Black Milk, Social Listening, and the DND Rule: Responses to Jacquelynn's Discussion Questions
7:15 PM
1. Kerpen espouses the “do not delete” rule,
described as follows (2011, p. 77):
“Unless a comment is obscene, profane, bigoted, or
contains someone’s personal and private information, never delete it from a
social network.”
As Kerpen explains, deleting a comment is considered
offensive, and signals a lack of interest in customers’ concerns. A customer
who feels ignored or insulted will view the brand less favorably, and will
share the experience with anyone else online who will listen. In the process,
he or she is likely to gain supporters and continue to hurt the brand’s
reputation (Kerpen, 2011, p. 78). Failing to respond at all also indicates a
lack of caring on the organization’s part, and organizations should respond to
positive feedback as well in order to demonstrate appreciation for their
customers (2011, p. 86).
2. Listening first and continuing to listen are
important aspects of social media strategies for several reasons. Listening
allows brands to gain insight into their customers’ and prospects’ needs,
desires, and pain points. By tuning into customers’ conversations, brands can
discover what is working and what isn’t, while finding new opportunities to
provide satisfaction and delight. Listening also allows brands to understand
the culture of a social media platform, and the tone of a hashtag or
conversation. Failing to listen can result in misunderstandings and lost
business opportunities—which a competitor who is listening can easily take
advantage of—as well as damaged brand reputation (2011, p. 18).
A recent incident involving Black Milk Clothing
illustrates the importance of listening and the DND rule.
Black Milk is a company whose customers are
intensely passionate. Black Milk Clothing has become a multi-million dollar
company by relying solely on organic reach via social media for its marketing (Khan,
2013). Earlier this year, the company posted a meme on its
Facebook fan page that offended many of its customers.
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| Image via: http://wallpapercave.com/nfl-logo-wallpaper |
Instead of listening and apologizing immediately,
Black Milk deleted critical comments, banned users, and told offended customers
to simply unlike the page. Thousands of fans followed the brand’s misguided
advice, and complained elsewhere online.
References:
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.
Khan, H. (2013, October 21). How to
Build a Multi-Million Dollar Ecommerce Business With $0 Marketing Budget —
Ecommerce Blog by Shopify. Retrieved September 23, 2014, from http://www.shopify.com/blog/9721608-how-to-build-a-multi-million-dollar-ecommerce-business-with-0-marketing-budget
Russon, M.-A. (2014, May 6). Black
Milk Geek Clothing Brand Sorry over Star Wars Day Facebook Meme. Retrieved
September 23, 2014, from http://www.ibtimes.co.uk/black-milk-geek-clothing-brand-sorry-over-star-wars-day-facebook-meme-1447384
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