Eek! How to React When You've Been Slammed on Twitter

And How I Saved Myself From Looking Like a Clown

Posted by Freddie Laker on 12.18.08 @ 12:05 PM

At best, people have ambivalent feeling about clowns.

Killer Klowns From Outer Space

On one end of the spectrum, there's the relatively benign Bozo the Clown, a historic television favorite whose name implied entertaining, well-meaning buffoonery. There's also the sad beauty of the crying clown of the opera Paglicci. Then, at the other end, the worst nightmare of anyone suffering from full-blown coulrophobia -- the "scary clown."

Pretty much any way you look at it, there's not a lot of upside to being called a clown. So imagine my feelings when my PR firm sent me this post they found on Twitter about my company's recent attendance at an Adobe trade show:

"I thought Sapient was a mgmt consulting co? They're the booth next to us at Adobe Max and they're complete clowns" --Message posted on Twitter by [name withheld], November 19, 2008

My initial reaction was as impulsive. I wanted to shoot off a response along the lines of Joe Pesci in Good Fellas: "...I'm funny how, I mean funny like I'm a clown, I amuse you?" I mean, being called a clown typically isn't good (unless you're running a clown college, then it's merely acknowledgment of professional achievement).

Then, I wanted to correct the misinformation: Sapient is actually the fastest-growing, independent interactive agency in the world.

(I realize that, of course, since I have this forum, now I don't have to... but let's imagine I don't).

Then, I decided I would find this person's contact information and personally reach out to him and ask what our team was doing that had offended him and see if I could rectify the situation or provide feedback to our team.

Ultimately, I let it slide. The tweet was actually written by a reporter who doesn't cover the interactive space so his opinion in regard to our status as clowns (to which he's entitled) is largely irrelevant. He was, however, incorrect about our status as an interactive agency. Was it worth a quick, polite tweet to correct him? Upon reflection, I realized that engagement would have merely drawn further attention to the tweet and would have potentially resulted in some unpleasant back-and-forth with the potential for broader pickup. For now it (this article notwithstanding) isn't appearing on any searches I can find and is having minimum impact on our businesses reputation.

Ultimately, this is a useful lesson that marketers will have to learn in this new age of citizen journalists. Social media presents tremendous opportunities to connect with potential customers but it also requires a thick skin, some self-restraint and, most importantly, the wisdom to know when and how to communicate. Everyone's a critic and with social tools like blogs, Twitter and even the commentary of YouTube, it's increasingly easy to publicly voice satisfaction with, criticism of or just questions about a brand.

Here are some tips on how to stay informed and react appropriately:

Monitor/Research. You may not respond to every negative posting but it's a good idea to know what is being said about your brand. On the simple side, Twitter has an excellent search function (search.twitter.com) that allows for quick scans to keep track of your brand on Twitter. You can also use basic blog searching tools like Google or Technorati to look for chatter related to any keywords. This can create insanity, however, so use the 80/20 rule here -- spend 80% of your time tracking the most influential contributors and 20% taking stock of what else is being said.

Try analysis tools. You might not always be able to get a truly deep and immersive understanding of what's being said about any subject, person or brand using these methods. I strongly recommend, if you have the resources, to use a full-blown social-media-analysis tool or service. It will literally change the way you market. I've spent some time analyzing the best way to pick a tool out of the over 60 vendors on the market.

Consider the source. Look at the recent around Johnson and Johnson's ill-advised Motrin Mom campaign. Angry "Mommy Bloggers," led by Los Angeles blogger Jessica Gottlieb and her 1,000-plus bloggers, used Twitter to get mighty J&J to do an about-face on a large ad campaign. So there's power in numbers. As social media gadfly Peter Shankman said on his blog, "Mommy-Bloggers are not a voice to be messed with." That is a situation that requires a thoughtful, timely response. Conversely, the cranky individual making an offhand comment to his dozen or so followers probably doesn't merit a response.

Tone. You're not writing a letter to your bitter ex-wife. Here's the tricky one and the one I see most commonly botched. First it's important to note that if you're paying attention as recommended above, things won't get so out of control that you have to publish a letter from your CEO on the home page of your website. When you do find something that you'd like to address, send a personable email that engages the other person. Encourage them to respond with more feedback -- even offer to get on the phone. You'll be shocked to see the difference this makes. If anyone doubts me, look at what Comcast has done with their digital engagement team. (As a note to several other companies, I don't care how nice your lawyer is -- don't have your legal firm send the note either.)

Opinion or fact? Is it simply a quickly-dashed-off opinion, or is it something that is completely incorrect? And if it's the latter, is it dangerously incorrect—something that could have ramifications with customers, partners, investors, or the media?

Ultimately, think twice before you respond. One of the challenges of social networks like Twitter is the syndication capabilities. Followers will respond to items and others will post their tweets to Facebook as their status lines, which often invites further comment. Don't lose your cool with a hurtful 140-character response -- who knows where it may appear? I didn't want to see references to myself as "Sapient's Snarky Clown," for example.

When in doubt, think of the sage words your mother probably gave you regarding sticks and stones and how they hurt more than names. She probably also told you not to be afraid of clowns. Sometimes it seems like there are a lot of clowns out there in marketing so she may have been wrong about that one.

~ ~ ~
Freddie Laker is the director of digital strategy at Sapient. He has also founded the Society of Digital Agencies, a collective of notable digital agencies focused on thought leadership and positive industry change and blogs at www.takemetoyourleader.com.

