Social Media

Social Media

[Author Name]

[Institutional Affiliation(s)]

Social Media

Technology has become an indispensable part of our daily lives. Regardless of age people are using social media platforms regularly. This platform allows its users to create and share content while also connecting them to the whole world. It has made communication easier as people from different regions can communicate easily by utilizing several applications. Due to the ability to connect the whole world, social media companies use it as a tool to market their products. However, with several benefits, it has some disadvantages as well. According to the US constitution, everyone is entitled to give an opinion and has the right of free will so people use this freedom of speech to share their views regarding every matter on social media. Similarly, along with positive feedback, sometimes the companies have to face an immense backlash as well. It is, therefore, necessary that companies who are involved in e-marketing must regularly monitor their websites to avoid any severe consequences (Wendling & Jacobzone, 2013). Typically, negative messages can get out of control in just one glimpse; so if any organization is not monitoring its online activities then it may lead to the downfall of the company.

Marketing managers are responsible to market their products so that more people can purchase them. Not just for marketing the products, a marketing manager is also responsible for scanning social media to mitigate negative feedback. Being a marketing manager of a well-reputed IT firm, it is my responsibility to handle all the social media posting and mitigating negative feedback from the customers. An IT firm is responsible for providing physical and network security, and IT support and management services to the companies that are unable to manage the networks on their own. As cybersecurity is one of the main issues so our company develops software that helps in protecting the network from any cyber-attack. To market our products, I have targeted the big five in the social media that are Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, Twitter, and YouTube. My first strategy is to create loyal followers that will help me in case of a crisis. As companies that have advanced strategies regarding social media can quickly mitigate negative messages that will, in turn, reduce financial loss. As IT firm is responsible for making the software, many customers are not satisfied with the product due to several reasons. They post negative messages regarding the product online that may hinder the business. This is because before buying the product people are more interested in reading the reviews of people who had already bought the product. If a customer sees a negative review, he or she may not buy the product (Lin & Lachlan, 2016).

To deal with these circumstances it is my responsibility to develop a crisis plan that consists of social media protocols and whole team’s responsibilities when a crisis occurs. During a crisis, the first step is to take ownership of the issue as quickly as possible by being honest and transparent (Lin & Lachlan, 2016). Then in case if the product is vulnerable to faults, first apologize for the inconvenience, after that take necessary action to improve the quality of the product. Also, understand the audience first. While promoting a product, a company evaluates different demographics and then launches their product accordingly (Austin & Jin, 2012). So, in the case of negative messages, a company should distinguish an audience and then address all the concerns. Also, to maintain a brand’s integrity it is necessary to avoid feuding on social media rather than just address the customer privately and then explain the whole situation on social media. It is recommended to devise an effective response plan that will help in dealing with negative messages. Furthermore, it is also necessary to organize a training session for the whole team by using fake scenarios so that in a real crisis, the team is prepared to handle it.

References

Austin, L., Fisher Liu, B., & Jin, Y. (2012). How audiences seek out crisis information: Exploring the social-mediated crisis communication model. Journal of Applied Communication Research, 40(2), 188-207.

Lin, X., Spence, P. R., Sellnow, T. L., & Lachlan, K. A. (2016). Crisis communication, learning and responding: Best practices in social media. Computers in Human Behavior, 65, 601-605.

Wendling, C., Radisch, J., & Jacobzone, S. (2013). The use of social media in risk and crisis communication.