Responding to Negative Feedback and Comments on Social Media

When it comes to managing social media accounts for your business, dealing with negative feedback or comments is likely the last thing you want to be doing. But, it’s also one of the most important things you can do for your business. Knowing what people are saying about your brand is one of the greatest benefits of social media.

People are sharing feedback and you can use that to add value to your business. Take that feedback seriously. But then, it’s also important to engage and interact with the members of your audience who are providing this feedback. Here are some simple steps for replying when this feedback is negative:

  • Listen – Okay, we know these negative comments are something you’ll read, not hear, but what we’re trying to emphasize here is that this feedback can be valuable to your business. The person leaving the comment wants to be heard. Listening means to “give one’s attention (to a sound)”. Make sure your audience’s concerns get the attention they deserve.
  • Prepare a Response – Once you’ve evaluated the situation, consider how you can respond in a way that shows that you have listened and cared about the concern. Then, type a response that illustrates that. Phrases like “We are so sorry to hear that you’ve had this experience…” and “Thank you for sharing this concern with us…” can be good places to start. If applicable, you can note that you’ve passed the concern on to the person who can help correct the error.
  • Review the Response – We suggest sharing your reply with a coworker or manager – especially if you can get approval or feedback on your response from a person directly involved in what the negative comment was about. Having a second set of eyes on your response can help to make sure you’re communicating the message you’d truly like to communicate.
  • Post – Try to reply to the comment in a timely manner. Knowing that their comment has been acknowledged and taken care of quickly can help turn a negative experience into a more positive experience for a client or customer.

Here are some additional tips to help you know what to include in your response:

  • Be positive and genuine.
  • Don’t be defensive.
  • In many cases, it helps to respond simply online to show that you’ve seen and responded, but try to resolve the issue offline. For example, for a medical client of ours, it was inappropriate to resolve issues online because of HIPPA violations. So, we responded generically with an invitation to call the brand’s patient advocate to take care of the concern.
  • Pay attention to who is commenting. Is someone frequently posting negative comments? Maybe it’s time to resolve their frustrations outside of social media. Is someone simply being a bully? It’s important to have a company policy determining when it’s acceptable to ban/block someone from your account or page.

Social media reputation management is one of our areas of expertise. If you’re looking for a professional team to manage your social accounts and assist you with the reputation management involved, contact us toschedule a free consultation. Call us at 435-264-1819 or email us at [email protected]

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