No Bullshit Social Media

6. It’s Your House: Social Media Marketing Protects Your Reputation

In March 2010, candy giant Nestlé received a crash course on social media, when it was pummeled on its Facebook page by protestors and critics who were loudly complaining about Nestlé’s use of palm oil from deforested areas in Indonesia.

And in one, fell swoop, the chocolate giant learned what every company needs to know: Social media presents a need for a different type of crisis communications. The company created the fan page on Facebook so its fans could talk about their favorite Nestlé products and see announcements about new candies. Waking up one day to see a bombardment of complaints about unethical practices wasn’t what the company had in mind for its social media ...