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Serial entrepreneur Eddie Huang recently said, “Engage the fans, disagree with the fans but don’t disrespect them.” As a company accumulates followers across a range of channels, it should keep in mind these words of wisdom. Followers sustain brands and provide a broad view of consumer sentiment toward the business.
Make your account consumer-friendly
To ensure that your company receives a healthy amount of feedback, marketers should set the tone for your online pages and include engaging content that encourages consumers to make comments. These comments serve as barometers of consumers’ approval or disapproval of your social media strategy. When followers comment on or message the page, administrators should step in and promptly and politely address any concerns expressed.
Using positive feedback
Positive consumer feedback should be highlighted and retweeted on Twitter or, when accompanied by an interesting visual, reposted on Instagram. Positive posts serve as testimonials and enhance a company’s credibility. Brands like Princess Cruises, Carole’s Daughter and KitchenAid all use posts from followers to supplement their own social media content. This makes followers feel valued while simultaneously providing additional, highly credible – and free – content.
Responding to complaints
First, assess the severity of the complaint. Does it involve a medical or safety issue? Page administrators should follow their consumer affairs protocol when handling the complaint. Next, does the page administrator have all the information needed to adequately address the issue? If not, then a request should be made to the consumer and handled appropriately. Then, when responding to the consumer, the page administrator should address the problem or concern in a way that expresses concern and promotes a positive image of the brand.
Tracking results
Marketers can use the insights gathered from feedback to fine tune social media strategy. A good starting point is a simple count of the number of likes, shares and comments received. Also, comparing levels of engagement with previous campaigns can help determine effective strategies.
Engaging with consumers and responding to their feedback on social media is an effective way to build trust and credibility. Marketers can also use the feedback they receive as a guide to shaping future social media strategies. Companies seeking to build that trust can consult with a PR agency experienced in maintaining and building positive relationships.
Determine if a negative comment is worth a response
Not all negative comments deserve a response just as not all critics are worth winning over. As hard as it might seem, you should just move on sometimes. The situations that you need to avoid include blatant attacks that are rude and outrageous, known troublemakers looking to pick fights, and criticisms on small forums and blogs.
In these scenarios, there is no way to win. You are better off staying out of the arguments and moving on.
Speak like a person
The only thing that is worse than ignoring angry customers is giving them a corporate response. When dealing with upset consumers, responding with an excerpt of your fine print and policy terms will just infuriate them further. You need to empathize with them and include your photo, so that they can see your face and relate to you.
When you do this, the critic will see that he was not yelling at a faceless company. He was criticizing an actual person with feelings.
Act quickly
If you hire a firm like Mosaico PR, acting quickly would not be an issue. PR firms usually respond to negative comments in a prompt manner. The longer you go without responding to genuine concerns, the angrier the customer will be.
Moreover, if you fail to respond in a timely manner, other people will notice the problem and spread the negative buzz to more potential customers. To avoid this, you should react quickly.
