So, why does the way you respond to online criticism matter? More and more customers are turning to social media to solve their customer service problems. Happy customers spend more money on your business, and they tell more people about their positive experiences with your brand. Responding to criticism online is one part of providing top-notch customer service. Here are four types of responses to online criticism as well as when to use them. Use this response if you know that your brand could have done something better. That is why it is important to respond carefully to online reviews. Response 2: Respond to the criticism with humor — but only if it works for your brand. Here are few other examples of brands that have successfully used humor to respond to online criticism in a way that worked for their brand. But they also use humor to respond to criticism.
If you spend any amount of time online, you will run into criticism.
Criticism comes in many forms: bullies, rightfully annoyed customers, bored teenagers, and plain old trolls who are just hoping to get a rise out of an entrepreneur or business owner.
As an online business owner, entrepreneur, and writer, I am no stranger to online criticism.
If you have read a few of my posts, there is even a good chance you’ve seen me criticized, and you have might have noticed my response is most often silence.
In most cases, silence is the best way to prevent escalation. You don’t have to engage with people who don’t agree with you.
This strategy is also what is right for my personal brand.
But it might not be what is right for your brand.
It might be in your best interests to respond to criticism and negative SEO, particularly if you have a service or brick-and-mortar business.
On the other hand, you don’t want to end up on the news, like Amy’s Baking Company did after their memorable blow up on social media following an appearance on Kitchen Nightmare in 2013.
The entire situation escalated way out of control.
So, why does the way you respond to online criticism matter?
Because, in a crowded market, a great customer experience is one of the most effective ways of setting your brand apart.
Happy customers will share their experience with people they know. In other words, happy customers help you build your business further.
Here is why.
More and more customers are turning to social media to solve their customer service problems. Why is that?
Because, according to a study by eMarketer, customers get frustrated on the phone. In fact, 32% said it was the most frustrating customer service channel.
Long wait times, poor communication, and lack of resolution might all play a role in this perception.
So, because they don’t want to call a brand’s customer service line, customers turn to social media — where they spend a great deal of time already.
In fact, nearly 81% of the United States population has at least one social media account.
That number will likely continue to grow based on trends in the last decade, as shown by the following chart from Statista.
Okay, so tons of people are on social media, and they are frustrated by the customer support options via phone.
But what does responding on social media mean for your bottom line? Surely, it couldn’t matter much.
You might think that more traditional forms of customer service would carry more weight.
Actually, responding on social media can have big implications for your bottom line.
According to research by Twitter, customers who received a fast response on social media were both willing to spend more money and are more likely to tell their friends about the experience.
For example, in this exchange, Southwestair responded to the customer in just two minutes.
Responding to your customers’ questions and concerns can make a huge difference in how you’re perceived by the public.
Accenture found that, in the last year, 52 percent of consumers have changed service providers due to poor customer service.
That means that over half of consumers have turned to a competitor when they were displeased with customer service.
A report on customer engagement from Accenture estimated that the amount of lost revenue due to poor customer service is as high as $1.6 trillion.
I don’t know about you, but I could use a cut of $1.6 trillion dollars.
Put simply, great customer service increases revenue and terrible customer service costs you money.
Happy customers spend more money on your business, and they tell more people about their positive experiences with your brand.
Responding to criticism online is one part of providing top-notch customer service. In addition to solving one person’s problem, you show prospective customers that you value their time and their money.
Today, I want to share a few amazing strategies that you can use when responding to criticism online. My hope is that these examples will inspire you the next time you face criticism from customers.
But first, I want to dive into the different types of online criticism.
Types of online criticism
There are many ways to get feedback online — Facebook comments, blog post responses, Tweets, Yelp reviews, Google reviews, emails, private messages, and the list goes on.
Even just a quick Google search for the best Mexican food in your area will bring up hundreds of reviews.
Today, I want to focus on public forms of communication where others can see both sides of the conversation. For example, think about blog comments and social media comments.
Blog comments are a fantastic way to build a rapport with your readers, which is why I spend a lot of time responding to blog comments.
But they are also a way for others to share their criticism of your business, brand, or anything else they aren’t pleased with.
Despite all the ways to communicate online, the types of online criticism tend to fall into just a few categories:
- Bad reviews
- Trolling
- Bullying and threatening
Bad reviews can come in the form of ‘official reviews’ on sites like Facebook or Yelp, or comments on social media posts, like this one on Kohl’s Facebook page:
In most cases, bad reviews are left by legitimate customers who are displeased with a product or service.
Their perceptions or opinions might not completely explain all sides of the situation, but they are venting their frustration about a real event.
Trolls, on the other hand, have no goal other than to seek a response.
Merriam-Webster defines online trolling as “[seeking] to antagonize (others) online by deliberately posting inflammatory, irrelevant, or offensive comments or other disruptive content.”
According to Urban Dictionary, the essential part of trolling is “convincing your victim that either a) you truly believe in what you are saying, no matter how outrageous, or b) give your victim malicious…
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