What’s stopping you from including social media in your marketing plan? Is it a fear of the unknown? Many companies often react this way. It’s a common human reaction to things that are considered new or unfamiliar. Moving your brand into a space that enables direct conversation and engagement with your consumers can be a scary idea for many businesses. How would you react if customer sentiment turns negative?

Here are some pointers on how to manage unexpected or negative comments and why you need be there to respond:

Listen – as with all marketing, listening is the first step to understanding your customers. Listen to what is being said about your brand.
Have a plan – it’s important to consider how you will respond to different situations, this will avoid feeling shocked or unprepared when comments appear. You should build hypothetical response scenarios into your social media strategy.
Stay calm – seeing negative comments can insight panic, try to stay level headed and think carefully about the best way to respond.
Get your facts straight – make sure that your response is accurate and truthful, you’ll only have a backlash to deal with if you are found to be hiding facts.
Be transparent – this shows that you believe in your brand and will openly respond to critics. Mag Nation did this well recently when they openly posted a negative comment, that had been directed at them, with their response and then tweeted it out to their followers.
Be true to your brand – don’t change your voice. If your brand has a particular personality, maintain this in your response. Why suddenly change to a corporate, dry tone and confuse fans and followers?

Be true to your brand – don’t change your voice. If your brand has a particular personality, maintain this in your response. Why suddenly change to a corporate, dry tone and confuse fans and followers?

Even if you are scared of social media at first, keep in mind that it will get easier with time and experience. It is also important to remember that it is better for your brand to be aware of comments, both good and bad, to ensure you get a chance to respond to them. Being scared of what people may say doesn’t stop them saying it, it just means that you are choosing to ignore it. As previously mentioned Mag Nation’s recent response was handled well and met with positive comments from their readers. See Mag Nation’s full response here.

Do you have any examples of well executed responses?