Ways to Handle Negative Feedback on Social Media

7 Ways to Handle Negative Feedback on Social Media 2

IntroductionSocial media management is not for the faint-hearted. When you manage a Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn account with a large following, people can be ruthless, and sometimes with good reason.

As hard as you might try, it’s impossible to keep everyone happy. Social media has become the go-to destination for disgruntled users, and the ability to handle complaints gracefully is increasingly more important.

The tricky part is that your social presence acts as the face of your brand. How do you keep it blemish free?

The answer is tough to swallow: you don’t. People will always complain. It’s what you do after the complaint that matters.

These tips will help you keep your cool and handle negative feedback in the best way possible.

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1. Create a Process One of the first things that all social marketers should do upon inheriting control of their brand’s social channels is create a process for handling feedback.

Never underestimate your community. The vast majority of feedback is something you should pass along right away. You just have to know who to pass it to.

When urgent things come through your feed like, “Your site is down.,” or critiques on content like, “Your title is confusing…” it can be crucial to pass that on to the correct person in each department.

Make a point to find a contact in the departments that could be affected (i.e. customer service, content, product, etc.). This will make the whole process run smoothly, and the experience for your customer more fulfilling.

Your primary goal needs to be addressing the problem that caused the complaint, not the complaint itself.

Customer @Customer

@Brand Your app seems to be down. Help!

Brand @Brand

@Customer Sorry for the inconvenience! Our customer support team just emailed you to sort this out.

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Constructive: This type of feedback usually comes from a good place. An example of constructive feedback would be:

Constructive feedback gives you an opportunity to modify certain things in the future.

2. Identify the Type of Feedback Once the feedback comes in, it’s important to gauge what type of feedback you’re receiving. Not all negative feedback is the same. There are four distinct types of negative feedback.

Pressing: An example of pressing negative feedback would be:

This type of feedback is a heads-up of a problem that you might have to act on immediately.

Customer @Customer

@Brand I didn’t understand your most recent blog post. Sections 1 & 2 seem redundant.

Customer @Customer

@Brand Help! Your product won’t work and I need it for a presentation in 10 min!

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Spam: If you’ve ever run a promoted Tweet campaign, you know what I’m talking about. As a business, advertising on social is a delicate thing.

You want to reach users in an organic way, but not everyone wants to be exposed to your content.

It’s important to make sure you understand what kind of feedback someone is giving before you respond to it.

Disgruntled: People can get nasty on social media, over both big and little things.

Generally, these people are very upset because of something beyond your scope and they can’t be reasoned with. The best thing to do in this instance is to apologize and move on.

Random User @RandomUser

@Brand Your promoted Tweets are rubbish, mate! Stay out of my feed!

Customer @Customer

@Brand Your support line is terrible. I waited for 20 minutes for nothing! #FAIL

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3. Respond to Everything…Within Reason Many digital marketers will tell you to respond to everything, but the most socially-savvy marketers know that some situations are beyond mediation.

Respond to both pressing and constructive feedback. You should also make a point to respond to 90% of disgruntled feedback. An apology, a solution, or even just offering up the opportunity to cater to this concern in the future can go a long way. However, sometimes there are people that are unreasonable and antagonistic. In this case, opt out of continuing a conversation. There’s a huge difference between negative feedback and trolling.

4. Have Patience, Be Helpful, Make Changes The number one priority when it comes to handling feedback on social is having patience. As a social marketer, make sure you are well-versed in the workings of your company and the content circulating throughout the industry.

It can be easy to dismiss feedback as ill-informed or irrational (and it very well may be), but keep in mind that every interaction is an opportunity. The better you handle a situation, the more respect you stand to gain.

Even if their complaint turns out the be a user-error, take a deep breath, apologize for the inconvenience or offer up a solution and then make changes, if need be, to make sure that the confusion doesn’t occur again.

Random User @RandomUser

@Brand Your last blog post was complete BS. It was stupid. You’re stupid. And your brand is stupid. Brand

@Brand

@Customer Have you tried resetting your timezone? That should solve the problem. I can help you do that.

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5. Give Your Audience a Chance You have a huge resource on your hands – your community. Often times, your community is just as well-versed in your company and industry as you are. If you’re doing your job, you’re creating advocates that can go to bat for your brand against anybody. Whether it’s negative feedback, questions, or general discussion, it’s always important to give your audience the opportunity to respond first. After all, you’re creating a community – not a personal messaging service. Don’t let too much time past, but there’s no shame in giving a situation (as long as it’s not dire) time to work itself it out.

UserA @UserA

@Brand How can you compare them? Instagram and Twitter are completely different.

Brand @Brand

@UserB Hey @UserA we’re interested in the comparison b/c of the shrinking disparity of usage & engagement.

UserB @UserB

@UserA @Brand Wait...aren’t apples and oranges fruits? Comparison brings out the best in both.

UserB @UserB

@UserA @Brand They’re used socially. Why should they not be compared? Analytics available from both. #ijs

UserA @UserA

@UserB @Brand But they are completely different platforms/channels. Apples vs. apples not apples vs. oranges IMHO

UserA @UserA

@UserA @Brand haha, well said. I get your point.

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6. Know When to Take It Offline When feedback comes in, sometimes you don’t know what it’s going to turn into. If your conversation starts to spiral, don’t be afraid to shoot them a DM or a Facebook message instead of letting it drag on in everyone’s feeds. Some things are best handled one-on-one.

7. Don’t Take It Personally Don’t lose sleep over this stuff, people. Social media is destination number one for negative feedback and complaints, but don’t take it too much to heart. Do the best you can to hear the feedback, apologize, offer a solution, and modify going forward. Beyond that, there’s not much more you can do. Stay strong, social marketers!

Brand @Brand

@Customer Yikes! Sounds like an ordeal. I’ll DM with some ways we can help.

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