New Media
5 Tips To Avoid The Corporate Blogging Blues: #1 Negative Comments
by Bobby McDonald
Over the past several months, I've noticed that potential and existing clients are much more informed about the value of a company blog. A typical blogging conversation used to focus almost exclusively on the "Why?" question – "Why should we have a company blog? What is the value of a company blog?" But recently, the focus has shifted, and more often than not, the main question has become: "How?"
Even as firms see the value in creating a company blog, there are many important points to consider and discuss with a client before that first post is taken live. Some thought and preparation on the front-end of a blog launch can save a company a lot of time, money and hassle. In the spirit of "How," my next five blog posts will provide tips and discussion on how to best avoid the corporate blogging blues. These tips are not meant to be a checklist for starting a company blog. Instead, these are the answers I give to frequently asked corporate blogging questions.
Tips to Avoid The Corporate Blogging Blues: #1 Negative Comments
One of the most common questions asked about corporate blogging is, "How do we keep people from posting negative comments on our blog?"
While this is a valid question, I encourage clients to look at negative comments in a different context. The truth is, people are already discussing your company's brand or product online. It's happening on Twitter, on Facebook, in forums and a thousand other places across the Internet. If, or rather when, a negative comment is posted to a company blog, at least you are aware of the problem!
If that same complaint was posted in a forum somewhere – and was allowed to run unchecked for several days (assuming the lack of online listening tools) – the complaint could quickly garner support and represent a much larger threat than the original issue (for example, Motrin Moms).
Although not possible in all circumstances, the ability to fix an issue, to go above and beyond, resonates with most blog commenters. Often, all the negative commenter wants is to feel as though they have been heard and their situation has been considered beyond "company policy" and the automated phone system. A negative comment is not something to be hated and feared. It's an opportunity. It's (hopefully) honest feedback and an opportunity for a company to reach out directly to a jaded customer to fix the problem.
If a company goes out of its way to fix someone's negative experience (negative comment), the company can turn these brand stalwarts into their biggest fans! Newly converted fans are often more vocal in their praise of the company than they ever were with negative comments.
Here are a few other tips and tricks to make sure the comments on a business blog are appropriate and well-maintained:
- Create a Terms of Service statement which explicitly defines situations in which blog comments will be removed (cursing, racial slurs, etc.).
- Require certain information for comment posting (name, email, spam test, etc.).
- Set up e-mail reminders for the authors when someone comments on their post.
Photo Source: websuccessdiva
Permalink | 02/08/2010 |
