It’s not just blogging where you’ll encounter this. It’s social media in general. To the same way you can post an article you’ve written on Facebook, people can post how they feel about it, too. PR disasters are based on these things, after all, and no one likes to be talked about in a bad way. But here’s the thing, and what everyone will tell you: these comments are going to exist with, or without you. You might as well be a part of that conversation.

Basically, you have to respond. If someone complains, ask them about it. If someone has a really strong objection to something that you’re saying, reiterate why you think the way you do. But be respectful about it. Responding doesn’t have to mean fighting. Here’s an example. Someone recently complained on Twitter that our product wasn’t working. It never sounds good when someone tells everyone, for the world to hear, that what you’re doing is broken. The response was “Thank you – we’re working on it”  and I followed up with a direct message to ask more specifically what the problem was. I probably could have asked publicly, since they responded that the issue resolved itself. This person, the same who complained, has since become one of the most responsive to our tweets, – and positively! They’re using social media to engage, and since we’re active, too, it happened to be with us.

At the same time, you have to learn to let it go. This was one of the main points of the blogger that came to talk to us. Once you respond, and if the questions or comments can’t be resolved, you don’t have to hammer it to death. His point was that sometimes, commenters just like to have the last word. Personally, I think that most readers can tell when someone is being plain old ridiculous. If they lose their cool, and you don’t, that’s noticed. It makes their argument less effective. So have some faith in your readers, and in the online world in general. Just because a comment is negative, doesn’t mean it’s taken for the truth.

Finally, give yourself a little breathing room, too. You’ll read elsewhere in this blog that you should let things evolve, that you can and should learn from your own social media strategy and implementations. The same goes for commenting. Chances are, you’re not going to respond the right way all the time. That’s okay. You’re certainly not going to respond the right way by ignoring these things, so at least with the former option, you have room to grow.

This is a great example, the site: whatthefuckismysocialmediastrategy.com

These are little snippets that actually sound like legitimate goals, or sentences taken right out of a best-selling social media handbook. But see that tag line? “Making it up so you don’t have to.” It’s a joke. Hogwash. Bull. It makes fun of the seriousness of social media planning by seemingly making profound statements, while really saying nothing at all.

Just get on the space, and make content. No one is going to do anything with something that just sits there. So if you’re worrying about your overall strategy, and not making a move until you figure it out, you need a new game plan. Because an overall strategy means jack if you don’t have anything to apply a strategy to. All the social networks are fluid enough where you can mend your Page, Tweets, Flickr pics, etc. with new ideas. Besides, wouldn’t this be a good problem to have: “Oh, I totally know what I’m doing with social media, that I now can think about how to make my social media better.”

There will always be tips to help; this by no means means you shouldn’t apply them. If you have a newsletter, put your Facebook Page and its link on there. You have to tell people what you have, after all. Just don’t over-think it. Just start.

A little history:

Before, Groups and Pages almost looked the same. Groups were just easier to create. T-Mobile commercials prompted Groups entitled “IDK, my BFF Jill” – and they weren’t created by T-Mobile. This seemed to lead a business owner to head for the Page instead. There were steps to go through; you have to identify if you’re a local business, a product, a person of interest, etc. It was more professional. However, when Facebook made everyone’s interests into Pages awhile back, you lost a bit of that professionalism. If a person listed something specific and random, like drinking coffee in the winter on a beach, – well, there’s a Page for that. While it is funny to see that there are three other people in the entirety of Facebook who listed the exact same, random interest, it hurt the legitimate Pages out there. And then hackers jumped on board, so now that Page for a $1000 IKEA gift-card that pops up in your home feed, – actually does some harm.

So, back to Groups then? Would people be more engaged in a Group – will it feel more like a community? Perhaps you don’t need an omniscient representation of your business, as you’d get on a Page. Well, now Groups are different, but again, it’s a good change.

For one, Groups look a lot different. While all the old Groups that were created back in the day will still exist, – and still look strikingly like Pages, – you can no longer create them to look this way. (Here’s an example of an old Group, and a Page.) Now when you create a Group, they will have more of a ‘List’ feel to them, like the kind you used to be able to make to categorize your Friends and their news. (It’s also interesting to note that with Facebook’s new Group features, – as shown in this picture, – that allows you to upload documents and share information within the Group, Google is actually discontinuing some of their own Group features, like the Welcome Message and Files.)

In short, the new Group set-up on Facebook encourages active participation. You don’t ever feel like you’re leaving your home page or News Feed – you are a part of this Group. But does that mean then, that your business should have a Group instead of a Page instead? Will that increase engagement?

You just have to simplify your questions. There are a million factors you could consider, and if you try to appease all of them, you’re creating a problem you can’t solve. Instead, focus on the following:

1) Do you want Analytics?

