social media crisis Archives

We hate to think about it, but we should always be prepared for the case of the dreaded social media crisis.

The speed at which information travels has increased exponentially with the advent of social media. Therefore, when a crisis breaks, a carefully thought out strategy and proper mechanisms need to be in place in order to mitigate the issue before it spirals out of control.

In our latest eBook, we walk you through the proper steps to managing a social media crisis, and provide you with an easy-to-follow document that will allow you to outline every aspect of a crisis, making it that much easier to handle should it ever occur.

Click here or on the image below to download the eBook today and find out how you can properly plan for a social media crisis and mitigate an issue spiralling out of control!

Seeing a negative comment about your brand on a social network can be a horrifying sight, but these tips will help you manage negative feedback on social media the right way.

Before you can understand how to deal with negative feedback on social media, it is first important to understand what kinds of negative feedback exist. From there, you can apply some of these tips when the situation comes up (don’t worry, it happens to the best of us) and come out looking like a pro.

Types of Negative Feedback

There are essentially three types of negative feedback that can come up on social media: product issues (malfunctions), service issues (complaints) and brand issues (PR and brand crises).

When customers have an issue with your product, they may try to reach out to you through social media channels. The same goes for customer service when it comes to complaints. We recently posted an article about Social Care (customer service on social media) in which we noted that one-third of active social media users prefer Social Care to conventional customer services options (e.g. phone). That also means that a third of social media users may prefer to vent to your brand on social networks rather than on a private phone call.

The third type of negative feedback on social media has to do with a crisis. This relates closely to brand and reputation management on social media.

So what are a few tactics you can use when it comes to dealing with these types of issues on social media?

Tip #1: DO NOT Stay Silent

Burying your head in the sand may make it seem like there is no issue and everything is just fine, but the reality is that with every passing moment that you say nothing, the issue gets worse. Even if you simply post a generic “We are working hard to resolve this issue. Thank you for your patience and we apologize for any inconvenience.”, this is still better than nothing at all.

That said, direct engagement with individuals is better than a mass message. It shows people you care and lets them know that their business matters to you. Just because it is your average customer posting on Twitter does not mean they should be ignored. They speak for the masses, and silence looks more like you don’t care than anything else.

Tip #2: Act Fast

Social media moves at the speed of light. Some experts estimate that the lifespan of a tweet is a mere 15 minutes, and that of a Facebook post is just a few hours at best. So if you wait hours or days to respond to people, you will be jumping into a conversation that has no participants.

Social media is happening in real time, and if people are talking and you are not talking back, they will not care what you have to say in a week. You weren’t there when it mattered and they made up their minds.

Tip #3: Plan Ahead

What are you going to do if it all goes down without a moment’s notice? Do you have a plan in place? How will you respond to irate customers on social media? Planning for issues and negative feedback on social media is very different from other types of crises. As noted, this is a real-time, very public conversation, so it is in your best interest to have a plan in place in case it all unfolds.

Tip #4: Pick Your Battles

While it is important to be engaging with individuals across different networks, you need to know what comments you should be engaging with and which ones you should let go. At the end of the day, there are some battles you just are not going to win, and engaging in those – for example, someone lambasting your brand on some unfounded grounds – can lead to nothing but a long, drawn out argument that makes you look bad and gets you and your clients nowhere.

Tip #5: See It As An Opportunity

There is nothing more valuable in business than brand advocates. What are those? These are customers that are so enamoured with your product, service or the way you treat them that they go out of their way to promote your brand and advocate your business without any incentive other than the fact that they like working with you.

If there is one opportunity that a crisis or negative feedback on social media presents it is the chance to turn a disgruntled customer into a brand advocate and have a whole group of other users see it happen. People like personal attention. Engaging with them during a crisis and helping them through the process with a personal touch can very easily make them go from an angry client to a strong ally.

Whether it is an industry influencer or one of the little guys, everyone can and should be treated like the most important client you have – it is hands down the best way to turn them (and everyone watching the conversation) into a brand advocate.

Can you think of other tips that can help when dealing with negative feedback on social media? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!