Digest DIGITAL BLONDE
Blogging – Is the customer always right? This month, Karen Fewell examines how to manage customers who blog
Having been brought up in the hospitality industry, I can’t actually remember how old I was when I fi rst heard the phrase ‘the customer is always right’. It’s been kicking around sales, marketing and customer service for years. I hadn’t realised until recently that the phrase was originally coined by Harry Gordon Selfridge, the founder of Selfridge’s department store in London in 1909.
It’s safe to say that since 1909 a lot has changed in business. I’m not sure if Gordon Selfridge ever realised just how much power customers would have in the present day. Now anyone can be a publisher and share their views with just a computer, internet access and a blog. In many ways this is brilliant, however bloggers do give businesses something extra to think about.
WHY DO PEOPLE BLOG?
Before I jump into how to manage bloggers, it is worth taking a look at why people blog. Blogging started in the 90s with people sharing their interests, hobbies and thoughts with others. Today,
WordPress.com (just one of many blogging platforms) sees 500,000 new blog entries posted a day. Bloggers motivations include:
• To have a voice and an opportunity to be heard
• To share knowledge that will help others • To demonstrate writing skills and gain paid work
• To make a difference to others • To connect with others who are interested in the same subject
• Many people blog simply because they
HOW DO YOU KNOW WHAT BLOGGERS ARE SAYING?
Part of your marketing, PR and customer service role should be monitoring online content. It really is much better to know what people are saying and correct misunderstandings or business issues before they become a bigger problem and more widely known. There is a range of free tools and paid for software to help you monitor what is being said online. Which you go for depends on the size of your organisation, the staffi ng resource available to
I would love to hear your views on this. Please contact
www.facebook.com/digital blonde, tweet me @digitalblonde or email
Karen@digitalblondemarketing.com
58 June 2013
enjoy it and want to share their life experiences with others.
WHY SHOULD YOU CARE ABOUT BLOGGERS?
It is very easy to claim the role of a food blogger. Food is something that anyone can relate to and most people have an opinion on what makes a positive or negative food experience. However, many people blogging about food don’t understand the catering industry and in particular the complexities of providing school meals. Therefore, you may fi nd many blogs are one sided or don’t represent the full picture.
Ignoring a blog because you disagree with something isn’t a good idea. Do you remember Martha’s Never Seconds blog? In just one day it was mentioned 22,000 times on Twitter and reached national news.
“ Now anyone
can be a publisher and share
their views with just a computer, internet
access and a blog”
monitor it, and how you are using blogging and social media to communicate with your customer base.
ARE YOUR BLOGGING CUSTOMERS ALWAYS RIGHT?
So, back to the original question, in my mind the answer is ‘yes’. In the age of blogging and social media, you do not and cannot own your brand. Your customers represent your business. Whether you love what a blogger says or totally disagree with their viewpoint, your customers will be infl uenced by their blog entry in some shape or form. Your job is to correct any bloggers’ misunderstandings and steer your customers to represent your brand the way you want them to.
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