Do you want to know who is visiting your page, and how they’re using it? Do you want to know how many views you got on that video you uploaded? Or what the trend is for Unsubscribes? Yes? Answer: Page.

And honestly, if you’re really going to be getting into the social media space, this is the number one resource for measuring your success. That’s the whole point of online media – it is so much easier to measure than it is in traditional media. Will you really truly know how many people looked at that ad in a magazine? No, but you can see the exact number of people who clicked on a promotion in your latest e-Newsletter.

2) Do you want an omniscient presence?

What does that mean? It means that you have an actual representation of your brand. When you make a comment or a post, it shows up as THE company. You are an Admin, so you can freely upload photos, create events, and respond to people’s questions without having people wonder who this random person is. This is not a feature in Groups, and probably never will be. If you do want this, your answer is: Page.

Of course there are other things to consider, but if either of these questions are important to you, and they really should be, then the smaller details are just that – small.

A final note:

The new Groups make it easier to have both a Facebook Page and a Group, – that won’t compete with each other. In what circumstances would you want this? Perhaps you have a new product you want some feedback on. It’s your latest and greatest, and you want all conversations about it to be located in a specific area. Create a Group, – and promote it on your Page. Or perhaps your company has created a following across the country. Create Chapters of your company, like ‘X’ West, ‘X’ North, ‘X’ South and so on. Especially if you have contacts in those locations, they could take the lead in the conversations. This way, conversations, especially when related to something as specific as a location, have an actual place to live. You could try and do this in the Discussion section on a Page of course, but remember, the new Groups really do promote active participation. The Discussion Boards tend to die off, and you can’t do any of the cool things, – like upload documents or photos.

As always, if you’re unsure, try it out. You can create a Group and refrain from making it Public, giving you some freedom to utilize it. Search for Groups and join some. See what you like about it, and what you don’t. Your own experience will only help shape your professional social media presence.

Too often, however, you get those blind requests from your friends that are just irritating. Even more so when they’re from mere acquaintances you haven’t heard from in five years. If you think about it, how likely are you to accept one of those Page Suggestions? Profiles are still profiles – they’re supposed to be indicative of who you are as a person: things you like, things to vent about, your friends, – all of which describe your overall network, of course. So are you really going to become a fan of a new landscaping company someone from high school just started? Yes, it would be the nice thing to do, but with so many being sent these days, the truth is, people are becoming more and more selective. Why then are they being sent so often? Because there’s a misconception about the success of a Facebook page. The more fans the better, but really, it’s not about the numbers.

Tactically speaking, this doesn’t mean you have to ignore the “Suggest to Friends” feature for your promotion. Just be pickier. If you’re starting a new company, send it to your friends who you genuinely think would have an interest in what you’re doing, besides the (let’s face it, egotistically) fact that they know you. For instance, suggest your landscaping company’s page to a friend who, let’s say, is a John Deere dealer.

Be proactive. Do you know that they have a Facebook page? Join it. If they see that, they’ll appreciate it, and just may return the favor.

Share it on your wall instead. You can still include a note, asking for friends to join your page. Perhaps you only need a couple more fans to get to 25; enlist their help this way so you can pick a username. Those who are really interested in you, will also be interested in helping you out.

Why be so selective? You don’t need numbers. You need interaction. If you get 100 people who are never, ever going to go to your page again, it is of no benefit to you whatsoever. Trade that in for 20, even 10 people who are commenting, liking, and maybe even promoting the page to their friends, – and you’ve simply got a much better Page on your hands.

Engagement
Transparency
Time
Strategy

and so on. You must engage with your customers: when they talk, you must talk back. But don’t pretend you’re a customer or a mysterious blogger, and rave on and on about how marvelous your product is. People will pick up on it, – and call you out for it. Developing a real page, a community, a resource, will also take a lot of time and effort. Companies are hiring social media promoters, analyzers and coordinators as real manpower within their staff. Gatorade hired a firm to develop a whole system that’s devoted to helping those folks. Then, when it comes down to rolling out the tweets, status updates and flickr photos, you’ll find some step-by-step instructions, books and posts that tell you how you should define your plan and create your strategy for the long-term.

These tips are all true and helpful. But the main point that isn’t hit home as much as it should be, (and what it seems social media newcomers find difficult to grasp) is the idea of evolution. Facebook for instance, is constantly rolling out new features and settings, to the point where they’re being sued. It is not the same network as it was when it first started. It is not the same network it was two months ago. So to not embrace this concept of change within your base of followers is a big misstep. By all means learn how the systems’ foundations work, but social media has a big trial-and-error component to it. You could think a particular status update will garner comments and likes galore, only to find it was completely ignored. To hold fast then, to the strategy you developed that strictly allows for one or two types of posts, will not grow your community. Use the information from each interaction to understand what it is your customers want to hear and what it is they like. (They do call it “Like” for a reason, after all.)

Be flexible.
Try things.
Let it evolve.