Janet Lee Johnson | The Art of Marketing

I’m speaking on a panel today at the annual SOCAP symposium in Chicago. Academic Network, a Stericycle company, invited me to join other panelists in talking about social media in food recall situations, and I’m going to live tweet the day’s events.

Follow my tweets @academicnetwork or use the #symp09 hashtag. I know I’ll learn a ton today, and hope to share some social media in action…

According to an article on Nextgov, the National Defense University is about to release a research paper saying that the US Department of Defense must adopt a comprehensive social media strategy in order to improve national security. From Nexgov:

“This is not just techie-geeky stuff, but serious stuff with national security ramifications,” said Linton Wells, a distinguished research professor at NDU who co-wrote the report. “We can’t ignore [social media] if other nations are using it, both friends and adversaries. If the government keeps not making use of these technologies, we’ll fall behind and be unaware of things that could affect us.”

Dividing social media into four categories, researchers recommend several ways to improve security through social media communication channels:

• Inward sharing: sharing information within the agency or department
• Outward sharing: sharing information with other agencies and external groups
• Inbound sharing: obtaining information and input from the public and outside organizations
• Outbound sharing: sharing information with people outside the government, including the public and other nations

It’s only a matter of time before most government agencies begin to utilize the power of social media to gather, share and deliver information. As I prepare for a panel next week on social media and product recalls, I can only hope that businesses and government (most particularly the FDA, CDC and their food and pharmaceutical constituents) begin to engage in the work of collaborating together in the social media realm for the greater good (and safety) of consumers.

Stay tuned for more from the SOCAP (The Society of Consumer Affairs Professionals in Business) Symposium in Chicago next week, where I’m appearing on a panel about Leveraging Social Media in Product Recalls… I’ll be Tweeting about it as well, tune into #symp09…

One of my clients has an iPhone app, FastFigures Financial Calculator for iPhone. Elia has been developing mobile applications for more than 12 years. He produced his first iPhone application this year, and has published a blog post detailing lessons learned after a month in Apple’s iPhone AppStore.

It’s the first real disclosure of marketing tips and considerations I’ve seen, in a crowded field of developers talking about developing iPhone applications.

A few insights from Elia:

Getting found in search is key to success - he actually renamed the product to ensure FastFigures would come up in searches on “finance” “financial” “calculator.”  With more than 30,000 products in the AppStore, search is critical!

Reviews are essential - Elia recommends that if you don’t have twenty people lined up to review your product at launch, don’t bother…

You’ll find what I think is a compelling story about iPhone AppStore success over on the EliaInsider blog. (BTW, he has a ton of other stuff to say about the mobile arena as well.)

According to the Inside Facebook blog, Facebook hit 200 million active users seven months after the most popular US social network hit 100 million users and only 90 days after reaching 150 million. (That’s the power of a site built from the ground up to be viral.)

On average, Facebook has added 500,000 new members a day since late August. 70% of its members are outside the U.S., which I find extremely interesting. Kinda debunks the myth that this social media phenomenon is something businesses can ignore… small, medium or large.

I like Facebook for consumer brands and causes especially, and have found it a great platform on which to blend the personal with a tiny little bit of the professional, or vice versa. (Your mix is up to you - no one should tell you how much of which is okay…)

I hear this question a lot when talking to companies about social media:

“What if someone says something bad about me?”

It’s a practical question that too many Social Media Experts take lightly,

“Well, wouldn’t you rather know they’re saying bad things?”

Um. Sure. That’s helpful. Thanks.

But seriously. If someone says something bad about you in a social media realm, take some advice from a gal who was called ‘pond sum’ by a jealous competitor…

Ignore it if you can.

Assuming the following caveats:

1. If it’s true, apologize immediately and then get to the bottom of it and take care of the source of the complaint. Then let the world (and the complainant) know via social media means - your blog, etc. - when you’ve fixed the problem.
2. If it’s not true - based on thorough research, let it go. But be mindful that (as the Social Media Experts say) you should listen for negative feedback, as you might eventually catch symptoms of internal issues you may not be aware of and need to watch for… A complaint might just be a canary in a coal mine…
3. Do not make public claims that you’ve been wronged by the social media site - like Yelp or Facebook - as they’ve protected themselves well from you and your customers. That will only fan the flames, and there’s nothing like a bully with a bullhorn, once they realize their comments evoke a response.

In my experience, if you’re in the right, it’s best to ignore occasional negative feedback, and let your loyal customers and partners come to your defense when it happens.

Never ask your PR agency to come to your defense, though, unless they do so with full disclosure. Attempts to hide a vested interest will be outed and will certainly fan the flames, and then you’ll have a bigger problem on your hands.

It’s wonderful to encourage your regular customers to write about you on Yelp and review sites like it. Let everyone know:

“We value your feedback. Let us know of your experience with us. And then let the world know, we love our customers to pass the word along.”

A Social Media Fact

The social media realm - especially communities where people vote on others’ reviews - is self-cleansing. A contrarian will likely be known (to anyone who cares to read the accumulation of their reviews) as just that… a contrarian. And sometimes it’s best to have some less than glowing reviews to legitimize a plethora glowing reviews.

A Business Fact

Your best defense against bad reviews is to deliver the products and services you’d be proud to have reviewed. The rest will take care of itself.