Complaints in an Online Social Space

A brand’s social media strategy does not operate in a vacuum. The nature of the business will determine how the brand can respond and how the company’s Social Media Strategy has planned to deal with these situations. Not everyone can be happy all the time, and sometimes some people are not going to like you regardless.

All communication is a marketing communication, including customer service. This is even more critical in public spaces like the Internet. However there are still a number of important points to be considered when determining if a response is needed, and what form it should take.

• What is the nature of the complaint?
• Where is the negative commentary taking place?
• What is the company’s relationship with the affected parties?
• Who is exposed and potentially will be exposed to the negative commentary?
• What action, if any, has already been taken on the issue?

What is the nature of the complaint?

Reasonable, articulate or funny negative commentary can have the greatest impact through credibility and potential to spread. Inarticulate, abusive and unreasonable complaints usually do not gain much traction, and will attract more attention if they are given attention.

Where is the negative commentary taking place?

A brand’s presence on the Internet is not limited to a single site any more. Most brands have a fragmented presence spread across a number of platforms, sites and mediums, either perceived as being under their control, or operated by a third party.

Dealing with complaints in managed spaces, such as a Facebook page, will more often require direct action than a comment on a small community forum. Legitimate complaints can be an opportunity to explain or demonstrate a product, answer a frequently asked question or express a brand value to the touchpoint’s audience. Any response given does create a reasonable expectation that should another issue be raised in that space, the company will need to address it too.

What is the company’s relationship with the affected parties?

The more involved the customer is with the company or brand, the less likely they are to be a troll and the more the relationship is worth to the company. However, new customers with legitimate complaints should not be ignored.

Who is exposed and potentially will be exposed to the negative commentary?

Does the negative attention have a large or small audience? Is it indifferent, supportive of the brand or hostile? Someone saying bad things about a brand to other people who already agree and are not your customers should probably not be your first priority. Trolls trying to start a flame war with brand advocates are another situation that probably does not need direct engagement.

What action, if any, has already been taken on the issue?

Customer complaints, legitimate or otherwise, often have a history. Social media is not always the first point of contact between the brand and the customer. Often there is a history to any complaint. Ideally the complaint would have been resolved before it entered a public space, but sometimes these things happen.

Very rarely will a brand benefit from engaging with a troll. The attention will often make the problem that much worse, and give them more credibility and consequently attention. While potentially almost any form of content can reach a huge audience online, not every tweet, post, video or blog will. Dealing with legitimate problems in a public space can be an excellent opportunity to to explain or demonstrate a product, answer a frequently asked question or express a brand value to an audience. Responding to trolls does not support any of these objectives. Choosing who to respond to, where and how is an important part of a Social Media Engagement strategy, and should be treated as such.