Examining company practices related to social media

Lynn Good, Christopher Chowns & DeWayne Williams

Online Reviews

• Explains how the interaction went with a company

• Usually rated 1-5 stars

• Positive & Negative feedback

• Check out company reviews

Positive Online Reviews

• Makes the company look good

• Gain trust in the company

• Reinforces what a company does well

• Brings more customers

Negative Online Reviews

• Negative reviews can be turned around

• Can help to improve company

• Respond as soon as possible

• Thank consumers for their feedback

Why leave a review?• Good for the company

• Company can better understand what they need to do

• Shows the companies strengths/weaknesses

• People benefit from reading reviews

Should companies interact with social media?

• Gain more loyal customers/clients

• Gain brand visibility through personal interactions and discussions

• People would like responses regardless of the issue

Loyalty in Customers

• Any business or company needs loyal customers to grow

• Social media interaction is a huge help!

Brand Visibility

• “Even if they come to you with a concern or an issue, you’ll get brand visibility and an opportunity to show off your ability to quickly and effectively correct problem.” (DeMeres, 2014)

• There is good and bad brand visibility

• Social media interaction is an example of good brand visibility

People want responses

• On Twitter, 86% of individuals would have preferred responses (Martiz Research, 2015)

• 51% do not expect an answer (Martiz Research, 2015), this should be lower.

Summary

• Interactions on social media is great for companies

• This helps breed loyal customers and give better brand visibility

• It will give a more positive experience to customers, clients or users

Social media has moved mountains for both big and small companies

• Facebook alone reports 1 billion logins a day, .06% of those logins are compromised. (Jacarino, 2011)

• Most recently the better known companies such as Burger King, Delta, Newsweek, and the Associated Press have had their social media accounts infiltrated.

Social Media Hacks

• Social media hacks can be detrimental to a companies reputation.

• In February 2013, Burger King sent out some very interesting tweets claiming that that Burger King was sold to McDonalds because the Whopper flopped and to search for a McDonalds in a hood near you. Among other bizarre tweets, Burger king tweeted employees were doing drugs in the bathroom. After awhile it was apparent that the twitter account for Burger king had been hacked. Subsequently, McDonalds tweeted that it had no part in the hackings.

Precautions and Preventions for Companies

• Make a strong password• Always login from a secure server • Adopt a social media department where only a

few employees have the passwords• SSO Programs (single sign on)• Use password management solutions, if you

have many employees who must have access to social media account

• Last Pass• KeePass

What to do if your company has been compromised

• Report the hacking to the companies IT department to try and regain control of the account

• Always contact the social media platform if they are infiltrated, even if they get the situation under control on their own

• Launch an independent investigation after a hack to make sure no one on the inside is responsible for the hack

• In more serious cases, homeland security and the FBI can get involved

From the perspective of Speedway social media

• When it comes to security, most brands operate under a Crisis Management Plan. Speedway is no exception. Our team created a Social Media Crisis Management Plan prior to launching our social accounts and it’s something we utilize on a regular basis whether we are addressing trending customer service concerns, HR issues, or more serious matters, including account infiltration (hacking).

• The Crisis Management plan is intended to address issues of every scale and actually helps you to identify whether or not the issue has a chance of becoming a true crisis. While I can’t share our exact plan with you, I can share the basic outline of what the Crisis Management Plan includes.

Speedway Crisis Management Plan

• Basic Definitions - Crises aren’t universal so it’s important to define what a true crisis is to you and your brand.

• Crisis Team Org Chart - Internal/External Crisis Communications Flow outlining key roles and communication responsibilities in the event of a social media crisis.

Speedway Crisis Management Plan Continued

• Social Crisis Engagement Criteria Qualitative Considerations for Crisis Engagement

(prioritized by importance)• Potential for Escalation/Issue Volatility• Scope/Volume• Frequency/Velocity• Source Reach and Influence/Visibility• Topic• Satisfaction and Resolution

Speedway Crisis Management Plan Continued

• Based on what you determine after considering the criteria noted on the past slide, your team then comes up with a strategy for response. Typically a team effort, involving all of the key stockholders ( HR issues consider thoughts of HR Team, etc.)

• Credits to Shannon O’Shields (Speedway Social Media Administrator)

References• Condliffe, J. (2015) The 25 Most Popular Passwords of 2014: We're All Doomed. Retrieved June,

13, 2015 from http://gizmodo.com/the-25-most-popular-passwords-of-2014-were-all-doomed-1680596951

• DeMers, J. (2014, September 9). How Negative Online Company Reviews Can Impact Your Business And Recruiting.

• DeMeres, J. (2014, August 12). 7 Reasons You Need to Be Using Social Media As Your Customer Service Portal, retrieved June 12, 2015 fromhttp://www.forbes.com/sites/jaysondemers/2014/08/12/7-reasons-you-need-to-be-using-social-media-as-your-customer-service-portal/

• Holmes, R. (2013). How NOT to Have Your Social Media Accounts Hacked. Retrieved June, 11, 2015 from http://blog.hootsuite.com/ryanholmes-linkedin-social-media-security/

• Jaccarino, M. (2011). Facebook hack attacks strike 600,000 times per day, security firm reports. Retrieved June, 13, 2015 from http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/facebook-hack-attacks-strike-600k-times-day-article-1.968681

• Larsen, J. (2011, September 1). Martiz Research and evolve24-Twitter Study. Retrieved June 12, 2015 fromhttp://www.maritzresearch.com/~/media/Files/MaritzResearch/e24/ExecutiveSummaryTwitterPoll.ashx

• Stelter, B. (2011). Hackers Commandeer a Fox News Twitter Account. Retrieved June, 10, 2015. from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/05/business/media/05fox.html?_r=0