On April 25, it was announced that SurveyMonkey acquired WuFoo. WuFoo has an incredible product and a devoted fan base, and I figured there would be a reaction to the news. Out of curiosity, I went to the WuFoo Twitter page and saw the WuFoo team doing an admirable job responding to concerns.
WuFoo is not a major consumer brand like The Gap, and the reactions were small in number. However, both WuFoo and SurveyMonkey were on top of it – ready for the reaction, and responding quickly to tweets. Watching the two teams respond led me to wonder:
Can a company use social media to preempt a public relations problem? Can a company inoculate itself in real time?
Some Background:
While I think most people are familiar with SurveyMonkey. WuFoo is not as well known. WuFoo produces online forms that require no coding to create or install. The entire platform is WISYWIG and is so easy even the most technologically challenged can use it.
I am a WuFoo fanatic and am currently using over 10 different WuFoo forms, either on websites or within my brick and mortar businesses. The ROI I get from my monthly WuFoo fee is incredible. So, when I received an email about the acquisition by SurveyMonkey, I actually was concerned that the service would be changing. I didn’t really care that the owners of WuFoo had sold; I was just hoping they had not sold out.
As mentioned, I decided to check out the reaction on Twitter and Facebook (not much activity there), and it was immediately obvious from the Tweetstream that both teams were prepared and actively offering assurances to customers that their beloved WuFoo would not be changing.
Just to see what would happen, I decided to give them a little Twitter shout myself. The response was almost immediate. Interestingly, it came from the SurveyMonkey account, not the WuFoo account. Even more proof that both teams were prepared and actively engaging with customer reactions.
Can A Company Use Twitter to Prevent a PR Crisis?
It is accepted as conventional wisdom in social media circles that companies should use social media platforms as listening posts. I think the WuFoo acquisition demonstrates that active listening, especially at peak news times, can help a company proactively manage reactions in real time and potentially stave off public relations problems.
Talk to any savvy political adviser and he or she will tell you that one of the most important parts of a political campaign is defining the candidate before the opposition can. Similarly, with acquisitions or mergers, companies have a narrow window to define what the acquisition will mean to clients before the teeming petri dish that is the social Internet creates its own interpretation, leaving the company playing a losing game of catch up.
The acquisition of a beloved company is by its very nature a potential PR crisis, and the speed of consumer reaction is so immediate that it must be planned for in advance.
It used to be that the first few hours were the most important; in our lightning-fast Twitterfied universe, it’s now the first few minutes.
Of course, a company actively trying to steer a consumer reaction to friendly shores will only be successful if it can back it up. If the steering is really spinning, then it will only delay the inevitable. Putting lipstick on a pig only makes the pig uglier.
However, if the message the company is pushing is fundamentally steeped in the truth, the company has a real chance to help shape the reactions of customers. If the reaction is managed well, the company can potentially make sure its message stays preeminent and supplants the genesis of unfounded rumor and negative groupthink. Public relations abhors a vacuum, the more space a company leaves in the discussion, the more it will be filled by others.
My hats off to both companies for using Twitter to manage the reaction to the acquisition. Of course, now comes the hard part: both companies have to walk the talk. However, at least their deft handling of the announcement made sure their customers will give them the chance to do so. I know I will.
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A Footnote:
I wrote this post right after the acquisition and have not had a chance to get back to it until now. While it is a bit to the side of the point of this post (Can a Company Use Twitter to Prevent a PR Crisis), in revisiting WuFoo’s announcement post, it is obvious that WuFoo has decided not to reply to comments on their blog. This, I think, is a mistake. Sure, the FAQ may answer most of the comments, but many people will not go that far and there are a lot of unanswered negative opinions in the comments. I know the team is busy, but they seem to have done wrong on their blog exactly what they did right on Twitter. Still love you WuFoo, but IMHO you should see to your comments.
Excellent case study, Adam. I don’t use Wufoo,but do use Survey Monkey. I just checked out Wufoo and it does look quite cool and user friendly. Any-hoo, I think an immediate, team approach like the one you highlighted here is critical and can lead to a successful PR front with any merger or acquisition. What’s not so cool is the lack of follow through on the Wufoo blog. That’s too bad. Even if they no longer ‘manage’ it or have turned their attention elsewhere, put something in place with the new team that can address the questions and comments. Not smart to risk losing the loyal customers of the new acquisition because you’re busy with other things. An FAQ is like an automated out of office response…
Great post, Adam!
Erica Allison recently wrote about this…Sundays are for Sharing- Meet Laura Neiheisel
Thanks so much for stopping by Erica! WuFoo has an incredible product. Its online web forms have enabled me to digitize a huge number of different functions in my businesses, and I keep finding new ways to use the service.
It’s good to get the feedback of a PR professional like yourself. I agree that they did the right thing having the team ready, but as you said, you don’t want to drop the ball after the fact. Companies need to be ready to address reactions across all major platforms, not just a couple. Especially a technology company like WuFoo!
That’s another advantage of using Tweeter. It is just sad that many companies don’t still realize the importance of using Twitter to reach out customers. But this scenario us changing with the new social revolution happening on the net.
Using Twitter to prevent PR crisis is great idea! I’ve read several articles about how big companies recover from their PR crisis with the help of social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook. However, it is very important to know the right strategies. Great article!