Social Media’s Role in Issue ManagementBlogwell CincinnatiApril 7, 2010
Kelly VoelkerPR & Social Media Manager
@gracobaby@gracoKelly
7:00 a.m. January 20, 2010
• 1.5 million strollers worldwide; seven injuries reported• Widespread media coverage in nearly every major national outlet• Very specific design & model = mass confusion
6:59 a.m. January 20, 2010
• Graco went live with proactive, specific communication through the Graco blog, YouTube, Twitter, Facebook & dedicated Web page
• Reached out to influencers to help spread the word
Doubled our monthly traffic in five days
3000+ tweets in 9 hours
Site traffic +10X
Dealing with negative feedback
• Get ahead of the news• Proactively search for and respond to conversations
• Work closely with customer service• Prepare the team in advance and loop in with most senior person• Flag negative feedback in real time• Deal with concerns on a case-by-case basis and get permission to act
• Start building a relationship before a problem exists• There will be times when the community will chime in – give them
something positive to say
• If it’s something the community can benefit from, try to start in public; if not -- take it offline
One example: Michelle
“Fix it or I’m taking it to YouTube to show
everyone what your products are really like.”
A turnaround
“I will ALWAYS continue to buy and use Graco
products thanks to the way this was handled.”
And a little positive news
What we learned
• Legal Collaboration• Become a legal go-to inside your organization• Prepare messages in advance (both word-for-word & message “types”)• Make sure your legal team understands social media
• Executive Communication• Held twice-daily calls leading up to and for the week following with top
company leadership worldwide• Sent daily e-mail updates on coverage, red flags
• Global Integration• Clarify the meaning of a recall outside of the US• Treat all consumers the same
Kelly Voelker – Graco Children’s Products@gracobaby · @gracoKelly
http://gracobaby.comhttp://facebook.com/graco
THANK YOU