The ability to connect with people via social media, and share stories, images, and videos is truly astonishing. Through sites like Instagram and Facebook, users can update their posts by the minute making it possible for a story to go viral in seconds. But the power of social media can come at a price, especially when people post via social media that don’t have a place on the sites. There is a recent example of a company that had to take action when their employees inappropriately shared images via social media. A Subway restaurant in Ohio fired two teen employees who posted vulgar photos to their social networks.  “In one of the photos, a teen put his genitals on bread, and the other employee claims he froze his own urine in a bottle” (Yost, 2013, para. 4). Not only were the employees actions appalling and inappropriate, but given the establishment was a restaurant, Subway also had health concerns to worry about.

image via google images

I believe the two teens who posted these images were fully aware of what they were doing, and the post was not an accident. In my opinion, it’s most likely the case that the employees were trying to look cool to their friends and brag about what they did at work. And ultimately this fault in judgment led to these two employees to lose their jobs. I feel that the actions Subway took were necessary and correct. From what I can tell, though, the company did not issue any press releases or take any action to address the public. The main actions taken were firing in the employees. The scandal resulted in “the health department is investigating” the store as well (Yost, 2013, para. 4). I feel that the company could have addressed the situation publicly through a press conference or providing more details of the case.

Focusing on the 9 edicts, there isn’t one specifically that relates to this situation. However, had the company had enforced policies about using social media networks or mobile devices at work, this situation may have been avoided, since the mobile devices were the avenue for these employees to post something online.

If I were implementing social media policy for my organization, I think there would need to be a clearly defined explanation of how the use of social media would work for my organization, and what the expectations of using social media while at work or as it links to the company’s name. Two guidelines that apply to an employee’s personal use are that opinions are largely protected and that employers may restrict employees’ commercial use of company marks (Halpem, 2012). Employees have the right to free speech and they are allowed to have opinions of the company, industry, and whatever else might relate to the organization. However, that is why I feel that if the employee is posting either on behalf of the company or they are mentioning the company, then they need to clearly understand the policies in place when referring to the company in the personal use. So while their rights should be protected, the company’s logo and anything else that defines the company should also be protected through the policies I would create.

Two guidelines relating to social media use when an employee is representing the organization are that employers may prohibit employee “rants” and confidentiality clauses should be narrowly tailored (Halpem, 2012). There are trade secrets that exist in my company, and if an employee does decide to go on a rant and/or share those secrets (which are not theirs to share) the company should be allowed to take action against that employee. At that point, they are demonstrating their freedom of speech, sharing information that is not theirs, and therefore the organization can act.

References: 

Halpem, S. (2012, December 3). When is Your Company's Social Media Policy an Unfair Labor Practice? Recent NLRB Decisions Offer Long-Awaited Guidance for Employers | The National Law Review. Retrieved February 20, 2015, from http://www.natlawreview.com/article/when-your-company-s-social-media-policy-unfair-labor-practice-recent-nlrb-decisions-

Yost, D. (2013, July 22). Subway Restaurant Workers Fired After Allegedly Posting Lewd Photos. Retrieved from http://www.nbc4i.com/story/22904250/subw

The Buyer Persona and Social Media

The key to connecting with your target audience or buyer persona is through identifying what makes them tick, what are their goals and aspirations? Scott (2013) states, “By segmenting millions of voters into distinct buyer personas, candidates built marketing campaigns and PR programs that appeal specifically to each. Contrast this approach with a one-size-fits-all campaign that targets everybody but appeals to nobody” (Scott, 2013, p. 140). Without understanding your target or specific buyer personas, marketing becomes one way communication from the company to the masses, and misses an opportunity to engage with a specific target audience.

One brand that has identified a buyer persona for their target extremely well is Dove, the health and beauty brand from Unilever. Dove has built its brand equity on delivering beauty products to help bring out what’s beautiful in real women all over the world. By using real women in all of their advertising and online communication, Dove is able to connect with their buyer persona who is a real woman, not a supermodel, who does not want to compromise beauty while caring for her body.  Dove connects with these women on social media, through posts that get at the very core of how their key target thinks and wants to feel.

image via facebook

Dove is also active on Twitter encouraging women to share what they #feelbeautifulfor. In 2014, Dove released an online video to show women how they perceive their own beauty and then how it’s perceived by others. Dove Real Beauty Sketches sparked a social media frenzy that received news coverage on major national outlets. 

image via youtube

This type of advertising and social media activity connects so emotionally with Dove’s target in such a way that sparks buzz about the brand and engages the consumer with a brand they already know and love.

Hendrick’s Gin is another brand that is unique and caters to a very specific type of drinker. On their website, Hendrick’s encourages drinkers to “join the society of the unusual”. Hendrick’s has a unique flavor profile as a that is “oddly infused” with rose and cucumber. A gin that is unlike any other gin out there. 

image via google.com/images

The buyer persona for this brand is a very niche gin drinker, but because the flavor is so unusual for a gin drink, the brand can sway vodka drinkers to try gin as well. Because of the very specific type of drinker that this brand attracts, if I were running the social media for this brand, I would use mainstream social media to raise awareness of the brand. Then, I would use blogs to reach this very niche target. Scott (2013) states, “If you write a niche blog…then you’re not competing with 112 million other blogs…If you have a small niche, you may interest only a few hundred readers. But you’ll reach the right readers” (Scott, 2013, p. 239).

