Social Media Case Study: How A Shameless Business Capitalized ...

Today, I bring to you a case study every business who engages in social media needs to read.

There is a fine line between ethical and unethical marketing.

This business clearly did not get the memo.

Nor did they learn from the social media mistakes of past offenders when they proceeded to incur the wrath of the internet world.

On 20^th of July, tragedy unfolded as a masked gunman opened fire on patrons watching The Dark Knight Rises in Aurora, Colorado, killing 12 people and wounding 59 others.

Soon the hashtag #Aurora became a trending tropic on Twitter following an outpouring of support tweets for victims and families.

While several businesses tweeted their condolences using the hashtag, one clothing chain took an unorthodox approach and tweeted the following:

The Twitterverse exploded with outrage at the distasteful tweet and the it was quickly removed.

But of course, in the world of social media, there is nowhere to hide and reproductions of the tweet spread like wildfire across the internet.

The company has since apologized, citing their PR company (who managed Celeb Boutique?s social media efforts) were located in a different country and were unaware of the situation:

Despite the apology the PR damage was done and the company continued to feel the wrath of outraged internet users:

Sadly, this is not the first time this kind of PR disaster has happened.

Nor will it be the last I suspect.

It seems businesses are doomed to repeat the social media PR disasters of the past.

Remember earlier this year when #Cairo was trending as Egypt was in the midst of overthrowing their repressive government? You might have also heard that designer brand Kenneth Cole decided to trivialize the importance of the hashtag by tweeting the following:

Think (and research) before you act

In general there is nothing wrong with riding trends or hot topics to ensure your content is read by as many eyes as possible. In fact, I encourage you to do so if it is beneficial for yourself and readers.

All I ask is that you think before you act.

Because once you hit the send button, there is no turning back. Your message is posted for the world to see.

And to criticize.

This entire scenario could have been avoided if Celeb Boutique?s PR company had simply spent a minute searching the tweets containing the #Aurora hashtag, and understood the context around the hashtag.

This brings me to my second point.

Selecting the right social media company

You?re essentially handing over control of your online reputation to another business.

So you need to exercise caution.

This was actually one of the main reasons we decided to build our own social media management platform, Socialmotus.?We wanted to effectively and affordably take control of our own social accounts internally, without outsourcing management to social media companies.

And because no one knows your business (and connect with your customers) better than you do, as this case study clearly demonstrates.

But if you really have no time to spend on social media by no means should you let this case study stop you. You should request to see a full portfolio of their past and present clientele, and perform your own background check of any PR disasters they may have been apart of. The internet will provide a wealth of information on this. Then even go so far as to contact some of these clients to hear first hand their experience with the company.

Again, the internet is handy for finding contact information. You could ask the company directly, but keep in mind, they?re only likely to hand over information for companies they?ve achieved most success for.

Now over to you. You know what I think, but do you think of Celeb Boutique?s actions? Would you be quick to forgive them or do you think it?s a case of too little too late?

And in light of all this, would you still outsource your social media to a PR company? Let me know.

Source: http://www.apexpacific.com/blog/social-media-marketing/case-studyhow-a-shameless-business-capitalized-on-a-global-tragedy/

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