Chances are that people are talking about your company online. In blogs, forums, and online social networks. And, like any invested businessperson, you want to join the conversation.
Great, so time to flood the scene with nothing but gratuitous praise for your company, right?
Yes, but only while maintaining a good sense of corporate responsibility. While social media is still somewhat of a “wild west” for corporations, there have already been some examples of what not to do in social media.
Whole Foods CEO John Mackey was caught trashing the competition and boosting his company on Yahoo’s message boards. The result: a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation… and a very public humiliation.
And the list goes on. The answer? You can’t control what people say online, and you certainly shouldn’t try to manipulate the results. The best course of action is to be upfront in your postings, reach out to the bloggers relavent to your business, and treat social media like any other legitimate media outlet. If you do that, then it will be much easier to integrate your company into the social media scene.
Parts of this article were derived from http://www.socialsignal.com/tags/social-web
