5 Must-Knows for Developing Digital Strategies

6 Things to Know About Social Media

How many social media accounts do you have?
How many of them do you use daily?

Seriously, I can't live without social media, even though I'm not an influencer who has millions of followers. I love to read news, watch videos, check out cool events, and see what my 'friends' do daily. Sharing inspiring contents is also one of my favorites. Of course, I spend a lot of time in social media.

However, I don't feel guilty at all. I don't think it's a time-wasting habit. It is a universal phenomenon and our life style is changing. The below facts about social media will help you understand how 'normal' we are.

How A Facebook Post Could Put You Out Of Business

Have you ever deleted or edited your post on social media because it was not appropriate?
Have you ever been disappointed with your friend's or favorite brand's awkward post?

When I was in the late teenage and the early twenties, I often found many of my friends wrote a post on their social media to blame someone unknown (probably that 'unknown' person would know the post is toward him/her while reading), which made me uncomfortable. That behavior disappointed me a lot because I think it was not cool at all to be afraid to talk out so attack someone in that dirty way.

The more social media gets popular, the more likely it becomes a double-edged sword. It is a cost and time efficient, convenient, and fun way to communicate with others for you as an individual or as a brand. It's also a great tool to express yourself. However, at the same time, your own words could fatally harm you. If you realize you make a mistake, take an action as soon as possible. As a famous proverb says, there is no use crying over spilled milk. Clean up as quick as possible and be careful not to spill the milk again.

 A Terrible Ad Parodying 9/11

A local mattress brand, Miracle Mattress, in San Antonio, Texas, did something terribly wrong. It posted a video ad on its Facebook page promoting a “Twin Towers Sale” that parodies the World Trade Center towers collapsing.

In the video, two employees stand in front of two towers of mattresses and an American Flag, while the store’s manager saying 'yes, every mattress is at a twin mattress price'. The employees then fall down over the mattress towers with surprised reaction, and the manager screams and then throw the last line, “We’ll never forget,” with a smile.

This video provoked a crowd furious reaction. Many people blamed the company saying that 'it disrespected the families who lost loved ones and continue to struggle with the pain of this tragedy every day of their lives'. On its facebook page, hundreds of angry comments were left under not only the deleted video but also other past and later posts.

Apology, Apology, And Apology...

I couldn't find the exact date of when the video was posted, but based on the labor day promotion on 9/5 and the posted apology letter on 9/8, I assumed the tragedy happened 9/6 or 9/7. Speaking of the reaction time, Miracle Mattress very quickly responded and apologized. As soon as it recognized that something wrong, it took an action. Then how did they show their sincerity?

On 9/8,  Miracle Mattress apologized using its Facebook page and uploaded a letter.

On the following day, the company announced to close the store indefinitely to avoid any further distraction during the period of 9/11 anniversary.

A week later, the owner posted another letter describing what the company learned from this case and the future plans to help people suffering from terrorism and traumatic loss.

The store manager, the owner's daughter, who was on the video also apologized with tears on news interview.

Heena's Review

Definitely, this video ad crossed the line. A tragedy cannot be parodied for any reason. I was very surprised that this commercial was approved and went online without intervention. Who on earth thought of using a terror attack on a mattress commercial?

Regardless, I appreciate that the company responded quickly and put a lot of effort to recover. In any case of crisis, a real quick response and a sincere apology must be the first things to be done. The owner announced apology several times sincerely and quickly. The store was closed for a while to regret its wrongdoings and to cool off the steam. In addition to that, Miracle Mattress made a donation to Tuesday’s Children in New York to support youth, families, and communities impacted by terrorism and traumatic loss.

This crisis could have been avoided if there was a sturdy marketing plan. Marketing should be responsible for PR, since PR is a part of marketing tactics. Miracle Mattress should have evaluated its commercial before let it go online with the questions such as listed below.
'The content (9/11) of our post is relevant to our goal (sales)?'
'Does it match our marketing concept?'
'How is it like to be in the long-term?'
'Is it ethical?'
'Who would like/dislike this?'

Not only companies and brands but also celebrities and politicians make terrible mistakes on their social media these days. Actually we, as normal individuals, also cause social media crisis. We have to think twice before let our words go out. Once a mistake happens, take a quick action and apologize.

Welcome!

"Get Your Hands Dirty"

This is the purpose of my blog. No matter how hard I study in my Master program, I will end up reading principles and theories over and over if I don't try blogging by myself. Thanks to my Digital Marketing course, I finally started marketing blog!


Let's Share...

I like to share my experience and thoughts as much as I like to listen to your stories. After joining a book club which I had had a negative stereotype toward because it sounded nerdy, I realized that I love to share thoughts and opinions with others. It was impressive that people feel and think differently based on their personalities and experiences.

This interesting activity motivated me to start my own blog in Korean - I was born, grown up and educated in South Korea - to share some parts of my life with others who have similar interests and experience to mine. Contents of my blog include my graduate school life as an International student, reviews on marketing conferences and workshops I attended, stories of people around me who motivate and inspire me, book reviews, and a little of other personal things, such as feelings, activities, and study plans.


Let's Learn...

There are two goals that I want to accomplish through this blogging. First, getting comfortable creating contents in English. Even though I like reading, writing, and talking I feel intimidated when I have to do all these in English. On top of that, in this age of digital, everything I created using digital media remains forever, so I was scared to post things and spread them out. However, only practice makes perfect. I strongly believe my writing skill will get better through this blogging!

The second thing is the implementation of Google Analytics. In this semester, I take Web Analytics course that requires collecting and analyzing web traffic data of my own blog using Google Analytics. I can test out which promoting method works better, which specific content people engage more, how to improve my blog based on the data, and so on. I'm excited to see!


Welcome aboard Heena's Blog!