Was it lack of judgment, lack of process, or lack of oversight? Whatever it was, the agency employee who, in a moment of understandable frustration, dropped the F-bomb in a tweet from an agency-managed client Twitter account
caused quite a stir.
At the end of the day, the employee lost his job, the agency lost its client, and the client lost faith in the free form flow of information that makes social media so vital. So what exactly happened in this perfect social storm, and what can we take away from it?
First, the employee lost track of rule number one in today’s “always on” world – remember, you are always on! That means that you, not the medium you’re using or the device in your hand, need to monitor and match content with audience (remember the
“reply all” rule). Graphically broadcasting your traffic frustration in a private conversation or email is fine, but don’t broadcast it, especially using your client’s brand as a launching pad.
Second, agencies need to treat access to and use of client digital properties as prudently as they do any other client assets. That means communicating and training team members on their proper use, and monitoring that use.
Finally, clients need to accept the fact that sh*# happens in social media, and you can’t control it. You can’t keep bad reviews from being posted. You can’t keep poor service from being discussed and promulgated worldwide. You can’t hide product flaws. The genie is out of the bottle, and we’d better put him to work, rather than spend time trying to figure out how to get him back in there.
Your take?