Is social media a good option for every organization? That is the question facing many organizations as they try to see how this can fit into their marketing strategies. They want to know the ROI and exactly what benefits this can offer.
But then there are companies that face special concerns. What do you do if you are a huge corporation who is usually the butt of jokes and tends to be disliked by many of your customers. That is the challenge facing Comcast.
When people want to watch cable television in many cases there aren’t a lot of choices available to them. In the Philadelphia area you either have Comcast, satellite, or Verizon fios if it is available.
This pretty much gives Comcast the type of control many companies would envy. If you want cable television, then there aren’t a lot of choices and you get customers that choose you because they hate you a little less than your competitors.
This could explain why Comcast has no social media presence. If they had a Facebook page how would they handle it? They would have customers telling cable horror stories and venting their frustration.
If you want to see how that would work, check out the Verizon Fios page www.facebook/verizonfios. The Verizon page seems to have someone full time responding to customer issues. You do see customers who are extremely unhappy with the services but you also see others who love what they have to offer.
You have to acknowledge and give credit that Verizon is willing to open themselves up to criticism. By Comcast not offering any social media outlets it makes you feel they are less confident about their product that they really don’t want to hear what consumers have to say about their service.
What do you think? Do you feel Comcast is taking the easy way out by not providing social media for customers?
4 comments:
I suggest you research a little further. Comcast is one of the most referenced case studies on how we participate in social media.
Frank Eliason
Comcast
@comcastcares
Frank_Eliason@cable.Comcast.com
I'm a comcast customer because of the de facto monopoly but I'm not a comcast fan at all. But comcast's presence on twitter with @comcastcares and @comcastbonnie and many other @comcast-accounts is best thing they do.I have been helped out several times by them when other parts of the company were dragging their feet or giving me the run-around.
While comcast has much that could and should be criticized, their social media presence should not be. Saying that Comcast is "not offering any social media outlets" is just plain wrong.
Now look what you've done. You've made me defend comcast. Now I have to go take a shower and maybe go to confession or something. I feel so dirty.
Comcast is the blueprint for how mega corporations should handle social media. Google them and you will see. :)
LOL. Research fail.
The other day I made a complaint about Verizon Wireless on my twitter, no response. It made me feel unimportant to a company I've been faithful to for about 8 years (a long time for a 21-year-old, one with (hopefully) about another 50ish years of consumer buying power left).
I had a problem with my Comcast service the other day and at 10pm I had @ComcastBonnie testing my modem and providing tech support. I'm certainly biased (employee) but if I had that kind of support in any situation I would have a positive feeling the company I've been giving my money to.
Social Media should be a priority for companies today, especially big ones. People that can be affected by their efforts are the ones responsible for buying decisions and the ones that are going to be around in 5, 10, 20, etc years. From my experience Comcast seems to be leading the way, or at the very least doing a great job and setting a good example.
A company as big as Comcast is bound to have negative press and have some frustrated, vocal customers. By meeting these challenges head-on, to Sean's point, they can improve their image with individuals and as a whole.
(Standard comment about my views not being Comcast's views, in any way. I do not speak for Comcast, these are my own opinions).
@Mikelikewhoa on Twitter
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