Guest post by Red Slice intern Suzi An
Californication is one of my favorite television shows. Naturally, I am going to ‘Like’ the show’s page on Facebook. But ever since the season ended, there has been no interaction from the page’s administrators. It’s a complete dead zone. I then began thinking about all the other brands or products that are on Facebook and Twitter that abandoned their audience. For instance, I follow Citizen on Twitter. Citizen is a small chic restaurant that I absolutely love going to and it’s right down the street from where I live. The reason I follow them on Twitter is to hear about their specials and new items on the menu. But their last post was in March. It’s almost September and I know that they had many changes to their restaurant, like building a new patio area to fit more people. This is absolutely Twitter worthy, yet they have failed to mention it to those who follow them. The point of my story is, if you are going to make your presence known in the social media world, you must plan for whatever happens, whether it is your campaign coming to an end or if it naturally closes. A few thoughts:
- Plan ahead of time your exit out of the social media world: Once you have entered the cyber world, it’s almost impossible to completely get rid of any trace of your campaign, brand, product, etc. Think of it as verbal communication. You cannot take back what you have already said. It’s important when planning your debut in the social media world to also plan what will happen at the end of your campaign. Will you keep your account and look after it for other long term uses or will you simply delete the account?
- Manage the transition: If you do decide to keep your page, even if you are on a brief hiatus, it’s extremely important to communicate with your audience. I understand that Califorication is on summer break until the next season, but I would like to be up to date on what is going on, such as knowing when the start of the next season is or what to expect in the new season.
- Thank those who made it possible: Investing time into creating a community surrounding your product takes much time and effort. If you decide to delete your page, you may want to direct people where you want them to go next, like a cliffhanger. Never leave without thanking those you supported you because they will feel abandoned.
Although I would hate to see any brand disappear from the social media world, I understand that sometimes it wasn’t meant to be. But there are several brands and products on Facebook that do a fantastic job of keeping their audience updated. Silk is a product and brand that I ‘Like’ on Facebook and I always see updates on new recipes or the audiences’ opinion on certain things. Do some light research and see how these brands and products are keeping their audience hooked. You could use what you fin to help you in your own social media campaign. After all, the last thing you want is to break up with your audience by just abandoning them without an explanation.
