How can you manage negative social media comments during a crisis?

I’d emphasize here that there are different kinds of crises. For genuine corporate crises, it doesn’t always make sense to monitor and respond in real time because it’s frequently not clear what has even happened. At public companies, you don’t want to just put material nonpublic information on the internet. Generally, those crisis responses shouldn’t originate on social. Social platforms can be good for customer service, and I suspect that’s more along the lines of what this article is addressing: How to minimize the damage of negative online sentiment. But that really isn’t crisis comms; it’s just basic customer service in 2023.

Before creating a reply - monitor and evaluate the comment or content shared against your firm/company/brand. Sometimes negative comments or feedback is handled well by your loyal customers. In case you have to respond - make sure you go through the whole profile of the person and think from his/her point of view followed by responding with empathy and respectfully

One critical place to start is acknowledging that you can’t (and shouldn't) respond to every single comment when an issue on social media is blowing up. Many responses on social media are not looking for engagement - just conflict. I prioritize responses that: - Help someone who has a genuine problem that can be resolved. - Address misinformation that could harm the public or your customers. - Provide value to others who will view the post and comments. Overall, if someone is abusive, profane, etc. it's unlikely that engaging with them will be beneficial. -

It's important to respond quickly in a crisis, but don't jump into the fray before assessing the situation. Take a breath, monitor the messages and get the facts. Then, respond to your critics, customers and stakeholders in an honest and direct way. Show appreciation for their concerns, correct any misinformation, and provide them with factual details they can digest. They will likely be surprised to receive a response, especially one that genuinely addresses their concerns and engages with them in a thoughtful, professional way.

What a lot of social media managers forget when responding to negative comments is that their response is largely for everyone else and not the initial complainer. How a company addresses negativity and complaints is judged by all others reading the interaction.

A social media monitoring tool can be immensely beneficial, creating a seamless workflow that ensures tasks are assigned, tracked, and completed efficiently. These tools and their associated processes can eliminate the need for manual systems. For example, if a negative comment is tagged and assigned to the SPOC from a certain internal team, they have a set SLA to respond. If the SLA isn't met, the tool will automatically escalate the issue to a higher authority. Meanwhile, the customer support team can monitor the status of each request or comment and regularly update the customer, showcasing the team's proactive approach.

I agree because addressing urgent and serious comments promptly is crucial in managing a crisis. Having a clear process for identification and prioritisation ensures that critical issues are addressed first. It also demonstrates a commitment to transparency and accountability. It is not only about resolving immediate issues but also in rebuilding trust and reputation in the long run.

If you have a solution to the commenter's problem, offer it to them. If not, provide an explanation of the situation and the steps you are taking to address it.

Be wary of responding, however tempting. It's unlikely that a business can hope to respond to individual social media posts in a crisis situation and attempts to do so are likely to fail and threaten the consistency of your messages. Keep in mind that you are in the driving seat when a crisis hits - it's easy to become distracted by the 'noise' out there and this could make things worse. Your role is to have clear, consistent and transparent messages to de-escalate the situation.

Sometimes, comments on social media will surface a real service issue that needs to be understood and corrected by the communications team. I think it's important to follow up on that to understand what's happening and track the resolution. Even if you can't satisfy a complaint in real time, you'll be prepared for responding in the future.

Over time supporters of a company or project will engage on social media. Hopefully your team has deepened the conversation with them and you can reach out to learn what they are thinking and, if they remain supportive, encourage them to add to the conversation.

Use social media as a platform to educate and inform your audience about the crisis, the measures you are taking, and the progress you are making. Share relevant and accurate information, stories, and updates that demonstrate your transparency, accountability, and responsibility.

Social media engagement, like all communications, is an ongoing effort. It cannot be one off. Brands and corporates have to be present wherever their stakeholders are present and wherever they want to build communities, loyalties and advocates. If done well consistently, a crisis management exercise will be helpful in mitigating the negative sentiments.

Herd mentality is common during a crisis. In addition to stakeholders, unconnected people join the bandwagon to make adverse comments. It is always good to put forward a neutral perspective to negate vitriolic comments. One may not need to respond to every comment - a summary will be good. Avoid comments that may nurture the conversation furthermore.

Learn and improve- my best solution to managing negative social media comments during a crisis. In my years of managing the Organization's social media pages, there is no insult I did not deal with. During one operation to curb non-revenue water (water theft in short), we were called 'another useless organization'! My first impulse was to return the slap with the same intensity but I quickly recollected my customer service lessons. 'Customer is King'. I swallowed my anger and thanked the commentator for his observations and promised to improve our services.

It's always valuable not to recreate the wheel every time you find yourself in the same situation. It's important to archive your responses, statements and communication plans so that you can easily access them in the future. Too often, people forget to hold a debrief session and plan for responding to issues that are likely to come up again in the future. This might be as simple as creating a shared document with a few social media responses, talking a points for staff, and a media response statement.

A highly trained and agile task force should be formed and ready to brainstorm and take action at any given moment. This task force should be ready to not only respond to social media crises but any issue that has the potential to damage your brand.

Not all negative comments constitute a deluge; their impact hinges on the specific comments we choose to address, the manner in which we respond, and the direction we steer the conversation. Engaging in a constructive dialogue following a negative feedback can present a remarkable opportunity to enhance the brand's image. Ironically, negative comments often draw more attention and traffic than their positive counterparts, organically sparking discussions that endure far beyond the initial topic, helping to extend the lifetime of the topics we introduce.

It is important to distinguish between negative comments and negative reviews. A negative review should be a siren call to contact the reviewer, listen to their complaint, apologize and, if possible, resolve the discontent. Treat it as an opportunity to show your responsiveness and attentiveness. When appropriate, ask the negative reviewer to write a follow-up describing your response.

Tell the truth and never accept something against the laws! It is important to reply to all the messages and questions. In case there are many with the same subject, you can group them. Take into account the type of crisis. If life of people is involved, their family might be following the conversation and ask questions, so be there for them! Show empathy and give solutions!

Navigating negative comments on social media during a crisis requires a balanced, strategic approach. Firstly, have a crisis communication plan in place which includes social media management. In response to negative comments, maintain a professional tone, acknowledge concerns and provide factual information. It's crucial not to delete negative comments, as it can further ignite anger. Instead, address concerns publicly, then take conversations offline where possible to resolve issues. Monitor social media diligently to stay ahead of the narrative and respond timely. Use the situation as a feedback loop to improve, showing your audience that you value their input, are accountable, and committed to betterment.