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Having a brand or a company is never easy, and having a presence on social media is essential but can actually make it even harder. Social media accounts are a great way to showcase your brand’s personality, build an audience and create a community that shares the same interests. However, when dealing with people there will always be someone criticising your brand, whether they had a bad experience or just because they are really opinionated.
Although it is not pleasant to have such bad comments and feedback publicly displayed on your wall, there are a few things you should have in mind when dealing with them. Firstly, you should always assess whether the comment is well founded or is just someone seeking attention and writing something negative just for the sake of commenting.
It is also do bear in mind that deleting these comments is not a good idea. If they do not feature foul language and comply with all “good manners” guidelines, you should always keep the comment. No one likes to have their opinions deleted without an answer and that can give them a real reason to hate your brand.
#1 Don’t take it personally.
We all love our companies, believe in what we do and know we are doing the best we can. However, people on the other side of the screen don’t care. It is sad, I know it’s sad, but usually nobody even thinks about the people behind a brand and their feelings when writing a comment — which is pretty harsh, but that’s life.
When a CEO or manager reads a bad comment, they usually feel hurt and the first impulse is to write back and put the commenter in their place. Please, never do this. If you receive a bad comment, play it cool, take your time to consider your answer and try to put yourself in the commenter’s shoes.
Why are they taking time to write this comment/review? Is there any chance they are right about what they are saying? If so, show you care, be respectful and make sure you take action by sending them a private message to solve their problem.
If your brand has a witty personality, you can also try to reply in a funny manner. However, do be careful and make sure you do not say nothing very personal that could actually backfire. We all love a good sense of humour, but no one likes to be made fun of. A good example of this is Wendy’s annual National Roast Day.
#2 Personalise each of your replies
Dealing with people can be tough because everyone has an opinion and likes their voice to be heard. Social media has made that even easier and now you can voice your opinion in a single tweet, and depending on the amount of followers a person has, a lot of damage can be done.
As a brand, it is important to acknowledge each one of your clients, whether they are making good or bad comments, and reply in the most personalised and customised manner. No one likes the generic treatment, so make sure that you call them by their name, do your research on what they are complaining about and show your appreciation for their time.
A good way to do this is by talking to them directly via direct message to make sure you can solve their issue or just acknowledge your failing. Also, if you already know that specific client, it is great to show that you remember them by citing something good they did in the past with your brand or asking a more personal question.
#3 Don’t waste your time
Lastly, to trolls and people who just really like to waste other people’s time. If you feel as though you have done everything you could for that person and they continue to post nasty comments and feedback, then let them be.
You have two options if they’re being disrespectful: you can block them or remove them from your community. Usually people do not like this, but it’s better to have them kick off than let them continue writing unfair comments and making you feel stressed about it. So my advice is: if they are being disrespectful towards you or any of your other clients, get them out of there!
However, if you feel they are just trolling and have nothing better to do with their time, either reply making fun of the situation in an intelligent manner, or ignore them. Although the first option works better, it is important to be careful what you joke about, so if you do not feel very confident about your skills in humour, then just ignore them.
Still have doubts about this? Let us know in the comments.
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