Every five seconds, someone is talking about McDonald’s restaurants on a social media channel. The frequency presents opportunities to reach vast audiences, but also potential public relations headaches.

McDonald’s introduced an oatmeal product to its breakfast lineup in January. The launch created successful social media buzz, according to McDonald’s Vice President of U.S. Strategy and Insights Steve Levigne. But a month later, the New York Times compared its nutritional value to that of a candy bar. The Internet went wild with the story. McDonald’s saw negative sentiment on social media channels “shoot through the roof,” Levigne said. It fought back by reaching out through those same channels.

“We were able to go back, engage and direct people to the facts to talk to them about, here are the nutritional facts on oatmeal and how it’s not at all appropriate to compare oatmeal to a candy bar,” he said. “As we have done this and educated those online, those negative sentiments have come down dramatically and positive sentiments have gone back up to where they were before the article.”

The oatmeal example is just one way companies are taking social media one step further by sorting and analyzing the content to make useful business decisions. Levigne shared the story during the recent webinar, Drive Profits and Improve Decisions with Social Media Analytics. The session was part of the Cornell Center for Hospitality Research and SAS Webcast Series.

hotelmarketing.com

Anna Dao