As more and more companies begin to embrace social media strategies, they would do well to remember that any marketing using these outlets should be thought about just as carefully as their more traditional marketing. There could well be an argument for the view that social media marketing should be planned even more carefully, due to the instant feedback possible from consumers. As social media allows a wide range of consumers, including those who may have an axe to grind, unabated and often anonymous right of reply, companies should treat the new media options with care.</p> <p>Negative Engagement</p> <p>Australian airline Qantas, which has recently been in the news because of the strike action and grounding of its fleet, attempted some kind of Twitter based reconciliation with their customers. The airline asked its followers to name their ?dream luxury flight experiences? as part of a competition. The response was massive, and almost entirely related to the troubles that the company had been going through. Whilst many companies at some point will experience scathing feedback from their customers, a rapid and honest response is always needed at this point. The old saying, ?when customers are complaining, they are giving you a chance to make amends? rings true here.</p> <p>?Twitter Spam?</p> <p>Somewhat more cynical was the ?Twitter spamming? that took place on Habitat?s feed in 2009, where an unnamed employee in the marketing team used hash tags that were completely unrelated to their tweets, but were amongst the most popular trending topics that week. Twitter users were quick to condemn this approach, and Habitat was forced to issue an unreserved apology.<br />