Whatever your political and/or choice views, what's been happening to the Susan G Komen Foundation over the last two days is an important lesson for all business owners in this age of social meda.
It became public Wednesday that Komen was pulling most of its financial support from Planned Parenthood. Komen said the reason was a new internal policy which established stricter guidelines for grantees. PP and others said it was Komen caving in to right-wing pressure. At least two high-ranking Komen officials have resigned over the decision.
There was a time when a story like this would have been slow to spread, and although people may have been upset, mobilzing a response, such as a letter-writing campaign or boycott, would have taken days, weeks or, maybe, not happened at all.
Today, because of the power of social media, the response was almost instantaneous:
- The Komen Foundation's Facebook page has been innundated with comments. And although it's clear someone is erasing lots of them quickly, the sheer volume makes it impossible and they are overwhelmingly negative
- Energizer batteries and Yoplait have been inadvertantly caught up in the anger, as well. They were listed on Komen's Facebook page as corporate sponsors, and, as a result, THEIR Facebook pages have been overwhelmed with thousands of people saying they would no longer buy THEIR products.
- To make matters worse, a Komen VP re-Tweeted a very unsympathetic comment about the whole situation. Even though she took it down shortly after, hundreds of people TwitPic'd it and it went viral almost immediately.
Komen seemed genuinely surprised by the immediacy and ferocity of the response, not saying anything publicly for the better part of the day. And even now, two days later, they're still playing catch-up.
This lack of understanding of, or appreciation for, the power of social media has greatly increased the damage done to the organization.
Regardless of the reasons behind their decision, or how you personally feel about it, this is a striking example of a) how powerful social media has become and b) why you, as a business owner, need to understand it!
Social media allows people to communicate with you and about you. This can be a good or bad thing, depending on the situation.
What's important is to make sure you're aware of the conversations taking place. Be ready to respond, too. Nature abhors a vacuum, and in the absence of a response from you, something (or someone) WILL fill the gap.. and it probably won't be what you want.
If you'd like to have a better understanding of social media, AND learn how to use it to your advantage in business, I encourage you to sign up for the 2012 Social Networking Boot Camp. The Early Bird runs through Tuesday.
Whether you sign up for the Boot Camp or not, though, pay attention. Because whether or not your business is involved in social meda... social media is always a part of your business!
