Whether it’s corporate America, the government or the social media campaign for your business, the buzz is about transparency, a fancy word for honesty. Whatever you call it, however, being honest with your market, your audience and the public in general is of utmost importance in today’s society because of the current and rapidly evolving future state of communications technology.
Whether you’re a fan or not of Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, blogging, mobile websites, texting and the like, huge numbers of people are and are sharing up-to-the-minute news and information via these social mediums. Breaking news is no longer strictly in the hands of professionals who are limited to some extent by reporting solely what they’re told. Stories go viral every day, “reported” by individuals with a smartphone or a Twitter account who just happen to stumble upon an event—events as significant as the bin Laden raid in Pakistan to as trivial as what one ate for lunch.
Individuals to businesses to entire governments can’t hide anymore, at least not for very long. (How long was Congressman Anthony Weiner’s … ahem … photo on Twitter before he came to his senses and took it down?) The point is if it’s newsworthy—and as we’ve established, virtually everything is fair game—it will likely be “reported.”
So what’s a business to do? Two things. First, don’t fight Big Brother. Embrace him. He’s watching, and in the grand scheme of things, that’s a good thing. Run an ethical and reputable business. Treat your customers and employees fairly. Be a good corporate citizen. Go above and beyond. If there’s nothing scandalous, illegal or unfair about your business practices, and, heck, maybe even some wholesome qualities to them, chances are most of the news about your company will be positive.
Which brings us to No. 2: When you get a bad online review, a negative Tweet, a bash in the Facebook—and you will no matter how snow white you strive to be—respond honestly and in a timely manner, and express a sincere effort to address the poster’s concerns. People tend to respond more favorably to a negative event when there is a caring and understandable response to it than when the negative event stands alone.
That’s transparency in a nutshell. Keep your nose clean in the first place, and when a customer becomes unreasonable or a negative event occurs, address it immediately, publicly and transparently.
Got questions about social media and the direction of your advertising? At Ryan William’s Agency, we can help. We’re a full-service ad agency serving a wide array of South Florida businesses with their advertising and marketing needs, from print ads, television, radio and collateral materials to website design, SEO and SEM, and social media campaigns. Give us a call today.
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