Worcester Business Journal

wbjournal.com | January 9, 2023 | Worcester Business Journal 31 By Danny Quin Danny Quin is the digital and social media manager at UMass Memorial Health in Worcester. Reach him at Daniel. Quin@umassmemorial.org. Having a career in social media is truly unique. On any given day, you are stepping into the role of copywriter, editor, graphic designer, photographer, videographer, data analyst, and any other role helping to create the most engaging content. But one aspect of the job will never change and arguably is the most important: community management. Like it or not, your organization's social media accounts have become the digital front door to your company. Let's be hon- est, that probably won't change as long as our phones, armed to the teeth with social media apps, are at everyone's fingertips every second of the day. Does a customer have a question, comment, or complaint? Forget finding the "Contact Us" page on your website. Chances are, they have probably already posted in the comment section or sent a direct message. Why? Because when a social media professional is actively engaging their so- cial media community, a user knows their comment will be acknowledged in a timely fashion. Not to mention, there is a sense of power behind making a complaint about a company or service with tens of thousands of onlookers. This is where a social media manager's most important tool comes into play: empathy. Though we are looking at the comment through the lens of an employee, we have to take a second to heed the advice of the literary hero, Atticus Finch. "You never re- ally understand a person until you consider things from his point of view… until you climb into his skin and walk around in it." Yes, a social media comment or com- plaint can easily be ignored or discarded. Yes, we are responsible for protecting our brand. It's easy to forget there is a legit- imate reason why the customer felt they needed to reach out to our page rather than utilizing a different channel. The auto-reply function is convenient and helpful, but the last thing an an- gry consumer wants to see in a heated moment is a generic, hollow, canned response from a robot. You're human; make sure to provide comfort in their moment of need. En- gage with your heart and make sure they know you're going to do anything within your power to help in their personalized situation. All they want in that moment is to feel like they are being heard. Be ready to open that door, and embrace them with under- standing and empathy. K N O W H O W What the new Mass. data privacy act means for business W hether you've been in business for a few months or several decades, there's a good chance you have a sense of who your competitors are. But when was the last time you did a deep analysis to suss them out, beyond just going to their websites? Here are some tips for performing a competitive analysis of other companies who tend to give you a run for your money. Know who your competitors are. It might seem obvious, but the first thing you should do is make sure you have a full list of the companies who challenge yours. Once you've determined direct and indirect competitors, figure out what products they offer, their quality, pricing, and any discounts. Ask yourself: What is their market share? What are the characteristics and needs of their ideal consumers? Are they using different pricing strategies for brick-and-mortar purchases versus online? "At the heart of any business is its product or service, which is what makes this a good place to start," Christine White, acquisition marketer at HubSpot, wrote in a company blog post. Talk to their customers. While you're looking online for reviews, make note of some of the customers you want to talk to and reach out to them. Figure out what it is they want and need, and ask if those things are being fulfilled. "ink of it as a relationship: If something is lacking in their relationship with your competitor, make it known that you will fulfill those unmet business needs," Dan Casarella wrote in an article on the website of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. "At the conclusion of your conversation, thank them for their time and offer them better customer service." Look at their marketing tactics. One of the best ways to see how a company markets its products is to take on the role of a potential customer. Sign up for their newsletters, follow them on social media, and even purchase a product to see how a business follows up with the people it does business with. "You want to find out what offers they are promoting, how they are building and managing their contact lists, and how they are distributing content online," Kaleigh Moore wrote in a blog post for Shopify. USE EMPATHY When managing social media 101: P E R F O R M I N G A S T R O N G C O M P E T I T I V E A N A LY S I S W W BY LAURA FINALDI Special to WBJ Michelle Drolet is CEO of Framingham IT services firm Towerwall. Reach her at michelled@towerwall.com or (774) 204- 0700. BY MICHELLE DROLET Special to the WBJ T he Commonwealth of Mas- sachusetts may soon approve a data privacy bill called the Massachusetts Information Privacy and Security Act, which will make the state a national leader in regulation of data privacy and security. ere are extensive fines and penalties for non-compliance, and the ruling will allow individuals to sue orga- nizations for data breaches. Who does MIPSA apply to? MIPSA is neither sector-specific nor discriminates based on where an organization is located. It is applicable to any organization that stores, processes, transmits, sells, or handles Massachusetts citizens' personal data. If an organiza- tion earns more than $25 million in gross global annual revenues, processes personal information of at least 100,000 individuals, or collects and sells sensitive or personal information of at least 10,000 individuals, MIPSA is applicable. Consequences of non-compliance If the proposed legislation is accepted and the law is passed, the attorney gen- eral will be able to enforce penalties and fines to the tune of $7,500 for each vio- lation of the law, $500 per day for failure to register under the law (up to $100,000 per year), and $10,000 for violations of injunctions, plus attorney fees and costs. Cybersecurity implications MIPSA will require entities to create a comprehensive data governance plan go- ing far beyond traditional security mea- sures and potential breach notifications. While the full scope of the legislation is fairly comprehensive, below are the key business implications: • Entities can avoid punitive damages if they create, compile, and maintain a written cybersecurity program with an administrator, have physical security and surveillance in place, and demonstrate deployment of technical safeguards with industry-standard frameworks. • Entities will be required to undertake and document regular risk assessments if the data processing involves sensitive information, such as the sale of personal information, or there is a systematic analysis of personal data, such as first names and last names, gender, biometric and racial information, Social Security numbers, driver's license or state-issued ID, financial account number, credit or debit card number, etc. • e assessments must lead to the implementation of sufficient security controls and processes to mitigate iden- tified risks. • Entities will be required to take appropriate steps for ensuring third-par- ty partners, suppliers, or vendors with whom they share data, uphold the same high security standards and practices. e MIPSA compliance process may seem overwhelming at first, but the benefits far outweigh the costs and diffi- culties involved. If your business doesn't have the required expertise, knowledge, or understanding of the regulation, part- ner with an experienced cybersecurity/ privacy provider to hold your hand and walk you through the process. Following MIPSA will increase accountability by helping to develop an ongoing process of proactive monitoring for vulnerabilities, threat detection and response to keep cybersecurity risks in check. W

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