For the past five years, our agency has led corporate social responsibility (CSR) communications for a global, U.S.-based company in several Spanish-speaking countries throughout Central America and the Caribbean including El Salvador, Honduras and the Dominican Republic. We have had the unique opportunity to build the communications infrastructure from the ground up in each country, and implement strategic plans against monthly calendars of CSR activities that deliver real benefits to communities and our clients.

Our work showcases CSR projects – from renovating schools and hospitals to providing humanitarian aide in the wake of natural disasters – that are carried out by teams of employee volunteers who step forward to make these efforts come to life. Through these experiences, we have created a core agency capability rooted in formal processes and cultural understanding and have developed insights into what it takes to successfully gain the confidence of local communities and stakeholders in Latin America.

Here are our best practices.

Recruit Strong Local Partners

Even in your hometown, it can take years to build a solid network of personal and professional contacts. International communications practitioners will rarely be afforded the time it takes to cultivate relationships with the relevant organizations and individuals in the markets they manage. A more realistic and expedient option is to recruit a local partner who  can provide you with the media access, connections and cultural insights necessary to accomplish your goals while representing the client as an extension of your team.

Finding the right partner is difficult, but conducting an RFP that includes in-person interviews on location will greatly improve your odds of success. Sometimes clients are resistant to approve the upfront expenses associated with an on-site RFP, but in our experience it is worth the initial investment. Due to the range of issues you and your partner will be faced with, it is important for your relationship to be a personal fit as well as a professional one and face-to-face interaction is invaluable in that regard.

Use Your Passport

Despite all of the recent advances in communications and reference technologies – from social media to Blackberry Messenger and Google Earth to Skype – international communications practitioners must travel to the markets they manage. This experience is not a ‘nice-to-have.’

Making regular country visits will enable you to develop genuine relationships with your partners and client teams, experience the local culture firsthand and provide a lasting frame of reference about the country and your client’s business operations. Traveling to international markets is like taking part in a walking, talking SWOT analysis – it transforms the hypothetical into reality in a way that cannot be accomplished at your desk in the United States.

Learn the Culture and History

Although a common language unites most countries in Latin America, the region is far from homogenous. Understanding simple but important cultural details – like the fact that Brazil was colonized by the Portuguese, baseball is the national sport of the Dominican Republic or that several Central American countries functioned as a unified government in the 19^th century – goes a long way.

Although some cultural and historical details might seem esoteric, in today’s interconnected world this information is more important than ever. Local rivalries, domestic crises and national achievements rarely happen in a vacuum – more often than not they are part of a historical pattern that has been in the making for decades, if not centuries. It behooves companies to encourage their international communications practitioners to read up on the history of the places where they will work before their projects begin. Playing catch up on the ground or coming off as an ignorant American is a bad way to start a new endeavor.

Appreciate Context

A big part of managing international communications is the ability to adapt your perspective to the local environment. Despite the emergence of global business culture, many things remain markedly different at a company factory in Pittsburgh and a production base in Managua. In the United States, an employee strike that generates national news coverage could cause a full-blown crisis with repercussions that last for months, if not years. In Central America, the same incident could be part of a typical Tuesday.

This is not to say that international communications practitioners can put aside their client’s global values, become insensitive to local concerns or let little issues snowball into crises – especially given the power of social media. It does mean that we must appreciate the unique factors that make Latin American society different from the United States – such as varying  standards of fair reporting, less enthusiasm for libel and slander lawsuits and a radically divergent balance of power between labor and business – and adjust our tactics accordingly.

Open Formal Lines of Communication

Every communications practitioner can appreciate the importance of timely and accurate information. But in the case of international communications, cultural and linguistic barriers present challenges to establishing trust between the global team and can impede the flow of communications. It is important to have individuals on your team who can break through the language barrier and establish regular opportunities to connect with their international counterparts, such as via weekly or bi-weekly team conference calls. These touch points create opportunities to learn about activities or issues that may help or could hinder your communications efforts.

Know that building genuine trust across your international team will not happen overnight. But if you consistently demonstrate an understanding of the country at hand, remain cognizant of local perceptions and establish an effective system for communicating with all parties, it is possible for you to become a trusted conduit of information that connects disparate units of an international organization.

