1to1 Magazine - November/December 2008 - (Page 43) tation Daily—or Your Customers Will Do It for You o keep tabs on word of mouth in real time. media monitoring].” He says it’s so new that most companies have not formalized any processes around it yet. In JetBlue’s case, it’s been part of the communications staff’s daily responsibilities for the past year. “We know that in the social media realm, we have to be there when something happens,” Johnston says. “Go where your customers go and are comfortable. But remember, you’re a guest there.” His staff of 10 monitors JetBlue’s online reputation with free tools including Twitter, RSS feeds, Google Alerts, and Technorati alerts, most of which pop up on their computer screen in real time. He communicates about a dozen times a day with customers. “It’s important to show customers that there are people behind the company,” Johnston says. Typical questions include “Why don’t you fly to X city,” or “What are your policies about pets?” His goal is to be an information booth, not a billboard. He shies away from using the medium for promotions or sales activities. In one example, he noticed a post on microblogging site Twitter that a customer was concerned he wouldn’t make a connecting flight. Johnston immediately responded to the customer with the gate information and the actual take-off time of the connection, ensuring the traveler that he had plenty of time. The catch, according to Johnston, is that you must listen before jumping into the online conversation. Each community— blogs, Twitter, user forums, etc.— has its own rules, and it’s easy to overstep bounds. For example, he watched for about three months before he posted his first “tweet” on Twitter. “It’s about dipping your toe in a little at a time.” Trackur.com’s Beal commends JetBlue for using Twitter, though he warns that it might be too fastpaced for companies with limited It’s not just a question of what resources. “It’s very conversational people are saying, but also where and fast-moving. It could be hard and when they are saying it. for some companies to manage it so often,” Beal says. He recommends that companies start with free tools, benefit, social media monitoring can have a and then expand to social media vendors if financial impact as well, especially on quicktheir monitoring needs grow. moving stock prices. Beal cites as an example In addition to the customer experience Google’s recent release of its new Chrome Web browser. Soon after the release, bloggers were complaining about portions of Google’s user agreement. Google changed the agreement within 24 hours of learning about customers’ comments. Negative sentiment could have had an impact on Wall Street if it wasn’t fixed so quickly, Beal notes. He also points to an instance in which Apple stock fell on rumors of a delayed product launch. The company issued a statement directly to bloggers that they were false, and the stock price recovered quickly. Beal says it’s these financial examples that will wake up companies to the idea of proactive reputation management. “As companies realize how this affects their bottom line, they will pay more attention to it.” > Elizabeth Glagowski When Communication Goes Bad When monitoring social media, it’s OK not to respond to everything. In one instance, someone posted a comment on Twitter about a celebrity sighting on a JetBlue flight. Morgan Johnston, JetBlue’s manager of corporate communications, received an alert and “followed” the customer on Twitter—he had something funny to say about the situation. The customer got nervous that JetBlue was watching him with a Big Brother-type presence. Johnston immediately emailed the customer with an apology, saying there was no such corporate policy, and he just had a joke to share. “Sometimes you have to maintain some distance.” November/December 2008 43 http://www.Trackur.com?s http://www.1to1media.com/view.aspx?ItemID=29293
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