A brand’s social media voice often lives under a microscope and can incite an audience response that’s either positive and supportive or negative and confrontational. Ashley Orfus, founder of Alab Group, an integrated marketing and communications consultancy, shares insights on how to approach these online conversations.
How should you approach addressing consumer complaints and grievances on social media?
Complaints on social media should be handled with great consideration and empathy. If issues live in the general comments, confirm and acknowledge the individual’s issue and let them know that they can check their DM for a personal response and resolution, or ask them for an email to continue the conversation on a more personal level. It’s important that your consumers see the interaction and promptness you are taking, as a business, to value their sentiments, questions, and concerns.
How are you helping brands navigate and respond to “Cancel Culture?”
Navigating the issues around Cancel Culture really comes down to being aligned with your brand values, forward-facing mission statements and purpose-driven actions. That means making decisions on behalf of the brand and making sure it parallels your brand’s viewpoint on the world. We urge brands to think about each category of their business as a scorecard and assess the areas where their values and ideals may be wavering or in question. It’s important to be proactive, rather than reactive. We are helping clients navigate this difficult topic and climate by helping them assess all aspects of the business and their forward-facing practices.
How do you have a sensitive conversation on a public platform?
We are firm believers that transparency is always the best policy. Owning and being engaged in difficult conversations are the “new normal” – expected and mandatory, when brands find themselves in the crossfire. Brands should look at the conversation in tiers and look to their platforms to map out appropriate styles of detail and interactions. There is no one-size-fits-all method for interaction and sensitive conversations on public platforms. But, at the heart of the message should be ownership, responsibility and action/next steps for resolution.
With COVID-19, the election and racial/social (in)justice being a focus over the past year, can you share an example of a fashion brand that successfully used its platform to navigate those conversation with its audience?
Companies like Patagonia are really leading the way in understanding that fashion brands have both a large impact and responsibility. Patagonia responded to the complicated landscape with a variety of initiatives, including opting out of Black Friday this year. The brand shut down its online store for the day, and customers were redirected to Freitag’s recently launched bag swap platform called “S.W.A.P.” This platform allows customers to exchange backpacks and messenger bags with other customers.
Saks Fifth Avenue was another retailer who, over the last year, has shown understanding, as an iconic brand and leading shopping destination, that they have the responsibility to use their voice to champion issues that matter to society; causes like the election and the Black Lives Matter movement. In honor of National Voter Registration Day, Saks launched “Register to Vote at Saks” at its New York flagship store and online. In partnership with nonpartisan organizations, HeadCount and Vote.org, Saks Fifth Avenue used its influence to further promote awareness. Saks dedicated its Fifth Avenue window display to call upon the community to take action and vote, while celebrating relevant historic milestones. In support of the Black Lives Matter movement, Saks took the 15 percent pledge to dedicate shelf space to Black-Owned businesses and brands.
What consumer engagement trends on Instagram are you seeing going into Q4 2020/Q1 2021?
I’m excited to see the creativity and innovation that has been occurring as consumer engagement is reshaped and redefined! A big, new wave we are starting to see is the live selling format reworked; think the “evolved QVC” with shorter segments, live interviews and even sets. From small brands to large ones like Amazon, we are seeing a new embrace and interest in the interactive selling and buying experience in real time. We are also starting to see great crossover of social issues on platforms. For example, this election season, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez looked to Twitch to encourage people to vote. She launched her livestream with Rep. Ilhan Omar and several popular Twitch streamers, including Pokimane, HasanAbi, Myth and JackSepticEye. The live stream had more than 435,000 concurrent viewers at its highest point. The congressional representative’s Twitch account now has more than 575,000 followers, and her three-hour “Among Us” stream received more than 4.5 million views. Lastly, we are seeing the redefined profile of the influencer. Known as the #SephoraSquad, Sephora is empowering their sales associates who have a passion for beauty to take those efforts online and really engage the consumer in new ways. As a result, this engagement and new wave of influencer feels much more authentic, relatable, diverse, and exciting.