Show Organizational Value

One challenge we have is to show the value of our international communications efforts as U.S. organizations continue to face economic challenges and shrinking communications budgets. A donation of a renovated ambulance a world away might seem like a low priority, but companies with a manufacturing presence in Latin America need to maintain a favorable environment for conducting business. Smart and engaging CSR activities are an excellent way to build goodwill, maintain and form new relationships with key stakeholders and differentiate your organization from competitors.

Back at headquarters, it is important to share your successes and their tangible impacts with senior leaders who oversee core business functions from supply chain to sales. This is where documentation – such as photo and video assets, reporting and internal communications activities – is critical.

Elizabeth Castro is a senior vice president at O’Malley Hansen Communications (OHC) in Chicago (www.omalleyhansen.com). OHC implements internal and external corporate communications plans and social media campaigns for big brands. You can follower her on Twitter at @Eliz_Castro and @thecommsblog.

Jeremy Berrington is an account supervisor at O’Malley Hansen Communications. Jeremy is a political junkie with a background in journalism and government communications. In addition to his work at OHC, he writes a blog called Real Politik on ChicagoNow.com. You can follow his blog @realpolitikchi.

Anyone who has managed a Facebook fan page on behalf of a major national brand knows that consumers hold the cards. They own the forum. Of course you can guide the conversation, but ultimately they control it. They can praise you when they love your product. They can show their support for your cause. They can post humorous comments on a great photo or viral video. But if they purchase a product and it fails to meet their standards, or if they have a less than positive experience with your brand, you should expect to hear from them in a very public way.

It’s no mystery that social media has drastically changed the way that brands interact with consumers. Gone are the days when an unhappy or frustrated consumer had to dig up a customer service line, or just vent to a neighbor. Now, consumers hit any online forum where that brand or company has a presence, mainly Facebook fan pages or Twitter. It’s immediate, it’s public and it’s incredibly satisfying. And likely, it’s a great way to get a quick response from the brand.

Understandably, if you manage a Facebook fan page on behalf of a client you have an emotional connection to the community you built. It’s your baby. A dissatisfied consumer, critical fan or activist campaign can completely change the tone of your precious community. When it happens, and undoubtedly it will, there is an immediate emotional reaction. You want to jump to the brand’s defense, possibly get a little defensive or even fight back. As we saw earlier this year, case studies of brands appearing combative towards consumers on Facebook can have devastating and lasting effects.

Now imagine how your client feels it these situations. They’re looking to you for recommendations on what to say and how to say it. They could be frantic, or even sounding the crisis alarm regardless of the scale of the issue.  So it’s our job on the agency side to do two things. First, we need to provide some perspective and analysis to determine a scope of the issue and a thoughtful course of action. Second, we need to develop effective key messages that not only deliver the right information, but are in the right tone – and fast. While we can’t anticipate or control every single issue that makes its way onto our clients’ Facebook pages, we can advise that the best approach is one of transparency, honesty, respect and sometimes little empathy and a thick skin.

Here are the 10 rules of engagement for managing unhappy or critical Facebook fans that every brand should follow

