David Woodward wrote a very interesting article earlier this month about the power of social media in bringing down a brand through negative PR, Reputations at Risk.  I concur 100% with his simple conclusion that brands can fight back negative social media PR by converting criticism into meaningful customer relationships. If you open up your brand to social media (which you have no choice but to this day and age), you have to prepare yourself to handle criticism as well as praise. If handled properly, criticism can actually be a terrific opportunity to build your brand and your reputation. You can channel the negativity and turn it into a positive.   Word of warning though, don’t depend on established/traditional PR & advertising agencies to be able to do this right for you though.  Many of these agencies are still in the pen and paper age.  David Jones, chief executive of Havas Worldwide, an advertising and marketing agency that represents Nestlé, in a statement made a couple of months ago labelled social media platforms as being “inherently negative”. Needless to say, never look at Nestlé for tips on how to use social media effectively.  They have failed woefully in this regard to date.

I believe that effective corporate communications (and this includes social media) boils down to four essential core components and these are truthfulness, transparency, humility, and helpfulness. If people see that you are reflecting these qualities on your website, in the news, in your ads, and on social media platforms, they will sing your praises. Stop trying to hide.

BTW, examples of large companies that are doing social media well include Cisco, Intel, Burger King, and Starbucks.

For now, here is a list of the posts that I will be putting up about developing an online communications strategy:

1. Establish the message you wish to convey about your brand (kind of obvious, but you would be surprised how many people and organizations launch a communications strategy without being too clear on this aspect)
2. Website Development: how to start from scratch or revamping your old site
3. Blogs: how these may be implemented into your communications strategy
4. Social Networking: how to use online networks to further promote and enhance your brand
5. Online sharing: how to use these tools to share news about your brand
6. Integrate your online communications strategy with your traditional media strategy
7. Search engine optimization of your company’s online presence.  (Everyone wants to show up on the first page of a Google search!)