Although it hasn’t been that long since the professional basketball season ended, the league is already in the news again, but for all the wrong reasons. That’s because the NBA has just become the latest in a seemingly never-ending string of professional sports leagues to be undergoing a bitter labor dispute.
Most casual fans are tuning the situation out, but that’s not stopping the athletes, managers, and the owners of different teams from sniping back and forth with one another through Twitter. Not surprisingly, the public’s reaction has been a large dose of disinterest accompanied by a minor bit of annoyance.
What does any of this have to do with promoting your company over the Internet?
Not much, except that there is one enduring lesson to be found: Don’t get into the habit of arguing with clients, competitors, or even former employees in social media forums. It just doesn’t work. People didn’t care when NFL players were airing their grievances online, they continue not to care when representatives of both sides of the NBA are doing it, and they certainly won’t care when and if your business does it, too.
If you have an issue with someone else – or they have one with you – do your best to keep things private and resolve them. If that proves to be impossible, then do the smart thing and take the high road.
Most buyers and observers won’t pay a lot of attention to a one-sided argument, but they will notice if things get ugly between your company and an employee or competitor. Why bring that kind of unneeded attention when nothing is going to be solved over Twitter?
Social Media Marketing
Twitter and other social media sites are great for promoting your business, but terrible for promoting an argumentative point of view. Take the lessons from the latest sports disputes and keep business problems away from social networking.