Addressing Negative Social Feedback on Twitter

All businesses would love if their social media feeds were nothing but positivity and great customer reviews, but unfortunately this is virtually never the case. People are more than twice as likely to share negative interactions publicly than they are to share positive ones, and one of the primary social media outlets for this will be Twitter, where customer support and feedback are easy to obtain.

At SEO Werkz, we can help you with a wide range of social media marketing tactics, including how to deal with and respond to negative feedback on channels like Twitter. Let’s go over some of the basic steps here, plus how these efforts can impact your overall SEO and internet marketing strategies.

Analysis

If you’re involved in managing your company’s Twitter account, our first bit of advice is this: Prepare for some frustration. It’s never easy to read negative comments about something you’re connected to, and many of the negative reviews you’ll receive will feel unwarranted and may even be based on completely false or ludicrous information.

No matter what, though, you can’t take any of this personally. You can’t respond angrily or with any kind of snark, which could escalate the issue quickly. Instead, you have to step back and take a calm view of what the client is upset about. Try to put yourself in their shoes, and also do your best to remember that they’re working with limited characters and may not be able to express themselves perfectly.

Apology and Response

Even if you totally disagree with the tweet, you have to do your best to think as if you were a customer. They feel they’ve been wronged in some way, and you have to imagine how you’d feel in that position. If you need clarification on what their issue is, go about obtaining it in a calm, polite manner before you work to address it.

And once you’re working on solutions, start with an apology. Try to keep the interaction public so clients don’t think you’re trying to hide issues, and do your best to show the person in question that you’re taking active steps to attempt to understand and correct their issue. Avoid using things like “policy” as standalone reasons for any decision or situation – rather, try to explain the situation and why a policy is what it is, so people understand and don’t think you’re double-talking them.

Resolution

Finally, be sure to follow through on any assurances you give to customers here. If you’ve promised to look into a situation and get back to them, make sure you do so. In cases where you’re unable to provide a solid solution, you might consider a future discount coupon or some other goodwill gesture that shows your commitment to the customer. Always thank those you interact with for providing feedback and helping you be a better business.

For more on addressing negative Twitter feedback, or to learn about any of our social media or search engine optimization services, speak to the staff at SEO Werkz today.