Survive a Social Media Backlash Towards Your Business

Social Media is a great way to connect with your customers. It allows you to make your company seem “human”. And in today’s world that’s what everyone is looking for. With that comes the good and the bad. If a customer is upset, chances are they will leave a bad review, make a Facebook post and tag the company or even announce to Twitter that everyone should take their business elsewhere. So how do you avoid that bridge? You can’t but you can take some steps to “lessen the blow”.

Be Proactive
If a customer takes the time out of their day to acknowledge a wrong doing (regardless of who’s fault it was) you should let them know that you care and take their concerns serious. As a consumer, you would want to be treated that way so why would you treat a consumer of your business any differently. In today’s world, Word of Mouth travels fast. The quicker you are to approach that customer the less likely they are to continue sharing that incident with others (hopefully). If a client in Frisco has a bad experience with an insurance agency it wouldn’t be uncommon for someone in Lewisville or Denton to know about it shortly.

Move the Conversation Offline
It’s easy to want to respond online to show everyone that you are actively trying to address the situation but words can be interpreted a different way than you meant the, especially when someone is upset. It’s best to acknowledge your customer online but then try to reach out to them offline. Will this always work? Probably not! But at least that customer can, hopefully, see that you care. Also, this gives them a chance to fully explain what happened and how their expectations weren’t met.

Make Post Specific yet General
That sounds a little confusing! There is a so much going on in the world that you have to be careful to not alienate your customers (unless that’s your goal). If you post something on your Social Media page the chances are that it can be seen by almost anyone (Whether they are your target clients or not). Even in “Private Group” pages someone can easily screenshot your post and share it with their friends/followers and you would never know about it. Make post that get your point across but don’t target someone else. That’s not to say that you can say something that others disagree with but say it in a way that’s not attacking/degrading/insulting.

Thanks for Reading!