The domino effect in social media
Social media is a very dynamic environment, characterized by the constant interaction between individuals and other individuals; individuals with companies and even companies with each other. Due to this high degree of activity, brands are continually exposed to large fluctuations in terms of online reputation. The image of your brand can enjoy an excellent reputation online and in a blink of an eye go to the opposite extreme. It is the so-called “domino effect of social media”.
A customer enters Google in search of the product in which he is interested. Among the search results your website appears, for which you feel attracted in the first instance and decide to enter. It is also possible that you have known about the existence of your brand through social networks, or that you have seen a post on specialized blogs about that product where your brand is referenced. In principle everything indicates that it is a company with some online notoriety, worthy of the user’s trust.
Once there, navigate to find the product you need, check the information you offer and compare its price with other sites. Your user is active in social networks, he wants his contacts to also have that information, so he shares on his Facebook wall the photos of the product, with his corresponding comments and a personal assessment that invites the conversation.
Finally, you decide to buy the product on your website and proceed to buy it. Start the purchase process and get it finished without any problem. He feels really proud of his latest acquisition, so he returns to share it on social networks, this time along with his desire to receive his long-awaited treasure soon.
Unexpectedly, your consumer has a problem with your product, this may be related to the shipment has been delayed, the product has arrived defective or its operation has some anomaly. Faced with this situation decides to appeal in the first instance to your website, where you bought it, to present your case and solve your problem as soon as possible.
What can be expected in these cases is, a priori, an answer by the company, and then the approach of the different ways of solution. In some cases the first assumption is no longer given, the response of the company is conspicuous by its absence, considerably aggravating the situation and increasing the degree of customer dissatisfaction. In others, the brand acts late or poorly, bypassing its responsibility or by putting obstacles in the way of not addressing the problem. The client’s anger increases, he is not willing to sit idly by.
Regardless of the actions you can take to enforce your rights as a consumer, decide to undertake a crusade against your company on social networks, so it begins by publicizing their bad experience among all their contacts, urging them to spread the word , with the intention of achieving the greatest possible impact.
As expected, the contacts, in turn, replicate the issue, which is growing in magnitude and strength, polluting the social media with a black spot very difficult to clean. The case jumps to the street, the traditional word of mouth is as effective as ever, and negative comments proliferate everywhere, irremediably damaging the reputation of the brand.
The disaster is served, your company will have a hard time re-raising all the dominoes to be able to place them in their place. You have lost the social media game.