Social media gives you the opportunity to humanise your brand and when you can connect and engage with consumers on a more personal level, you can boost consumer loyalty and advocacy.  

Unfortunately, social media and brand relationship isn’t all rainbows and butterflies. 

The digital age allows for bad publicity to reach the masses in the blink of an eye. One consumer’s negative comment can spiral into thousands of views and reactions across the web.

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So how should you react when you’re confronted with negative comments? Take the bull by the horns!

If dealt with well, brands are not only able to calm the negative situation, but also have the power to strengthen their image.

Consumers care about two main things: how quickly you respond and how you respond.

How can you ensure your brand’s response is up to scratch?    

1. Be Prepared

You’re fighting an uphill battle if you don’t have a crisis management plan ready. You need to know what kind of language your brand wants to use when dealing with these situations so that you’re ready to respond at the drop of a hat. A general rule of thumb: stick with language that suits your brand image. For example, if your brand is seen as being young, cool and relatable, feel free to use a more laid back tone.

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2. Be Proactive

Silence speaks louder than words and by saying nothing you risk alienating your loyal consumers. When you think about it, the whole purpose of social media is to facilitate conversations between people! Respond to as many posts, messages, etc. as possible, checking all social media platforms to see what’s being said about you. 

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3. Be Empathetic

Use personalised responses to acknowledge and take ownership of any mistakes or issues and don’t forget to offer the consumer a solution to their issue. Finally, remember to follow up with customers after your initial contact to make sure that the issue is completely resolved. Why do this? Showing that you actually care about providing them with a solution will increase the likelihood of changing the customer from disappointed to loyal. 

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With the continual growth of social media, it’s crucial that we understand how to deal with consumer issues on a public platform. Rather than looking at this in a negative light, think of it as an opportunity to offer top grade customer service. The resulting feedback should speak for itself!