Success for this type of brand that engages with a niche audience begins with sales. But that is not the end. Given the niche target, success looks like gaining influential bloggers to begin writing about Hendrick’s, to share the story of this brand. Getting the story out there is just the beginning of influence. “…Influencers don’t even need a massive number of followers or years of experience on Twitter. They just have to make things happen” (Schaefer, 2012, p. 8). Influencers endorsing Hendrick’s through blogs or on Twitter can allow Hendrick’s to reach the right people who fit the target buyer persona.

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Schaefer, M. (2012). Return on influence. New York: McGraw-Hill.

Scott, D. M. (2013). The new rules of marketing & PR: How to use social media, online video, mobile applications, blogs, news releases, & viral marketing to reach buyers directly (4th ed.). Hoboken, N.J.: Wiley.

Transparency and Social Media

When I think about transparent companies, the first one that comes to mind is Zappos.com. Zappos.com is an online retailer that is “Powered by Service”. The company is very well-known for its ability to provide customer service and fast delivery. On Facebook, the company has nearly 2 million likes and the timeline is incredibly active with one or more posts in a day, almost every day (Zappos.com, n.d.). On Twitter, the company has over 30,000 followers and over 12,000 tweets (Zappos.com, n.d.). The majority of posts to Twitter and Facebook are positive, praising the company and its ability to deliver orders within 24 hours of them being placed. This concept is part of Zappos.com’s point of differentiation from other online retailers, a focus on customer service. The website boasts, “We've been asked by a lot of people how we've grown so quickly, and the answer is actually really simple... We've aligned the entire organization around one mission: to provide the best customer service possible. Internally, we call this our WOW philosophy” (“About”, n.d.).

However, there are customers that are unhappy with Zappos.com. A recent example of excellent customer service and transparency on Twitter is in response to @TimVirgin’s tweet regarding the state of the box he ordered when it was delivered from Zappos.com; “Hey @UPSHelp If you didn't like my shoes I got from @zappos just tell me, it's not the boxes fault. #shippingfail pic.twitter.com/VMbVNZXJ6j” (@TimVirgin, 2015). When you look into the tweet, the issue wasn’t even a problem with Zappos.com’s service, but actually an issue for UPS. However, @TimVirgin mentioned Zappos in the Tweet and a representative from the company responded, “@TimVirgin Yikes! Sorry this happened, Tim. If you have a moment to give us call we can help” (@TimVirgin, reply, 2015). Ultimately, @TimVirgin ordered more product from Zappos.com. It’s this type of customer service that increased sales with this particular customer.

There are also companies out there who are not as quick to respond to reviews and issues on social media. As Kerpen (2011) states, “Communication is 50 percent listening and 50 percent talking” (Kerpen, 2011, p. 14).  In the connected world we live in today, it’s not enough for companies to just advertise, they have to listen to what’s being said about them and respond. Without a voice from the company, it’s very likely that customers’ word of mouth marketing (positive or negative) can influence potential customers’ decision on whether or not to shop. One example in particular is a company that is near my hometown in Milford, CT. My parents had a terrible experience at Q-Gardens. After their experience, my mom ended up going on social media and sharing her story. In a search online, there are actually several bad reviews, including a 1 star overall rating for the company on Yelp (Q-Gardens, n.d.). I know several people who stopped shopping there because of the poor customer service, and opt for home and garden stores like Lowe’s and Home Depot to find what they need instead. Without responses to customer complaints, I believe that it will be hard for Q-Gardens, or any company for that matter to hang on to customers. The example of Zappos.com’s activity on social media is a great one, where customers actually state that they will shop again because of the phenomenal customer service they received. In this day and age, with so much competition it’s necessary for companies to be active on social media.

References:

“About”. [n.d.]. Zappos.com. Retrieved February 8, 2015 from http://about.zappos.com/

Kerpen, D. (2011). Likeable social media: How to delight your customers, create an irresistible brand, and be generally amazing on facebook (& other social networks). New York: McGraw-Hill.

Q-Gardens. [n.d.]. Yelp.com. Retrieved February 8, 2015, from http://www.yelp.com/biz/q-garden-patio-and-garden-center-milford?hrid=InW2QcfSvUeaJOFhyWtqjg&utm_campaign=search_listing&utm_source=yahoo

@TimVirgin. (2015, February 3). Twitter.com. Retrieved February 7, 2015 from https://twitter.com/zappos/status/562731831171514368

Zappos.com. [n.d.]. In Facebook. Retrieved February 7, 2015, from https://www.facebook.com/zappos/timeline

Zappos.com. [n.d.]. In Twitter. Retrieved February 7, 2015, from https://twitter.com/zappos/with_replies