Introduction
Facebook as an outlet of social media can be a good avenue for marketing the products of a company, but it also comes with several risks. The risks may involve damaging the company’s reputation, brand, or image. The company’s internal information that is sensitive may also end up in the wrong hands. There is also the risk of violating the legal regulations put in place by policymakers. This calls for a need by a company to have in place a competent online marketing manager who will ensure that there is proper management of the risks involved. The four major components of a legally astute social media marketing manager should be monitoring, engaging, managing, and integration (Meyerson, 2010).
The components of a legally astute social media marketing manager
Monitoring deals with finding out online conversations about the organization. The manager should do his or her best to find out the identities of those commenting or discussing the organization positively and negatively on Facebook. This process will help an organization to come up with an online strategy for marketing. Understanding the underlying subject and the tone of the discussions will help the company adjust to the needs of customers and come up with their best voices in social media.
The other important component is engaging. This calls for the social media marketing manager to ensure that his team is always active in conversations with customers, potential customers, and those who influence the business sector. This will make those participating in the conversation to develop better opinions about the company after considering the facts and back up statistics from company experts that they engage within Facebook. The company will maintain its image and even attract more customers while at the same time, driving away any negative perceptions that may have existed as well as improving the organization’s trust (Meyerson, 2014).
Managing is the next component. The social media marketing manager should ensure that the company creates conversations and discussion topics that focus directly on the organization’s products and objectives. The manager should be in charge of the site, but the actual engagement in the discussions left to the experts in each area of discussion so that the customer gets the right feedback and satisfactory answers. This will ensure the upholding of the company’s brand and avoiding any false information that would circulate in social media.
The last aspect should be integration. The manager should ensure the incorporation of the aspects of social media marketing into other previously used methods by the organization. The use of social media as a driver of customers to the other aspects of marketing that may have been in use by the organization for long is vital as this would make it easier to measure the return on investment than in social media marketing (Luis & Katz, 2014).
An online manager, who is able to utilize the four aspects with expertise, would ensure the success of the company and contain any risks that may come up.
Solving customer conflicts in social media
An organization or individual using social media to reach the customers should always be on the lookout for customer complaints or comments. They should activate alerts to avoid overlooking comments or discussions about their company and products. When a customer posts a request, comment, or complaint, he or she should get feedback on the same as quickly as possible. In a case where the customer makes a comment, request, or complains public, the feedback also needs to be public and not private. Any attempt to hide or delete posts or comments with complaints or criticisms should never arise. Addressing the question in public will help the marketer gain more credibility and trust from already existing or prospective customers (Meyerson, 2010).
It is very common to get reactions from customers that may sound emotional. When the company or organization is responding to such comments or reactions, they should never appear personal. The feedback should avoid negative challenges or engage with the customer. The one who posted the comment and the public who can access the site will, in this case, review the public feedback. In case the post or comment seems like a direct attack or an attempt to finding a fault, the company may decide to ignore it depending on the amount of harm it may cause to the company (Luis & Kurtz, 2014).
No matter the situation, the customers are always right and deserve fair treatment. Apologies should be made and an explanation given on how a mistake would be used for better decision making in the future. Enquiring from the customer if there could be any extra service that they would need the company to provide in order to improve their experience is necessary. This will help in improving the corporate image and the general view of customer experience.
The role of the government
There are controls that the federal government can put in place to ensure the free flow of online trading. The government should know the best time to act and the roles that the other industry players would have. This will ensure the government does not hinder trade over social media. The governments should ensure that healthy competition in the online trade, transparency, protection against fraud, provision of avenues for resolving disputes, and provision of protection for intellectual property exists. The government can impose tax policies on online trade to reduce any hindrances to the trade. It needs to put in place policies that control electronic payments to avoid any online frauds. The government can also enter into agreements with other nations or international parties involved in online trade to provide online security and ensure that there is no violation of privacy and property rights (Evans, 2010).
The three branches of government are the executive, legislature, and judiciary. The executive being on top has control over several institutions. The executive can give directions to government officers and security agencies to ensure that online marketing takes place in a fair and safe environment. It would be the arm of government tasked with ensuring the implementation of social media marketing policies and regulations.
The legislature has the role of drafting regulations, laws, and policies regarding social media marketing. The judiciary, on the other hand, should come in situations of conflict. It should provide solutions in case one party feels offended in the marketing system or in a situation whereby an organization does not meet the requirements needed. It will ensure adherence to implemented laws by taking action against any party or individual who flouts them (Luis & Katz, 2014).
Agency in social media marketing
Agencies use social sites to come up with ways of appealing to clients or customers to embrace a particular company’s products. In most cases, agencies have support roles in social media marketing as opposed to a direct link between a company and its clients. Most customers or clients prefer engaging companies directly rather than through agencies in social media marketing. Companies also prefer engaging their clients directly and tend to avoid anyone talking on their behalf.
References
Evans, D. (2012). Social media marketing: The next generation of business engagement. New Jersey, USA: John Willey & Sons. Web.
Luis, B. & Kurtz, D. (2014). Contemporary marketing. Boston, Massachusetts, USA: Cengage Learning. Web.
Meyerson, M. (2010). Success secrets of social media marketing superstars. California, USA: Entrepreneur Press. Web.