New Perspectives
Stories in this section:
Blogs: Can't Beat 'Em? Join 'Em!
Academic Forum: Achieving the Vision
Top Desk: Looking Ahead to the New Year...And Beyond
DSA: Working to Make a Difference
Blogs: Can't Beat 'Em? Join 'Em!
by Robin Luymes
In the past few years, buzz marketing and viral marketing are terms that have entered the business lexicon. The terminology may be new, but the concepts are not. After all, while direct sellers may advertise, their true power rests in the ability of their representatives to share compelling opportunity and product stories with their customers.
This month, the Direct Selling Association (DSA) hosts a Communications & Marketing Seminar in Washington, D.C. At the same time, just down the street the 2-year-old Word of Mouth Marketing Association (WOMMA) will host its Word of Mouth Marketing Summit for representatives of some 300 member companies. WOMMA members hold direct sellers in great respect, as they know companies like Fuller Brush, Watkins, Avon and Amway pioneered Word of Mouth Marketing.
In direct selling, we often proudly point to research indicating consumers will believe what friends and family have to say over advertising or other forms of marketing. WOMMA companies are trying to tap into the same type of personal referral that DSA companies have mastered for decades.
An interesting development in word-of-mouth reputation is that, in the Internet Age, it has become immortal, living forever on Web sites, blogs and e-mail in-boxes. No longer do our spoken words simply evaporate into thin air. Today, our friend blogs about her restaurant visits and, when you do a Google search on that restaurant's name, you read exactly what she thought about the lukewarm soup and overcooked chicken. And just in case you forgot, that review will still be there tomorrow.
Strong Opinions
Because of the extremely interpersonal nature of direct selling, people have always had strong opinions about the industry. Now they're able to share those opinions on the Web. Unfortunately for corporate America, it seems like negative experiences provide stronger motivations for people to blog than do positive experiences. As a result, opinion about your company online may be skewed to the negative, which doesn't necessarily match true opinion.
The worst blog scenario for your company might involve a perfect storm of one individual who had a bad experience with your business, who needs recognition of some sort and possesses basic Web skills. This can lead to that person writing a blog post about your company. That post attracts like-minded individuals who heap praise on him for articulating so well their same negative experience, while possibly adding a few new wrinkles of their own in the blog's comment section.
Suddenly, your blogger discovers a "need" for others to chat about their similar negative experiences. Now he creates a blog devoted to your company, gaining a semiregular audience of 15 to 20 blogophiles, who chat about your opportunity and your every new product, program or piece of news.
Other blogs may link to this blog as a source of expertise about your business. The Web-savvy blogger will also further optimize his site through tagging and language so it ranks highly in a Google search (the most frequently used service for searching on the Web). Suddenly, every prospect researching your business opportunity will be exposed to the opinions of the few people who had negative experiences.
Now your business is the focus of a few naysayers in their blogs. Don't wring your hands and despair, it's not all bad. True, these sites may have a negative effect on your representatives' recruitment efforts. That's just one of the key reasons you can't ignore blogs. As with media relations, a "no comment" sends a message about your company and its willingness to confront its issues.
Silver Lining
The bright side is that now you know what your critics are complaining about. They're giving you the feedback you need to implement changes to improve your business, even if it's done in a manner that is more public than you'd like.
Also, although these blogs may start from a negative orientation, they provide an opportunity for a company to share its own messages. Most blogs allow for comments following information or opinion. In the blogosphere, the idea is that when enough people share their experiences and opinions, the result is a clearer picture of reality than when only one side of an issue is represented.
Therefore, it is important for you to respond with information that enlightens readers about your take on a particular issue. Again, "no comment" sends the message you can't respond because they're right or, worse, that you won't respond because their opinions aren't respected.
When you post a comment on a blogger's site, you need to imbed links back to your own informational Web sites, providing all of the positive-proof points supporting your business opportunity.
Your company probably has several Web sites about your business addressing different audiences with different needs. These need to become your tools for spreading the truth, which means they have to be open, honest and transparent about the products and services you sell and the opportunity you provide for people to earn income.
Best Practices
When developing these sites, it's important to use best practices to ensure they are optimized for search engines. For instance, you shouldn't use Flash technology for your Web site's opening page. The Web crawlers sent out by Google can't read Flash and, as a result, can't include that information as part of its proprietary algorithm to determine your Web site's relevance against a certain search phrase, such as the name of your company. Similarly, password protection poses issues for Web crawlers, because they can follow links but cannot type passwords. Those dead ends might mean your site, which may contain the most relevant information about your business, does not appear in the top spot in a Google search.
At times, your critics will be shrill and offensive in their commentary. Be sure you remain civil in your own discourse. Readers understand that everyone has a right to their opinions, and most will be sympathetic to honest, genuine and polite blog posts that share information, not accusations. A few will get a kick out of those who "flame" you with fiery language and cutting wit. Those individuals probably are not the best prospects for your business, anyway.
You may never win over your biggest critics, but you may win new respect from those who have legitimate complaints while still seeing the value of your products and opportunity. These are the people worth winning over, even if they never again join your business. Turning those who have been Web activists against your company into neutrals is a victory. Making tweaks to your business that remove the biggest complaints of your critics may rob them of their passion and their audience.
Responding to bloggers with lawsuits or threatening letters is not generally successful. Typically, it provides bloggers with tons of new content to post on their site, including the letters themselves, public filings of lawsuits, podcast versions of the recordings they made of the phone call from your lawyer and more. It also puts you on the wrong side of the David vs. Goliath equation in public perception. People always seem to root for the little guy. This is especially true on the Web, where civil liberties like free speech are fiercely guarded.
Golden Rules
Some view Web reputation as a different beast from reputation in general. In the end, the Web is just another medium reflecting attitudes about your business. The same rules that govern how you are viewed in person can be used online:
- Respect others' opinions, whether or not you agree.
- Say what you do and do what you say.
- Be honest and transparent.
- Do not overreact, but do act.
These are traits we appreciate in the people we work with. They're also the traits that will help you win the respect of Web surfers, regardless of what your critics might say.
As Manager-PR & Editorial, Robin Luymes, APR, oversees Web reputation initiatives for Quixtar, Inc., a subsidiary of Alticor, Inc. For 15 years he has helped shape the stories shared about the Quixtar and Amway business opportunities, and key product brands like NUTRILITEŽ supplements and ARTISTRYŽ skin care and cosmetics. Luymes can be contacted at rluymes@quixtar.com. |
