How you respond to criticism on social media is a reflection of your business
Tuesday, 24 February 2015 | Posted in: Articles | 2min read
Tuesday, 24 February 2015 | Posted in: Articles | 2min read
Your business has most likely created a presence on social media networks; Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn just to name a few. You are aware of the power of social media as a tool to connect, engage and establish trust with your target audience. But what happens when your business is on the receiving end of some nasty feedback? How do you respond?
There are many different ways to respond to negative criticism on social media, or course some are better than others. It can be very easy to take a negative post as a personal attack and respond in kind. Prospective customers seeing these interactions will view your social media responses as a reflection of how your business operates. Depending on how you choose to handle the situation, these negative comments can be turned into a positive for your business.
There are two different ways that you can respond to a negative comment on social media; you can respond in anger, or you can take the opportunity to respond in a positive and constructive way, which will hopefully resolve the issue and maybe even win some new customers.
When the negative feedback is coming from clients who have genuine concerns – whether you agree with them or not – it is often best practice responding to the comments in a positive and constructive way, rather than deleting the comment or ignoring it. Your apology will likely include a solution that specifically addresses your customer’s issue or a general solution to prevent the situation from occurring again.
Generally the old adage “the customer is always right” also applies online. However if you are receiving negative comments that you feel aren’t genuine concerns, you can still respond to these comments by encouraging the poster to contact you privately.
You may also respond to the person making the negative post by contacting the person privately and moving the resolution process offline. Making private contact allows you let the customer know that are willing to make an effort to resolve the situation. If the issue is resolved privately, you should follow it up with a quick post to let all of your other customers know the issue has been resolved. If the customer also posts about a successful resolution, this is a positive outcome for your business.