How to deal with negativity on social media

Many business owners I talk to say they are afraid to be on social media but they know they have to be there. In my conversations with others they have a huge fear around what people will think or say about them.

Don’t avoid social media if this fear is the only thing holding you back. It's powerful and essential if you want to grow and increase your bottom line. (Don't forget usually the negative stories are when the person has actually said something controversial in the first place and is usually a well known person with thousands of followers).

1. The first thing to do is ensure you have a plan in place to deal with situations that arise. Having a good social media policy that all employees are aware of is essential.

2. Establish first is the person complaining a genuine customer or a troll. (Trolls are usually there to complain about everything and hurt others) Look through the person's other posts and see if this is something they do all of the time. Usually they won't have many followers anyway or a generic image no photo of themselves.

3. Respond or acknowledge – always do this anyway. Some customers just want to know that they have been seen and that they are being paid attention to.

4. Don’t say ‘sorry’ straight away. Acknowledge their anger or hurt without admitting you have done something wrong – get the exact details first.

5. Take the conversation offline to Direct message or email. Implement the plan swiftly.

6. Follow up – ensure that the complaint is dealt with by the correct person.

7. If you feel it's appropriate, encourage the customer to post about the result when they get a satisfactory response as other followers will want to know that you deal with complaints in an efficient and positive manner.

8. Remember customer feedback is an opportunity to gain valuable insight into how your customers feel and view you as a brand. Take this feedback as an opportunity to improve things for your customers.

9. Take yourself away from the emotion and don’t take the complaints personally.

Remember happy customers will be your biggest marketeers so always nurture those relationships and keep engaging and interacting with them moving forward. There is always a way to turn negative experiences into a positive experience.

If you want me to elevate your brand and show you how it's done I can help you raise your profile, get more engagement and opportunities for your business. Fill in my form to see if it's your time (and if you're ready).

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