Scott Monty is head of social media at Ford Motor Company

What role should social media serve at large companies like Ford?

Ultimately, we’re here to support our overarching business objectives and to amplify and compliment the other, more traditional things we’re doing. In other words, social media is not replacing anything. We’re not retiring the press release. We’re not putting the thirty-second spot out to pasture. But [social media] is absolutely a way for us to engage with the consumer when and where the consumer determines. And we need to be able to supply people with information where they can help tell our story themselves.

How have you connected social media to those business objectives? 

A lot of what we’re tasked with doing as a company is communicating our plan and our progress. Helping people understand we’ve got great products and that we’re committed to making the world a better place—that improves the company’s reputation, helps drive purchase consideration and constantly challenges us to be the best practitioners of this craft that we can be.  And we obviously measure every single element of those objectives.

But it’s not necessarily relevant to measure the overall impact of social media. The notion of saying, “What’s the ROI of social media?” is, at its broadest sense the right notion. But it’s the wrong question. You may as well ask what the ROI of putting your pants on every day is. You know there’s a value to it, but it’s hard to measure. It’s about what specific objectives we’re setting out, how we measure against those objectives, and how those all lead to a better reputation for the company, increasing market share, increasing excitement about the brand.

How do you use social platforms to engage consumers and get them involved in your brand?

Part of it is through these exciting [promotions] that we do from time to time, but it’s not enough to just do really smart and engaging campaigns. It’s important to be [active in social networks] all the time so we always have that background level of engagement. Then when it does come time to push projects for campaigns or events live, we already have a healthy group of people that are participating.

For example, the Ford Fiesta movement did this tremendously well. We engaged with 100 influencers who already had their own [social] communities, people who already were actively involved on Twitter, Facebook,YouTube and their own blogs. We gave them Ford Fiestas for six months, and they went and they did what they are really good at. They shared content. They talked about themselves and their experiences. And that way it was other people telling other audiences about Ford Motor Company – not Ford telling people about ourselves. So we used them as proxies for our storytelling. 

And when we aggregated all of their content in one place, we didn’t censor or edit it. We just let it go up, because we were that confident about our product. And that sends a signal to people. We’re doing things according to plan, and we’re cranking out products that are absolutely world class, and we believe in them so much that we’ll put them in other people’s hands to tell our story.

With a presence on so many different social platforms, how do you make sure a consistent message is echoed at each consumer touchpoint?

Everybody who works here fundamentally understands the Ford brand and Ford’s stance in the marketplace, so we’re able to effectively represent that online. And typically, the folks that are involved in these conversations are mostly communications folks. So they’re people who are used to being spokespeople in one way or another.  We’re also launching a social media hub as a resource center for employees.  Obviously there are a lot of questions right now about how an average employee should engage on Facebook or Twitter or whatever their social network choice, what their responsibilities are as an employee, what they can and can’t say.  So we’ve established this resource center to help people understand what it is we’re doing in social media, what social media is overall, and to become a repository of things like frequently asked questions and guidelines, as well as a central directory of all of our social media accounts.

At many companies, the c-suite is hesitant when it comes to social media. How did you get the support of your executive leadership, and how did you get your CEO on Twitter?

We have had a very open atmosphere in terms of experimentation and the willingness to try new things. We have a really progressive and curious executive team that realizes the power of [social media]. They may not necessarily know how to use all the tools themselves, but they understand fundamentally that this is the way the world is going, and that this is the way we need to continue to grow and evolve Ford Motor Company. Our leadership team sets expectations and objectives very clearly, and they trust the team that works for them to be able to do the same, to come to the table with the appropriate tools and the appropriate level of expertise to accomplish those goals.

What major mistakes are companies with social media, and what steps do they need to take to embrace and utilize these tools?

Some of the objections I’ve seen to social media just come from a lack of understanding or a lack of awareness as to the pervasiveness of these platforms, and the utility of some of them quite frankly.

A lot of people out there still don’t get Twitter. And Twitter isn’t for everybody; that’s okay. But it’s important to acknowledge that Twitter is essentially a barometer of popular culture and is a very useful real time search engine. And brands, whether or not they’re going to participate on Twitter, need to at least be able to understand how to use the search function to monitor for mentions of their brand or their competitors or their industry, or whatever it happens to be that they’re interested in tracking.

There are also assumptions on either side that customers are not active in the social space, or are active in the social space, and there are times when reality negates those assumptions. So it’s important for companies to test [their assumptions]. And if their customers are there and that’s where the customers want to connect, then it’s probably pretty important for the business to check [that space] out.

How to: Avoid a Social Media Disaster

By Clay McDaniel

If there’s one thing that keeps social media marketers up at night, it’s the ever-present threat of a PR disaster. By now, every marketer is well-aware of how quickly dissatisfied consumers can turn to the social airwaves to vent about a brand. Nestle, BP, Domino’s, Southwest Airlines, and many other brands have witnessed the unbridled power of social media as a platform for disgruntled consumers to rally around an anti-brand cause.

