Last updated on May 18th, 2022 at 04:58 am

There was a significant barrier to communication between a brand and its customers in the past.

There was no direct feedback from the customer unless the latter exerted the effort to call the company. A company was limited to traditional media advertising—print, radio, and TV—all of which one-way communication streams. The customer response to these advertising tactics could only be measured through sales and if the company was willing to shell out money for market research.

Then, social media happened.

Social media is the unlikely advertising platform that flourished and became one, if not the most powerful marketing tool, beating even the traditional media in terms of reach and cost-efficiency. It was not intended for marketing, though.

Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and the now-defunct Friendster (now an online gaming site) and MySpace (now a music streaming site) were places to connect with real-life friends through the internet. Users created profiles, interacted with their long-lost high school buddies, or talked business with corporate associates.

A decade has passed, and social media is virtually inseparable from our everyday lives. The personal and professional connections are still there, but they destroyed the barriers to communication and shaped a different kind of relationship between the consumer and the brand.

This social media relationship between brands and their consumers can be complicated. They may seem on a level playing field, but with the emergence of user reviews and sites like Yelp and Foursquare, the consumer became empowered, sometimes even leading to bullying. The potential reach that social media marketing provides can backfire, especially if a brand commits a social media faux pas. You may say bad publicity is still publicity, but just one review that puts you in a bad light has the potential to go viral.

Therefore, a brand is limited to well-planned posts, thinking a few steps ahead about how the audience will receive them.

But what is the right way to respond to social media complaints? How do you interact with user comments? How do you respond to competitors who interact with your social media accounts? Here are some pointers to win with your social media responses.

1. Have a well-thought-out social media complaints plan and stick to it. Some small businesses do not make social media presence a priority. Some think that creating a Facebook or Twitter page for the company is enough. The current state of social media says otherwise. Social networking sites are now the first place your consumers go to ask questions or post their complaints. Having a social media strategy specifically for addressing customer complaints can help when a crisis arises.
   
   Comcast is an excellent example of having such a customer complaint plan. Being an internet service provider means a ton of customer complaints every time there are service interruptions, slowdowns, and bandwidth billing problems. The company created a dedicated support account to provide direct technical support and personally answer customer questions. You don’t need to create a reliable support account, of course. You just need to create a crisis plan that suits your company persona.
2. Address the complaint quickly and in a friendly but professional manner. As I’ve mentioned, the fast-paced social media environment gives that one review that puts you in a bad light, the potential to go viral. Responding to customer complaints as they happen would give your consumers the impression that you value the quality of service you provide and actively engage with them through your social media account.
   JetBlue Airways might have the quickest social media responses on the internet. Stressed customers are expected in the airline business, especially with flight delays and cancellations. There’s also that nervous feeling of levitating a thousand feet above the ground that puts them literally and figuratively at the edge of their seats. JetBlue’s social media accounts ease this stress by providing quick and patient responses to their customers. If you check their Twitter account, you will see replies as early as five to ten minutes after the customer posted. Now that is customer service.
3. Take the discussion away from the public and talk to the complainer personally. The social media environment might be set in a public setting, but that doesn’t mean you should address every complaint publicly. Aside from making your business profile cluttered, addressing them in public makes them open to other commenters who abuse and troll the comment section.
   Sprint has a fair share of customer complaints as a mobile service provider. Its troubleshooting solutions are technical such as network problems, or confidential such as billing problems. Thus, it is both in the interest of the consumer and the company that complaints are addressed personally. Why? Taking complaints this way gives the control back to the company. Set the tone of the conversation. Get relevant details and provide an action plan to set the solution. Don’t forget to go back to the public post and state that the issue is being resolved.
4. Use humor only in small dosages. Humor can be a powerful thing. The one-way communication of traditional brand marketing often utilizes humor for effect. It establishes rapport and memorability with the audience. When social media anthropomorphize brands into their personalities, boring brands become more interesting with their use of comedy. But how should you use humor to address snarky comments and complaints?
   The best use of humor is the response of car company, SmartCar, to a snide commenter about the ability of a bird’s excrement to total a SmartCar. Their response? A nifty infographic detailing how much waste from different species of birds is needed to damage their safety cell. Humor can also backfire like DiGiorno’s infamous #WhyIStayed Responding to a trending hashtag. DiGiorno’s Twitter account quickly rode in on a hashtag stating that pizza is an excellent reason to stay. It was a funny tweet unless you know the context of the hashtag—women taking to Twitter to discuss physical and emotional abuse in their relationships.
5. Acknowledge your mistakes and apologize. Mistakes can happen. You are not a perfect brand, nor is anyone else. Yes, you need to protect your brand image, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t acknowledge what people are complaining about. Building a brand relationship is a working process, and negative feedback can often lead to improvements in our businesses.
   After the mistake of DiGiorno pictured above, they took the more difficult but better approach to address the issue. The brand responded to hundreds of Twitter users offended by their tweet and crafted a personalized and sincere reply acknowledging their mistake.

Social media is just a tool, but it is a compelling one. How a company uses, it defines the brand as a whole. The occasional negative feedback and customer complaints online are necessary to build and nurture a relationship with your consumers. By using the two-way communication brought by the internet and knowing how to respond to customer feedback, social media can turn into an opportunity to win your affected customers and others who see your exceptional online customer service.

Do you have tips on how to win at your social media responses? Comment below! Also, try custom printing for promoting your social media pages.

Related posts:

How to Effectively Promote your Business on Facebook Is There a Connection Between Business and Dating? 7 Obscure Social Media Features You Need to Use for Your Business