social media management Archives - Reputation Communications

General Motors’ Wins Praise with Social Media Strategy

General Motors is using social media to manage customer complaints and its reputation — and using it well. How they are applying social media management is a good case study for other companies in crisis. (The Detroit auto manufacturer has recalled 1.6 million cars and faces roiling legal issues after top management hid defects that caused deaths for 10 years or longer.)

Key examples from a New York Times article by Vindu Goel include:

– GM’s Facebook page. In addition to hosting GM-produced content, it is also an open forum where customers can post comments and complaints. GM staffers are engaging them in real time with assistance and responses.

– @GM on Twitter. Frustrated customers who have spent an hour or more on the phone with GM customer service representatives have turned to Twitter to seek help – and found it in minutes.

“G.M. has a team of about 20 people based in Detroit that manages its social media presence — including monitoring about 100 independent auto forums — and responds to inquiries and complaints seven days a week,” reports Goel.

In addition to managing the crisis using traditional methods – including letters to car owners – GM created a video with CEO Mary Barra to keep customers and employees abreast of how the company is managing the situation.

As more companies use social media to better manage customer relations, they can learn from GM’s example.

Online reputation management is exploding as an industry. As it has grown, so have its components, such as social media management and search-engine optimization, as well as reputation monitoring, which has become much easier to execute thanks to the renaissance in Big Data. There are reputation advisers, branding companies and crisis management firms announcing reputation management services, reputation monitors, global brand and reputation managers at mainstream and public companies, and SEO companies rolling out new reputation management tools.

Venture-capital funded online reputation management firms are preparing to go public. Mainstream PR firms are approaching firms such as this one to explore partnerships and buyouts.

As the fifth anniversary of Reputation Communication’s founding approaches in June (the fourth of our incorporation), this is an appropriate time to revisit the essentials of online reputation management and look toward the future. As the industry continues to expand, it will divide into niches. There will be an increasing need for specialization within online reputation management services. The more you understand them, the better the choices you can make for your organization – or for yourself. So follow these posts in coming days and weeks to learn what you need to know.

You can also follow us @reputationnews for a bird’s eye view of reputation management issues and resources that impact the highly specialized practice of online reputation management.