Faced with the big D, consumers’ pain often translates into traffic for certain brands.

Ikea, for one, specializes in cheap, modular, expensive-looking furniture that’s a turnkey solution for a newly single fellow who has to set up house in a hurry. Haagen Dazs, famously, offers solace to many a rejected female (read: chocolate).

These companies’ identification with pain is so integral as to be almost cliche – except you’d be hard-pressed to find an admission from corporate that they actively woo the downtrodden – and they probably don’t. It’s just that their products are so uniquely suited in their appeal to those who suffer. They are comfort products by design. And who needs comfort more than someone recently shunned?

The moral is: pain sells. You can turn that into a positive for your brand.

As you build your online credibility through your finely honed social media presence, you begin to be viewed as an authority. If a follower or friend has had a bad experience with your competitor, you reap the reward when they come crying on your shoulder. If you’re sincere, it’s not manipulation. It’s simply emotional capital. If you are a good person selling a good product, and your online media campaign is well intentioned, you’ll win business. Not only will you heal the hurt, you’ll help save others from it in the first place.

Someone asked me yesterday what I thought the best metric of influence in social media is. I don’t think there’s any better than a reputation as someone who can help save someone a lot of heartache.