Internet Marketing - Matt Bailey [218]
Figure 18-4: Photos can be classified under multiple categories via tags.
One of the more interesting features in the photo-sharing sites is the conversations that take place within certain groups. This is a prime area for research and participation for a business that might be able to contribute and develop relationships in these areas. This skiing photography group in Flickr.com, shown in Figure 18-5, has active discussions about skiing venues, helmets, and photography equipment.
If your industry has related active groups in photo-sharing sites or even somewhat related groups, it is a good idea to see the images associated with your industry and also be aware of the conversations that take place within these groups.
Figure 18-5: Diverse conversations happen on photo-sharing sites.
Customer Reviews
One of the earliest forms of social media is the customer review. The early days of eBay showed the necessity of having evidence that the buyers and sellers were active and trustworthy. By allowing buyers to rate sellers and sellers to comment on buyers, reviews played in important part of the development of the ecommerce industry.
Today, most sites that offer any type of transaction, in addition to business listings, offer a way to leave a testimonial or review. Travel, ecommerce, local business listings, seller reviews, and store reviews all allow customers to provide their feedback and response to the public.
When allowing customer reviews, business owners all seem to have the same objection: “What if someone leaves a negative review?” Somehow the prospect of a negative review is a paralyzing obstacle to many businesses. However, there are a number of reasons businesses need to stop hiding from reviews and handle them directly.
First, the reviews are happening anyway. Even if there are no reviews available on your website, people have the ability to leave reviews about your business on many other websites. By bringing the discussion and reviews to your site, you can meet them better than by attempting to manage the discussion on someone else’s website.
Second, no amount of stifling reviews can hide a bad product. If you are confident in your service and product and people like it, then there will be good reviews. You can also ask customers to assist you by providing reviews and possibly offering them an incentive for doing so. However, if there is a problem with your product or customer service or a deeper problem, it will come out in the reviews. This is not a fault of the availability of reviews; this is a problem with the business that needs to be corrected.
Third, sometimes bad reviews can help your business. Consumers are smart and can spot a bad review for what it is, maybe a grumpy vacationer, a perfectionist, or simply someone with a grudge—they can all be pretty easy to spot. Simply having the bad reviews mixed with all other reviews can help potential customers spot the inconsistencies. Many times, bad reviews are a result of misplaced expectations.
When evaluating reviews, you can see that expectations play a large role; consider Figure 18-6, which shows such an example from Travelocity. The Milford Plaza in New York City has both a “very disappointed” one out of five rating right next to a highly favorable five out of five rating. When reading the review from the unfavorable rating, a story emerges that this was the guests’ first trip to New York City, and they thought the rooms were too small. Welcome to New York City! It is not always a bad review that turns people off. Sometimes, bad reviews go good, especially when they help others manage their expectations.
Figure 18-6: A negative review among positive reviews is not always a bad thing.
Knowledge Sharing
Knowledge sharing is one of the simpler areas of social media, and it is also an area that has