Fear. It’s undoubtedly one of the most powerful human emotions. For some, fear is a motivator. Conquering a fear can create an amazing sense of empowerment. But for most, fear is stooped in negativity. It cripples us. It prevents us from achieving things we want & need. I see fear everyday. I see it in the face of some marketers. I see it in the face of most managers. And I see it for the same reason… that creepy thing called social media.

The root of the fear is common. It’s the fear of the unknown. And the fact is that social media is a gaping abyss of unknown quantities. A formula for success is unknown. A set of corporate guidelines is unknown. And most importantly, the way customers perceive a brand’s presence is unknown.

In contrast… there are a few snippets of information that we do know. We know that organizations that enter the social web leave themselves vulnerable to criticism. We know that trolls lurk in the dark corners of the Interweb. And we know that know that some brands got punk’d by social media! So we get scared. We develop a paranoia that we’ll be next. We contemplate whether customer’s are out to get us…

Enough!

It’s time to conquer this fear. It’s time dispel this myth once and for all. Despite the widespread paranoia, customers aren’t your worst enemy. And today I’m going to prove it. Here’s how…

I’ve selected 3 corporate blogs for statistical analysis. Each of the blogs has a sizable community based around it. I have taken the painstaking task of analysing 150 user comments from each blog to determine the ratio of negative commentary. The 3 blogs selected for analysis were deliberately chosen to provide unique and contrasting case studies:

1. GM Fast Lane – GM is representative of the corporate giant. It is also indicative of the worst case scenario. No matter how bad you think your company has it, at least you’re not being blamed for the global economic turmoil. If any corporate is going to hurting in social media right now, it’s GM.
2. Nokia Conversations – Nokia was chosen to provide a contrast to GM. Nokia is still a large organization, but is free of the baggage of a global giant such as GM. If GM is our worst case scenario, Nokia is far closer to the norm.
3. Articulate – Articulate was chosen to be a champion for small/niche businesses. It was also specifically chosen because the blog is highly customer focused. While GM and Nokia focus predominantly on internal issues, Articulate is a blog for the people. Therefore, it’s our best case scenario.

General Motors

General Motors maintain one of the highest profile corporate blogs on the planet – GM Fast Lane. Fast Lane ranks amongst the 10 most popular corporate blogs in the world. Indeed, it is the only company outside of the tech industry to hold a position in the top 10, being accompanied by behemoths such as Google, Facebook, Dell & Digg. Fast Lane also hosts one of the most engaged corporate communities. Posts on Fast Lane regularly generate between 40-100 comments. Clearly GM are doing something right.

But…as we all know, the world economy ain’t what it used to be. Aside from the banks themselves, GM (along with Chrysler) is perhaps the primary scapegoat for public backlash. With the government bailout still fresh in the public’s mind, how has Fast Lane fared in terms on negative commentary?

Comments: 37 positive, 79 neutral, 34 negative

Hmmm… A little surprised? I know I was. The expected angst hasn’t translated into a free-for-all trolling of the GM blog. In fact, positive comments still slightly outnumber negative comments. Amazing! Despite the current circumstances, just 22.6% of the user comments are negative. If this sounds like a lot, consider that you’re probably not a multinational facing extreme anti-global sentiment. And you’re not a scapegoat for the collapse of the world economy. This is likely to be as bad as it gets.

Let’s take a look at Nokia to see a large business without the baggage fared…

Nokia

Nokia’s Conversations blog makes for an interesting contrast to GM’s Fast Lane. Despite the fact that Nokia is a multinational organization, it doesn’t carry the stigma of a true giant such as GM. The Conversations blog is predominantly a product focused blog, showcasing Nokia’s latest products and technologies.

The Nokia blog demonstrates audience behaviours far more typical of a corporate blog. Most posts attract a handful of comments, with only the most popular items generating 10 or more responses. Let’s see the negative comment ratio:

Comments: 31 positive, 108 neutral, 11 negative

Now that’s more like it. The negative comment ratio is down to just 7.3%. It’s true that technology customers are generally more passionate than most (Apple anyone?), but that doesn’t necessarily mean they’re complimentary. Posts on Dell’s and Sony’s product focused blogs have certainly attracted their fair share of criticism in the past.

The reality for most businesses is likely to be somewhere between Nokia and GM. Few organizations will face negative sentiment on the scale of GM. And Nokia might have a bit of an edge in advocacy over most brands. My guess is that most larger businesses would experience a negative comment ratio of around 10%.

Now, let’s take a look at a corporate blog that really kicks ass.

