Social Media has been embraced by most businesses as the most happening Internet marketing strategy. But how do businesses respond when they receive negative comments? Read on to find out how to deal with negative comments so that it doesn’t have a detrimental effect on your business.
Choose your plan of action: The first step is to have plan for both positive and negative comments. Choose how will use the positive comments and how will you respond to negative ones. You also have to decide earlier on whether you plan to moderate comments or allow them to be posted without approval.
Monitor regularly: Businesses need to monitor what is being said about them on different social media websites like Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, StumbleUpon, Digg, Foursquare and other niche-specific review websites. You could tools like Google Alerts, HootSuite, Trackur, Lithium and Radian6 to keep yourself notified.
Be honest and transparent: Customer comments may be harsh but remember that most often it is justified. A good rule here is to avoid taking the criticism personally and overreacting for this could turn a bad situation into a worse one. Instead, take the time to listen and if you do have a valid excuse, provide an apology and make a pledge that you will do your best to ensure it doesn’t happen again. Also ensure that your response is professional and friendly.
Accentuate the positive: Generally good comments almost always outweigh the number of negative comments. Publicize the good reviews and make use of them for proactive reputation management. Request your satisfied customers to post their comments in Facebook or Twitter. Take note that encouraging positive comments will ensure that the balance is maintained.
Delete only when necessary: It is generally advised to refrain from deleting comments unless they contradict your rules such as the use of offensive language. Also beware of spam in the form of comments. Delete spam comments only when you’re assured that it’s not a legitimate customer.
