This morning I read a really great blog that somewhat reiterated what we already know and do here. I'll link it first as it is probably much easier to read than anything I can write:
http://www.houstonmarketingmatters.com/blog/bid/231510/Facebook-Tip-Businesses-Must-Talk-With-Consumers-Not-At-Them but the jist of it - social media is about being social. It's not rocket science.
Being social has never meant and will never mean being a dictator or the only person in the room talking. That's being an ass. If you go into social media thinking it's all about your business, your city, your product, you'll never flourish. If you go in being social - interacting with everyone in the room, having genuine concern for people and their thoughts and needs, handing someone the stiff drink they so desperately need after listening to them dump a weeks worth of frustrations on you, etc - you are destined for social media success. People want to talk, they want to be heard, and they want you to hear them. When is the last time that you enjoyed a dinner party that was 100% someone presenting something and you weren't allowed to ask questions or speak to anyone around you? Exactly. So don't do that online to your fan base if you want to see it grow.
All that being said, that is a SCARY thing for some people. You can't control what's being said. You can to some extent by moderating but even that is a slippery slope. We set up a "rules of the road" that essentially ban people from cursing, slander, or speaking off topic. We ONLY delete comments if they go against those rules. If you take down or remove every negative response or post you'll do WAY more harm than good. Honesty is key and in a not so honest world, and with social media being an option and not a requirement, you'll loose them faster than you're gaining them by painting your own picture. So moderate within reason. There's another way to deal with the negative nancy's, and in my town there are MANY.
Our solution - treat it as a challenge. Make them your champion. Take your biggest critic and turn them into your biggest fan. No, it's not easy. We once had a lady that was blasting every post we made with her opinions on our trash service and how they weren't "really" recycling what they picked up in the red bins but instead just dumping it in the landfill. So - we invited her to follow a truck without telling us when and where and report to us where they went on facebook. We had nothing to hide. She did and followed them straight to the recycling center. And then posted about it. But she still wasn't 100% convinced and had lots of disparaging things to say in our phone conversations. Our next effort was to arrange a tour of the recycling center with the owner of the trash company, her, and our manager that was over the trash contract. I went along to film our feat and got her warmed up and then hit her with being in a video talking about how great the recycling center was, the tour, and essentially the trash company she had spent weeks bashing. I took our biggest critic on facebook and turned her into our spokesperson.
She still comes to City events and I still love her just as much as I did the day I could see her passion for all things green! It may take work and effort, but your biggest critics are usually verbal people. Verbal people know how to make a LOT of noise. Why not take the time and turn it into cheering?
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