11 Comments

By SEAN | BOSTON, MA December 19, 2008 12:50:00 am:

And you can very easily create a feed for a brand, keyword, etc. (add to your reader or iGoogle or whatever). Then you don't have to rely on actively going to search or get it emailed to you by your agency...

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By Kevin | New York, NY December 19, 2008 09:36:21 am:

Or on the other hand, Sapient could figure out its brand positioning and do some marketing around it. Go to your own website and figure out why someone, even a lowly reporter, would think Sapient is a "mgmt consulting company." Nice tab for "Trading & Risk Management" - sounds very interactive.

You can't go straight to Twatter if you haven't covered off on the most basic elements of marketing strategy. Too bad i stopped blogging this AM -this would have been a nice topic/case study.

Kevin Horne - NYC

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By ajomartin | Phoenix, AZ December 19, 2008 11:21:39 am:

I oversee digital media at the Phoenix Suns and recently taught Shaq how to tweet. Sports fans are emotionally charged to begin with and Tweeps (Twitter audience) have obviously mastered the art of vocalizing their opinions. This proves to be an influential combo. Our organization learns more and more every day, through trial and error, about the balance of listening and responding. Go Suns! (Twitter names @the_real_shaq and @PhoenixSunsGirl)

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By adexchanger | New york, NY December 19, 2008 11:25:07 am:

Freddie - In regards to defending yourself on Twitter, it helps to have an article placed in Ad Age to respond to detractors, too, right?

www.adexchanger.com

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By khessert | CHARLOTTE, NC December 19, 2008 03:09:20 pm:

The potency of twitter is mighty. After launching Shaq into the twitter universe,this week we invited people to join the first ever virtual birthday party for Joe Pa, Penn State's 82 yr old football coach. It has been a great success without him even being on twitter. We also recommended twitter to LPGA star Natalie Gulbis as a tool for her to talk directly to fans around the globe. Ignore the medium at your peril BUT like in the traditional media choose your battles carefully.

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By writingroads | West Tisbury, MA December 23, 2008 10:50:25 am:

Such a good post. I can not applaud your efforts and ability, to just stay quiet, loudly enough. Off I go to hail your wisdom with a lovely tweet. This is a new world and people are wondering how in the heck to behave...I also subscribe to this train of thought: 'Do unto others...' You know the rest.

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By MARC | SILVER SPRING, MD December 23, 2008 10:54:30 am:

Clown, eh? I was actually called a "tool" on Twitter in response to a blog post. It inspired me to write a follow-on post about how to respond to negative comments on a blog. Here's a link:

http://strategicguy.blogspot.com/2008/11/life-as-tool.html

Freddie, excellent article!

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By eax | Bloomington, IN December 23, 2008 11:36:15 am:

I honestly have to say that I can't get too worked up about anything that happens on Twitter. I work in communications for a large university that is known internationally both for its business school and its IT degrees, yet no one I know "twitters." No students, no colleagues, no friends, no family. If someone bashed me on Twitter it wouldn't matter because no one would read it. After reading article after article about people obsessing over Twitter, I'm quite convinced that the only people that care are other disillusioned ad execs. Surely, there must be better ways to invest your time?

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By eax | Bloomington, IN December 23, 2008 11:43:24 am:

Let me correct myself before I get blasted from Twitter hounds - I'm sure *some* people Twitter, but I would argue that it's not enough to justify the time it sucks from more valuable pursuits.

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By eax | Bloomington, IN March 6, 2009 09:23:13 am:

I have to follow up on my earlier posting. It's been almost three months since I blasted Twitter as a waste of time. Back then, I literally knew no one who was using Twitter. Since then, Twitter has exploded. It reminds me of the time I turned down the text messaging package for my cell phone, then within a month all of my friends were text messaging and I had to go crawling back to the Sprint store and upgrade my account. Not only have I joined Twitter, but I have encouraged my fiancee to join twitter to help promote her business. I still think that perhaps a bit too much emphasis is put on Twitter when time could be spent in better ways focusing on technology that either offers more reach or more rich communication; however, I can now see the benefits of Twitter as a piece of the marketing mix. I stand corrected!

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By cecipf | New York, NY August 30, 2009 04:28:26 pm:

I can't think of, immediately anyway, an industry where this kind of situation arises more frequently than in hospitality.

You sleep, you know how a hotel should be run. You eat, so you have every right to dictate how a restaurant should be run, how a dish should be cooked, served. Most people agree on that premise, or else we wouldn't be witnesses to the success that is and has been Zagat's and Citysearch and Yelp.

That said, yes, as a guest you have a right to your opinion and are free to post it wherever you can find nowadays, whether it's YELP or an up-and-coming I need to add to the list, BooRah.

The problem develops when someone who is talking out of their hat has a clever or funny or distinctly credible way of phrasing things. Then that business' reputation is at risk from a negative review that may have gone viral, if only in the sense that it influenced subsequent reviewers pushing them to be undeservedly panned to such a degree.

It's happened to me, in fact, and I am an owner of a restaurant and a consultant to other ones, so I should know better. Sigh.

So, oh wizened readers and writers of AdAge, when then? What are our options to stem the flood of negative comments to our profiles and reputations when in an industry where people naturally turn to community reviews by their fellow guests?

Cecilia Pineda Feret
@cecipf

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