This document provides 7 ways to handle negative feedback on social media. It recommends creating a process for handling feedback, identifying the type of feedback, responding to most feedback within reason, giving your audience a chance to respond, knowing when to take discussions offline, not taking feedback personally, and making changes based on constructive feedback. The overall message is to address issues calmly and thoughtfully in order to maintain positive relationships with customers.

1. Ways to Handle Negative
Feedback on Social Media

2. 7 Ways to Handle Negative Feedback on Social Media 2
Introduction
Social media management is not for the faint-hearted. When
you manage a Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn account with a
large following, people can be ruthless, and sometimes with
good reason.
As hard as you might try, it’s impossible to keep everyone
happy. Social media has become the go-to destination
for disgruntled users, and the ability to handle complaints
gracefully is increasingly more important.
The tricky part is that your social presence acts as the face of
your brand. How do you keep it blemish free?
The answer is tough to swallow: you don’t. People will always
complain. It’s what you do after the complaint that matters.
These tips will help you keep your cool and handle negative
feedback in the best way possible.

3. 7 Ways to Handle Negative Feedback on Social Media 3
1. Create a Process
One of the first things that all social marketers should do upon
inheriting control of their brand’s social channels is create a
process for handling feedback.
Never underestimate your community. The vast majority of
feedback is something you should pass along right away. You
just have to know who to pass it to.
When urgent things come through your feed like, “Your site is
down.,” or critiques on content like, “Your title is confusing…”
it can be crucial to pass that on to the correct person in each
department.
Make a point to find a contact in the departments that could
be affected (i.e. customer service, content, product, etc.).
This will make the whole process run smoothly, and the
experience for your customer more fulfilling.
Your primary goal needs to be addressing the problem that
caused the complaint, not the complaint itself.
Customer
@Customer
@Brand Your app seems to be down. Help!
Brand
@Brand
@Customer Sorry for the inconvenience!
Our customer support team just emailed
you to sort this out.

4. 7 Ways to Handle Negative Feedback on Social Media 4
Constructive:
This type of feedback usually comes from a good place.
An example of constructive feedback would be:
Constructive feedback gives you an opportunity to modify
certain things in the future.
2. Identify the Type of Feedback
Once the feedback comes in, it’s important to gauge what type
of feedback you’re receiving. Not all negative feedback is the
same. There are four distinct types of negative feedback.
Pressing:
An example of pressing negative feedback would be:
This type of feedback is a heads-up of a problem that
you might have to act on immediately.
Customer
@Customer
@Brand I didn’t understand your most
recent blog post. Sections 1 & 2 seem
redundant.
Customer
@Customer
@Brand Help! Your product won’t work
and I need it for a presentation in 10 min!

5. 7 Ways to Handle Negative Feedback on Social Media 5
Spam:
If you’ve ever run a promoted Tweet campaign, you
know what I’m talking about. As a business, advertising
on social is a delicate thing.
You want to reach users in an organic way, but not
everyone wants to be exposed to your content.
It’s important to make sure you understand what kind of
feedback someone is giving before you respond to it.
Disgruntled:
People can get nasty on social media, over both big and
little things.
Generally, these people are very upset because of
something beyond your scope and they can’t be reasoned
with. The best thing to do in this instance is to apologize
and move on.
Random User
@RandomUser
@Brand Your promoted Tweets are
rubbish, mate! Stay out of my feed!
Customer
@Customer
@Brand Your support line is terrible. I
waited for 20 minutes for nothing! #FAIL

6. 7 Ways to Handle Negative Feedback on Social Media 6
3. Respond to Everything…Within Reason
Many digital marketers will tell you to respond to everything,
but the most socially-savvy marketers know that some situations
are beyond mediation.
Respond to both pressing and constructive feedback. You
should also make a point to respond to 90% of disgruntled
feedback. An apology, a solution, or even just offering up
the opportunity to cater to this concern in the future can
go a long way. However, sometimes there are people that
are unreasonable and antagonistic. In this case, opt out of
continuing a conversation. There’s a huge difference between
negative feedback and trolling.
4. Have Patience, Be Helpful, Make Changes
The number one priority when it comes to handling feedback
on social is having patience. As a social marketer, make sure
you are well-versed in the workings of your company and the
content circulating throughout the industry.
It can be easy to dismiss feedback as ill-informed or irrational
(and it very well may be), but keep in mind that every
interaction is an opportunity. The better you handle a situation,
the more respect you stand to gain.
Even if their complaint turns out the be a user-error, take a deep
breath, apologize for the inconvenience or offer up a solution
and then make changes, if need be, to make sure that the
confusion doesn’t occur again.
Random User
@RandomUser
@Brand Your last blog post was complete
BS. It was stupid. You’re stupid. And your
brand is stupid. Brand
@Brand
@Customer Have you tried resetting your
timezone? That should solve the problem.
I can help you do that.

7. 7 Ways to Handle Negative Feedback on Social Media 7
5. Give Your Audience a Chance
You have a huge resource on your hands – your community.
Often times, your community is just as well-versed in your
company and industry as you are. If you’re doing your job,
you’re creating advocates that can go to bat for your brand
against anybody. Whether it’s negative feedback, questions,
or general discussion, it’s always important to give your
audience the opportunity to respond first. After all, you’re
creating a community – not a personal messaging service.
Don’t let too much time past, but there’s no shame in giving
a situation (as long as it’s not dire) time to work itself it out.
UserA @UserA
@Brand How can you compare them? Instagram and
Twitter are completely different.
Brand @Brand
@UserB Hey @UserA we’re interested in the comparison
b/c of the shrinking disparity of usage & engagement.
UserB @UserB
@UserA @Brand Wait...aren’t apples and oranges fruits?
Comparison brings out the best in both.
UserB @UserB
@UserA @Brand They’re used socially. Why should they
not be compared? Analytics available from both. #ijs
UserA @UserA
@UserB @Brand But they are completely different
platforms/channels. Apples vs. apples not apples
vs. oranges IMHO
UserA @UserA
@UserA @Brand haha, well said. I get your point.

8. 7 Ways to Handle Negative Feedback on Social Media 8
6. Know When to Take It Offline
When feedback comes in, sometimes you don’t know what it’s
going to turn into. If your conversation starts to spiral, don’t
be afraid to shoot them a DM or a Facebook message instead
of letting it drag on in everyone’s feeds. Some things are best
handled one-on-one.
7. Don’t Take It Personally
Don’t lose sleep over this stuff, people. Social media is
destination number one for negative feedback and complaints,
but don’t take it too much to heart. Do the best you can to hear
the feedback, apologize, offer a solution, and modify going
forward. Beyond that, there’s not much more you can do.
Stay strong, social marketers!
Brand
@Brand
@Customer Yikes! Sounds like an ordeal.
I’ll DM with some ways we can help.

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