Many of today’s consumers spend the majority of their time on social media. It’s become easier than ever for businesses or individuals to get feedback on their products and services, and to increase their exposure online. However, negative feedbacks are as commonplace as positive ones, and their detrimental effects are immense.
“Instead of eradicating negative feedback (which is near impossible to do), you can manage negative sentiments that already exist and replace them with positive ones” according to Alan Safahi, Orinda, CA entrepreneur and an expert in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Online Reputation Management (ORM).
Managing Negative Sentiments on Social Media
Social strategy creation:
Set up pages and create profiles on Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and LinkedIn, and if your brand requires it, get an account on platforms like Pinterest and Instagram also (though Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and LinkedIn are enough for a solid business start).
The approach for each platform differs, just like the content. So, you might need a lot of time to create workable strategies for each account. Keep in mind that your strategy has to be something that works well for your brand, with no fluff.
When it comes to responding to negative posts, read all the negative comments carefully. Some comments are better left alone (haters will be haters), so you don’t have to respond to ALL comments but if you choose to respond, do so in a timely fashion.
Make sure to stay positive and be transparent in your response and continue the conversation privately after responding publicly.
According to Alan Safahi, you should never argue with the clients, “just acknowledge their point of view and present, in a rational way, yours”.
Alan Safahi suggests that you ask them for recommendations on how to solve the issue. It often reduces anger and puts the customer in charge of coming up with solutions which is a logical decision rather than an emotional one.
Next, you can proceed to consider your content and things like the type of posts you would upload, how often you would upload them, and so on.
An active presence on social media:
Your brand sells at the extent to which your social media pages are active. Customers are likely to forget you exist if your pages are all dormant and boring.
Once you’ve completed developing your strategy and deciding all that needs to be decided, make your social media presence your top priority. You might need an account manager to manage your accounts which would be money well spent, according to Alan Safahi.
“Consumers, especially online, love consistency, and it shows poorly when they come to your page hoping to get relevant information but don’t find it” says Alan Safahi,
“If you’re going to build a positive reputation for your brand, you need to keep your followers updated regularly”.
Build Conversations, and Monitor them:
Users engage with every post you drop on social media, especially when they’re interesting and relatable. They deserve responses.
Of course, your responses should be as timely as possible too. Build conversations with all followers and be sure to monitor them too. This will help you keep track of negative comments and respond to them accordingly.
