\/p>\n When a thing has a billion mentions in social media, odds are pretty good that the folks reaching down into the haystacks to find your sharp-tongued barbs are using software to search through large amounts of aggregated data (think “ginormous, machine-baled haystacks – like, all the haystacks on Google”) for what it is the brand is doing well, and what it is they’re doing poorly. Your use of simple, declarative sentences will get faster attention and action than using clever metaphors and sarcasm.<\/p>\n Look, Twitter may be great for getting a brand\u2019s attention, but it\u2019s hard to provide a really good description of the problem, let alone a resolution, in 140 characters. First of all, if you\u2019re going to approach a brand\u2019s customer service Twitter account, it\u2019s a good idea to Follow that account first, so that they can Follow you and send you a private, direct message to get more information. Unless you just want to blast your phone number and\/or email to them in a public tweet: \u201cHey,\u00a0@BrandXSupport<\/a>, call me at 555-555-5555 so I can tell you you suck to your face!\u201d<\/p>\n Seriously, whoever\u2019s manning that account probably doesn\u2019t suck and really doesn\u2019t want to lose you as a customer. They may or may not be able to resolve your issue in a couple of Tweets, but if they can, it’s a win-win. Help them to help you. Try a pleasant<\/em> Tweet, first.<\/p>\n If that doesn\u2019t do the trick, maybe write a simple blog post about exactly what\u2019s going on \u2013 make it very clear, so that anyone can understand exactly what the problem is and what you\u2019d like to see BrandX do about it. Then Tweet something like: \u201cHey,\u00a0@BrandX<\/a>, you suck and here\u2019s why: bit.ly\/why-brandx-sucks \u201d You get to vent, and BrandX has another chance to make it right for you.<\/p>\n It really helps to make sure, when venting to BrandX, that you\u2019re actually on a real BrandX page, and not one of numerous fake BrandX pages. Because the fake ones are probably run by FlyByNight. FlyByNight probably isn\u2019t a competitor of BrandX \u2013 they\u2019re working all sides of the street and trying to sell whatever they can sell – or, worse yet, trying to build up an email marketing list or contact database they can sell or exploit. Or maybe they were set up by another disgruntled customer who got there, first, and now you\u2019re just commiserating \u2013 but BrandX may not even realize it. Make sure that when you say \u201cBrandX you suck,\u201d your complaints aren\u2019t falling on deaf ears.<\/p>\n If you want BrandX to lower its prices, don\u2019t go yelling at it in some far-flung, remote, nobody-ever-goes-here site. They may eventually find your complaint, but it\u2019s like looking for a needle in a haystack and that means they have to hire more hands to reach into the haystack \u2013 raising costs for everybody. Serious complaints left on BrandX\u2019s doorstep will likely be reviewed before the \u201cHah! Tag, you\u2019re it! Betcha can\u2019t find me!\u201d complaints.<\/p>\n Obviously, a verified purchaser\u2019s review will be taken more seriously than someone who may or may not own anything by BrandX. With so many paid reviewers out there, it\u2019s only fair to the actual customers. And speaking of fair, my Grandfather used to say, \u201cYou catch more flies with honey than with vinegar.\u201d Okay, so who the hell wants to attract a bunch of flies? No one. But if you write a fair and balanced review, including whatever\u00a0positive<\/strong>\u00a0points you can sincerely say about BrandX without gagging or feeling the flames of eternal damnation licking at your feet for lying, your opinions and experiences will be taken\u00a0much<\/em>\u00a0more seriously than if you appear to be a shill for Brand Y, or someone who holds a personal grudge against BrandX.<\/p>\n The existence of paid reviews also makes photos (preferably of you, holding your BrandX lemon) and video (wherein you get on your webcam and show off your BrandX lemon or talk about your personal experiences with BrandX) much more valuable than mere text and pretty pictures pulled from BrandX\u2019s own site. Pictures and video are great for showing exactly what the problem looks like, sounds like, and where it is.