Articulate

A lot of you would never have heard of Articulate before. They’re clearly not in the same league as GM and Nokia. Unless you’re in HR or education, it’s unlikely you’ve ever hear of them. Articulate provide e-learning software solutions to fellow businesses. Not the most exciting product in the world. So it may come as a surprise to hear that they maintain a thriving community on their corporate blog. Almost 32,000 subscribers strong… which puts them in the same league as Search Engine Land and SEO Moz! And I’m willing to bet that puts them ahead of GM and Nokia in subscriber numbers.

In terms of audience engagement, Articulate’s readers are far more vocal than Nokia’s, but not quite at the same level of GM. Most of posts attract somewhere between 25-30 comments. Let’s take a look at the nature of their comments:

Comments: 83 positive, 64 neutral, 3 negative

Whoa! Now that’s impressive. Of 150 reader comments just 3 were negative, equating to a negative comment ratio of 2%. So what’s the secret of their success? Articulate’s blog is truly customer focused. Entries typically take a tutorial format, providing creative ideas and guidance on how to use their software to create superior e-learning courses. In other words, they’re creating real value for readers. Reader comments prove as much:

“Thanks so much for a wonderful tutorial! I can’t wait to apply these wonderful tips to my presentations.”

“Once again you are saving me time. I haven’t really taken the time to look at all the PowerPoint functions in 2007 and I am amazed at how the themes work. Great tip which should save me a lot of time.”

And on that note… I declare this myth busted!

So what have we learned today? It’s true that organisations are far from shielded from negative commentary in social environments. But the extent of that negativity seems to be significantly overestimated in many people’s minds. Few company’s will ever be in a position as bad as GM right now. Thus, GM’s negative comment ratio of 22.6% could be viewed as the ceiling of discontent. Any company that exceeds this benchmark probably deserves it.

For the rest of us, a negative comment ratio of 5-10% is far more likely. Some may still see this as a risk. But I’d say it’s not nearly as big a risk as ignoring communications platforms experiencing massive adoption rates amongst consumers.

James Duthie is an Australian online marketing expert. This is the third article in the social media mythbusting series. Read the first and second articles in the series, or subscribe to his blog here.

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12 brilliant comments

This is really great. I was in awe while reading this article. I haven't realized that even though you are on top on the game doesn't always makes you the best likewise being bombarded with negative comments could make you fall down.

Leanie Belle – Your First 100 Dollars Online

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leanie belle  ^#

Love the article. The supporting data is awesome. Although, it seems like you trailed off at the end saying "…experiencing massive adoption rates amongst…" If I'm not mistaken, it appears that something is supposed to show up after amongst. Still a great article. Well worth the read!

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Brian Harnish  ^#

10 points to you Brian for reading attentively down to the last word. You are correct. There is one word missing from the end of the post. It is 'consumers'. Any chance of fixing that Ruud?

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James Duthie  ^#

How often do you suppose these companies simply delete negative comments?

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Tyson  ^#

No matter what you do or who you are you are always prone to be attacked by customers. Anybody that puts themselves out there is. The more harm you do in the public eye the more your going to get in return. This doesn't mean to avoid the social media landscape.

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Nick Stamoulis  ^#

Interesting question Tyson. All of the blogs publish negative comments from users, so I'm making the assumption that they don't delete any (unless they're off topic or offensive). Whether that's a naive assumption I'm not sure…

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James Duthie  ^#

what criteria do you use to put comments in the positive, negative,or neutral categories? Because than can be quite subjective. Without knowing how you categorise the comments or seeing a sample of each one, its hard to tell.

I'd also be keen to know if there is a moderation process with the comments – i.e. do you get published immediately or do one of the blog authors approve the comment. it probably gives the blog more credibility if they do publish the bad comments as well as the good. It's like customer review ratings. You'll always find one person who had a negative experience amongst all the good comments.

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inspiredworlds  ^#

I also think this article is incredibly funny. when the company's employees fight back with no regard to communications policy!

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/pda/2009/feb/25/ryanair-socialnetworking

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inspiredworlds  ^#

I assume some of the negative comments might have been filtered out due to strong language. People are also more likely to take a bit of their time to complain rather than say how happy they are with the product/service. Great observation but I don't think you can start measuring things in percentages quite yet.

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Ilia – SEO  ^#

Social media is a tough sell to corporations. It's nice to have these myths debunked in a post. thanks.

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Utah SEO  ^#

Social bookmarking is not working as it used to. You just have to figure out new ways of getting backlinks

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regalos originales  ^#

Entering social media means getting closer to the customer. And that's always a good thing. When customers don't see a company as a huge group void of personality they tend not to engage so much. Now just look at apple – for everyone apple is Steve Jobs. An suddenly people devolp "close relationships" with their apple products. Maybe entering social media will help put a face on a company.

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Dieta  ^#

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