A trend has been occurring within the twittersphere of companies signing off of twitter. Multiple messages post each day telling followers the voice behind the twitter is account is signing off. I guess the company views this message as a type of virtual voicemail. Sorry, we can’t answer your tweet right now, but the customer/company relationship is so important we want to make sure you know that we are off work. What??
I wonder how the same company who “signs off” twitter everyday would handle a Social Media firestorm, those do not always happen between 9-5 Eastern. Seriously! One-Fifth of the United States lives in the Eastern time zone so, why exactly are we closing social media at 5pm Eastern? What about the other four-fifths of the United States. When its 5pm Eastern its only 3pm on the West Coast
Freelancers work whenever and wherever possible; sometimes this means odd hours or odd locations. I am a freelancer, I have worked at McDonalds, Starbucks, and even the doctor’s waiting area. Expecting any company to pay someone to sit and stare at a computer monitor 24/7 on the off chance a twitter mention might appear is not an effective use of time or resources. Hopefully someone is keeping an eye on the clients’ twitter account after five. I know I do. There is never a second chance to make a good first impression. Cliché, but true!
Example: Kevin Smith, who tweets as @ThatKevinSmith, was kicked off a Southwest Airlines flight for supposedly being to large to fit into one seat. He tweeted outrage, on a weekend, to over 1.6 million followers. The backlash was both instant and immense. By the next day; most of the major news networks including several traditional print organizations had picked up the story. @Southwest typically monitors their account as close to 24/7 as possible and was able to respond in real-time to the incident. It was a PR fail waiting to happen. Southwest was proactive and was able to get ahead of the story and post responses to Kevin Smith’s tweets.
What if a Social Media firestorm happened to your company after 5pm Eastern or on the weekend? Would someone be available to see the warning signs? Many tools are available to issue alerts when a mention occurs on twitter and notifications can go almost anywhere; email, cell phone, or tablet.
Social Media is not 9-5; life does not stop at five. Stuff happens outside of this timeframe and companies who effectively use social media should realize and be prepared. Social Media at its core is being social and engaging on a platform that is both brief and easy to use. You may only have one 160 character chance to start or destroy a relationship with a customer. Customers buy from brands they can trust.
How can a company effectively manage a platform which moves 24/7 while still keeping costs in check? By Outsourcing to a firm who promises ongoing monitoring outside of normal business hours.
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and obviously for us, we’re excited that we can reach so many more people with songs and resources that we believe in – that will encourage and equip folks around the world. Thanks you SocialMediaReach!
Thanks to Shane at SocialMediaReach who joined our team, we are in the hundreds of thousands of “LIKES” on our 180 Facebook page. We couldn’t believe our eyes as the numbers exploded, amazing results.
Thanks to Shane at SocialMediaReach who joined our team, we are in the hundreds of thousands of “LIKES” on our 180 Facebook page. We couldn’t believe our eyes as the numbers exploded, amazing results.