You can never fully “control” what your customers say about your brand on social platforms — nor would you want to. After all, social media’s biggest benefit is allowing your customers to express their opinions and talk about your products and services among themselves, creating a loyal fan base that spreads the word about your brand to their friends and family.

1. Create a Social Media Policy/Community Management Plan

Every brand participating in social media should have a clear policy and community management plan in place. Map out crucial “Terms of Service” such as:

• What’s not tolerated in conversations about your brand. Things like foul and abusive language, threats against individuals, hateful speech, flame comments about products or services and similar comments are best handled as strictly forbidden. Make sure this plan maps to the Terms of Service for each channel in which you are active, such as Facebook, YouTube or Twitter, all of which have their own guidelines on unacceptable content.
• Hire a community manager or qualified agency partner who monitors your brand’s entire social media presence. Your lead community manager should be in constant contact with the PR and marketing departments and have clear escalation lines to the customer support team for hot-button issues. The community manager should not only manage your branded communities in Facebook, Twitter, and corporate blogs, but also use social media monitoring tools to find out where else your brand is being discussed online, such as third-party blogs and forums.
• The community manager should work with the executive and PR teams to decide who will respond to which type of comments. High-level “red alerts” need to be handled by a top executive, preferably someone both knowledgeable and accountable to your customer base. While the PR team should be integral in crafting all outbound communications, it’s best to have a key executive who’s already provided his or her willingness to be accountable in rapid response situations..

Decide ahead of time what steps your company will take if a flare-up occurs. Knowing ahead of time how you’ll respond to negative comments takes the “panic factor” out of potential negative commentary. Map out the following steps:

• Decide which type of comments require immediate response (such as a huge flame against your brand, a customer service rant, or a nasty rumor) and which are best left alone for the time being (a few negative product reviews, a customer discussion comparing your brand unfavorably to another, etc.). Which are indicative of a larger trend, and which are singular expressions of dissatisfaction or concern?
• Make a plan for who will flag negative comments, and how they will officially communicate these “flags” to the PR department in order of “Urgent,”"Wait,” or “Monitor.”
• Create corporate-wide guidelines for the first, second, and third steps to take in the event of a sudden negative sentiment storm. For example, the first step might be: Flag and collect negative comments. The second might be: Community manager works with PR and CEO to craft immediate “we hear you and are working on it” response. A third step might be: Have PR team and CEO craft and post official response.

3. Plan for the Worst – Expect the Best

What’s the worst case scenario your brand could possibly suffer in a social media PR meltdown? That situation probably won’t occur, but by imagining the worst, you can craft “first line” responses ahead of time so you won’t be caught off guard. That way you’ll be well prepared if sentiment around your brand suddenly begins to trend negative. This kind of brand take-down, should it occur, happens extremely fast — in a matter of hours.

4. Respond Quickly, Personally and Directly

If online commentary starts trending negative rapidly, consult your community management plan to decide who will respond first. Acknowledge questions and negative comments, and assure consumers you’re working toward an answer. Then, execute your official response as detailed in your escalation plan — an official blog post on your domain is always the first, best place to post new relevant information. Even after delivering an “official” response, return to unhappy individuals and point them to the latest blog post, as individual responses go a long way. Remember to speak personally and directly. Speed and honesty are what customers value most.

5. Don’t Play the Blame Game

Consumers expect brands to pass the buck and not own up to problems. Go against the grain and stand up for your mistakes. Acknowledge that you are working to correct the problem and inform those looking for guidance when and how you will improve the situation. Customers are typically seeking accountability and accurate, direct information from the primary spokespeople of the brands they trust. Reward them with this through the social media channels you manage.

Learn from Great Examples

Many companies do a great job staying ahead of the social media curve.

Best Buy receives a lot of negative commentary from tech enthusiasts, but the brand has stayed engaged with both its fans and detractors. The company has created an instant-response customer service realm with its Facebook page, Twitter account, and other social channels.

Meanwhile, Virgin America relies on a dedicated team of community managers. The brand’s proactive approach centers on responding immediately to customer ire over anything from flight delays to website downtime (which happens a lot thanks to their ever-popular Twitter deals). Through its various social channels, Virgin America keeps users informed and content.

Lastly, Ford is also a social media leader in keeping customers happy. Scott Monty, Ford’s social media specialist, gets a lot of attention for his efforts on Twitter. His actions on blogs and forums have also helped avert potential PR disasters. After Ford lawyers once sent cease-and-desist orders to forum users who had used and altered the Ford logo, Monty responded quickly to angry users, many of whom were absolute fans of the brand and showing their loyalty by including the logos in their forum avatars.

Conclusion

Social media is a great tool for brands to connect on a personal level with their customers. Unfortunately, it’s also a great tool for malcontents to rally negative sentiment about your brand. Your best line of defense in today’s customer-driven world is developing a comprehensive social media policy and community management plan within your company before any potential PR disasters strike — and quickly responding to any flare-ups that occur.

Clay McDaniel is the principal and co-founder of social media marketing agency Spring Creek Group. Find him via @springcreekgrp on Twitter. This article first appeared on Mashable.com.