<\/p>\n Fake reviews may fool the search engines, sometimes, but they rarely fool a brand or a savvy customer.<\/p>\n All of the tips above apply to blogs, as well. The nice thing about blogs is that it gives BrandX a chance to compose a thoughtful reply and engage with you. That is, if<\/strong> they can find your post. You know the whole argument about which is king: content or marketing? If BrandX can\u2019t find your blog<\/em>, let alone your post<\/em>, drowning in the sea of 450 billion other blogs out there, you\u2019re going to get mad at them for ignoring you, aren\u2019t you? Play fair \u2013 see the Twitter section of this post, above. Go directly to BrandX and say, \u201cHey, I\u2019ve got a problem. I describe it here \u2013 bit.ly\/why-brandx-sucks \u2013 can you share this with someone at BrandX who can fix this for me?\u201d At this point, you may consider including other active BrandX Twitter accounts, assuming the support account hasn\u2019t helped, yet.<\/p>\n I had two great experiences with 24 Hour Fitness and their social media customer service. One involved\u00a0empowering employees to make the customer experience better<\/a>, and the other involved a\u00a0weird experience with billing<\/a>. To be fair, after complaining about them, I made sure to give them well-deserved\u00a0kudos<\/a>\u00a0for how they handled my grievances. I\u2019d like to encourage them, and other brands, to keep up the good work. Aren\u2019t you<\/strong> more motivated by praise than by being bashed over the head with a virtual 2\u00d74?<\/p>\n I once had a horrendous experience on a particular airline that\u2019s based in Philadelphia (and now owned by a larger airline). I mean, seriously \u2013 if they were the last airline on the planet and I had to get from Maine to southern California, I\u2019d seriously consider walking. It would probably take me five years, but I\u2019m pretty sure the whole experience would be much more pleasant.\u00a0 I tried complaining to the desk agent. I filled out a comment card and left it with a flight attendant. I filled out a second comment card and mailed it. I wrote a lovely snail mail letter to the head of Customer Service. I wrote a not-so-nice snail mail letter to the head of Customer Service. And finally, I posted that same letter as an\u00a0open letter<\/a>\u00a0on the Internet. I mean, I was\u00a0angry<\/em>\u00a0and they didn\u2019t respond to me\u00a0at all.\u00a0<\/em>But some of their pilots and flight crews did. They logged in and created accounts on the platform I was using for blogging at the time, just so they could leave comments on my post. They wanted me to know they\u00a0shared my pain<\/em>. They expressed their frustration with customers\u2019 attitudes, and I agreed they had some legitimate gripes. They wanted me to understand that the things that went wrong that trip were way beyond their control. And I assured them that I knew all these things \u2013 that the pilots and flight crews had been the only saving grace for this airline. But I never got any official response at all from the airline about my specific complaints.<\/p>\n When a customer goes to this much effort to reach a brand, odds are, they don\u2019t\u00a0want<\/strong>\u00a0to hate the brand. They want restitution, not retribution. When the employees start commiserating with the unhappy customers, there\u2019s an even bigger problem. Sadly, I\u2019d still want to walk, if this were the last airline on the planet.<\/p>\n But to be fair, they are (amazingly) still in business (albeit owned by a much better airline, now), and my daughter recently had a much more positive experience with the same airline and for that, I\u2019m glad. It has not been a good month for air safety, and I will admit that I held my breath and said a special prayer for her\u00a0and<\/strong>\u00a0this airline till she was safely home. Yes, I still hold a grudge, years later \u2013 but getting my\u00a0child<\/em>\u00a0safely from here to there is how you start<\/em> to chip away at it.<\/p>\nComplain to the Right Person!<\/h2>\n
Spelling and Grammar DO Matter!<\/h2>\n
Twitter<\/h2>\n
Facebook & Google+<\/h2>\n
Review Sites<\/h2>\n
Blogs & The Open Letter<\/h2>\n
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