1. Always respond to criticism – Never put your head in the sand on Facebook. As a rule, we always respond in some fashion to negative posts as soon as possible. You might not always be able to satisfy everyone, but trust that your messages will be heard by the other fans of your page. Also continue to monitor the conversation and respond if necessary.
2. Respond even if you don’t have all the answers – We’ve all been there. A consumer wants an answer to a question or a resolution to their issue immediately. But you either don’t have the information or the ability to truly resolve immediately. At the very least, post a response that you’re looking into the matter as a way to show you hear them and are taking action. The last thing a consumer wants from a brand regarding a concern or problem is total silence.
3. Offer a solution if you have one – Ideally, we would have the ability and the budgets to offer a solution to any consumer issue. In fact, having the perfect solution is truly the easiest way to remedy the problem. But when that’s not the case, you may simply need to be honest.  Sometimes, the facts of the situation are what they are. At the very least, explain your position.
4. Keep it public and respond directly – If you get a consumer comment on your wall, it’s public. So always respond publicly. This ensures the consumer who posted the comments sees a notification on their homepage, and it ensures that everyone else sees that you’ve been responsive. Private responses are appropriate if you need to have a more in-depth discussion offline or if you can offer something special to the consumer that is not open to others. But always know that even those conversations can easily be made public.
5. Correct any and all misinformation – We’ve seen situations where a consumer has incorrect information about an issue and posts it on your client’s Facebook page. Nothing will upset a brand more than misinformation that can potentially damage its brand integrity. You should immediately and politely correct them by explaining the situation or issue accurately. In our experience, correcting misinformation further educates your fans. The next time that same piece of misinformation rears its ugly head, others will chime in to correct it. For anyone who has seen this happen, it’s a beautiful thing. It shows that your fans are listening and they get it.
6. Have a little heart – In some cases, an apology is appropriate especially if there was a clear error on the part of the brand. But in situations where no error occurred, and you still have unhappy consumers, at the very least show empathy and acknowledge their disappointment. While one consumer may never feel satisfied with the way you tried to resolve their issue, you have the potential to be viewed by other fans as caring and thoughtful. Acknowledge their feelings about the situation, then attempt to resolve the issue.
7. Stand by your message – Opinions. We all have them. Some individuals have stronger ones than others, and some have no problem ensuring the brand hears about them on their Facebook page. Some consumers may go as far as to criticize the core of your brand such as the new marketing campaign, recipe or the way it’s made. If your brand feels they are doing the right thing, have confidence to stand by your message and explain your position. Even if some of your fans don’t fully agree with you, you might simply need to agree to disagree.
8. Be polite, remove your emotion – Nothing will anger your fans more than seeing a brand use sarcasm or talk down to a fellow fan. Always be polite: “We appreciate the opportunity to respond to you” is one  way to start your post when crafting a thoughtful response. As the manager of a Facebook fan page, you need to remove emotion from your responses even if consumers aren’t being civil.
9. Distinguish an “issue” from a “crisis” – For good reason, brand managers and marketers are very protective of their companies and brands. If they see negative comments on their Facebook page, even just a handful, it can make them feel as though a crisis is brewing. That’s not always the case. If you have a serious quality or safety issue with a brand, or a systemic problem that becomes a business threat, that’s a crisis. However, if you have a few consumers disappointed about, for example, expired coupons– yes, they might be mad, but that’s not a true crisis. In a crisis situation, help your clients connect with their internal communications team to discuss the matter and determine a thoughtful management strategy.
10. Moderate conversations (but don’t think for a second that you can stop them) – As mentioned above, your clients could have an emotional reaction to negative or critical comments on their Facebook page. They may want you to remove comments, or somehow stop the conversations. You shouldn’t. Instead, help them understand that the best approach is to moderate discussions. And if your fans need to vent, just let them. Your role in that case is to monitor the conversations, as they happen, and to respond when necessary.

 These proven strategies will help you effectively manage various types of issues that come to your Facebook fan page with respect and grace for the consumer. By honoring your commitment as a communications professional to be the steward of the message, you have the opportunity to protect your brand’s integrity and further enforce the reasons that consumers came to your fan page in the first place.

Elizabeth Castro is a vice president at O’Malley Hansen Communications (OHC) in Chicago (www.omalleyhansen.com). OHC has developed social media strategies and manages Facebook communities for national brands.

Dent is of course best known as “The Colonel “ from the 1985 Chicago Bears team that won the Super Bowl. But what many Chicagoans probably don’t know is that today Dent is the principal of RLD Resources, a consultancy that helps businesses save on their energy costs. Dent was a natural choice to help raise awareness about the regional rebate program that gives consumers up to $750 for replacing natural gas equipment in their homes with more energy efficient models as well as installing attic insulation.

If you live in Chicagoland, here’s your Two-Minute Warming:

1. Check your equipment and your attic – This heating season, about 25,000 families in Chicago will experience an unexpected burn out of their end-of-life furnaces and boilers on the first cold day. Additionally, many homes in Chicago do not have attic insulation, which is the greatest area of heat loss. Installing attic insulation is one of the easiest and most affordable ways to make your home more energy efficient and comfortable, and impact your bill.

2. Visit the Chicagoland Natural Gas Savings Program website at www.chicagolandrebates.com to:

• Select the right natural gas equipment that will qualify for a rebate
• Install the equipment with the help of a professional contractor
• Complete and submit the rebate forms for payment

Rebates range from $50 to $750. Residents can also receive a $1,500 federal tax credit, which is only available until December 31, 2010.

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