Marketing in the digital age has really forced companies and individuals to relinquish a lot of the control they once had over the way their brand is discussed and perceived.
Feedback garnered online is extremely valuable - but it can of course go either way and brands must realise this. Not everyone will like you/your product, but that's just life and there's not a whole lot you can do about it. Comments are real, they're what people really think; and trying to influence this by spamming comments (pretending to be a customer etc) just doesn't work.
If your brand is great, you'll get great feedback. If it's not, you'll get valuable feedback about the things you can change. Embrace this.
Last week you may have seen us tweeting about the despair we feel when writing about small Irish beauty brands. We're absolutely thrilled to see new Irish business in the beauty/cosmetic area and if we can find a way to write about them we always do our best. But as honesty is our policy and as we don't moderate comments in general, you can guess what happens next.
No sooner have we published a post, having tried out a new product/visited a salon for a new treatment or whatever, then we might as well throw our hands in the air and pull the post.*
Instantly the distributor/the brand/the owners/their mothers, rush onto the comments and start to spam.
"This is the BEST bla I have ever used! Go team bla!" (this will be from the distributor/owner/mammy)
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"I came across this quite by accident in the salon of bla. Her phone number is xxx and the owner is really pretty and so nice!" (this will be from a salon owner/her mammy)
"I HATE this product! It brought me out in a rash and is the most horrible thing in the world. In fact it is devils frogspawn" (this is from the competitor down the road)
"This product is NOT made of cardboard! How dare you say this. " (it is clearly made of cardboard.)
And then comes a rash of angry emails, threats, tantrums and accusations that we have practically brought down the economy.
But please don't do that, because it's the fastest way to ensure we can't have any dealings with you again. And that's a really unfortunate truth.
Instead try this. Be yourself - don't pretend to be someone else.
Read what Gavin Duffy said in a comment when he spotted our review of his Tan Organic Ad. It's safe to say that he didn't like what we'd written, but with a good deal of charm and understanding of the situation he turned the whole thing around. And now instead of being mind-boggled by the ad, I understand why and how it turned out the way it did. Which has caused me to view it in a whole new light. And also made me feel like giving his teenagers a big huge hug.
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I felt like rushing out to buy a bottle of Tan Organic there and then.
* Of course we have worked with many fantastic Irish brands who fully understand the power of visitor interaction and reaction on blogs. Contact us if you'd like to work with us to increase your brand's visibility.
