How to Deal with Comments on Facebook
June 20 2011 by Stephanie Ryska ~ 0 CommentsIf you have an active Facebook page, your fans are probably liking and commenting on posts that you create, in addition to leaving their own comments on your wall without being prompted. It’s great if people are engaging in discussions around your brand, sharing ideas and talking about the products they like. But not everyone is going to have a positive experience with your brand, and sometimes people will complain. Regardless of the type of comments you’re receiving on your Facebook wall, it’s important to have a plan for how to deal with them.
Rule #1 – respond quickly
The first general rule of responding to comments on Facebook is that it must be done in a timely manner. In the social media world, responding 10 hours later is like responding 10 days later to an email. Make sure you have a system in place that notifies you whenever someone leaves a comment on your wall. If someone asks a question and you don’t know the answer, at least give the person a response to let him/her know that you’re looking into it and will touch base within a certain time period and let them know what the status is.
Responding to a question about the company or product:
Ex: Do you have the new XYZs in?
Response: Yes, we do! We got them in yesterday and they are under the “New” section of our website, here is the link: http://companyname.com/newnewcoolstuff
Ex: What is the best way to clean my XYZs?
Response: Thanks for asking! A lot of people have that question, so we wrote a blog post on that subject a while back, here is the link: http://blog.companyname.com/how-to-clean-XYZ
Thank them for asking and, if you can, give them a direct response. Also provide a link to an article or an area of your website. Again, if you don’t know the answer, at least give them a response to let the person know you’re looking into it.
Responding to a positive mention:
General:
Ex: I just found your website and think it’s great!
Response: Name, Thanks we are glad you found us!
On Customer Service:
Ex: I just got the best customer service from Jenna on the phone. They fixed my problem right away and free of charge! Thanks!
Response: Hi Name, Thanks for sharing your experience! We are happy that you were pleased with the support you received and will make sure that Jenna gets this comment.
Thanking customers for positive comments is important. You want customers to point out your company’s good qualities, and you want to recognize people when they do this. If they mention an employee, be sure to pass that information along.
Responding to a Negative Mention:
Unfortunately, you are probably going to encounter negative comments. Not everyone is going to be happy with your company and it’s just a part of business. But not addressing reasonable negative comments can harm your company’s reputation. Reasonable bad comments that are left alone are going to remain bad comments. But responding to a negative comment and can show the commenter that you’re listening and can help make them feel better. Sometimes people just want to know that you care.
On Customer Service:
Ex: I got really poor customer service for XYZ. I’m going to starting using (competitor name) for XYZ.
Response: Hi, Name, we’re sorry you feel that way. Is there something we can help you with? We are committed to customer service. Please send us your info at companyname@company.com.
Ex: I ordered XYZ on the 1st and did next day shipping, but the UPS tracking code says that the expected delivery date is the 7th.
Response: Hi Name, the item that you order needs to be shipped ground. We are sorry that you were not notified in advance. If you need help with anything else please feel free to call us at 1-800-555-5555.
It’s important that you state you are here and you want to help. If possible, it’s best to be apologetic and to provide some type of direct contact information like email or phone number. You want to give the customer the power to follow up with the issue.
On General Content:
Ex: Can’t believe you posted that XYZ article/picture today! Tasteless
Response: Name, sorry you feel that way. We’ll share your feedback with our team.
There isn’t a lot you can do here but say that you are sorry.
Responding to trolls:
No, we don’t mean like a troll under a bridge. An Internet Troll is slang for someone who post inflammatory, extraneous, or off-topic messages in an online community.
Ex: Your site is the worst site ever. You guys suck…
Response: There’s no need to respond
The best thing to do if someone is very angry and negative about you is to try to take the conversation offline and deal with it then. But sometimes it’s best just to leave trolls alone. If you’ve built a solid community on Facebook, you may even see that your fans will respond to trolls for you and stick up for you.
Lastly, if a post is spam or inappropriate content report it as abuse to Facebook. When you are logged into your Facebook page, hover your arrow in the right hang corner of the post in question and this should appear:
Remember, comments should be evaluated on a case by case basis. Think about your brand’s voice and how to respond with the best outcome. We hope this post gives you some general guidelines for responding to comments on Facebook.
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