In Case of Emergency
So what happens when there are negative posts on your Facebook page? Negative posts might take any of the following forms:
• A complaint about a product or service
• A threat to your business or an employee
• A business disaster in the making
What should you do as a social media manager?
First off, don’t panic. You’re in a public forum and people will be people. Some are positive, and some are negative. In some rare instances, they can actually offer constructive criticism all by themselves. If not, it’s your job to make a negative comment more constructive. You can do this by asking probing questions.
Here are some guidelines when you first get a negative comment:
• Read it and all surrounding comments for the context.
• If it’s a high-level complaint, let management know. If it’s low, deal with this yourself.
• If the comment is derogatory and has inappropriate language in it, remove it.
• If it is just a little critical, let it stand for a while. Your fans might just do a great deed and calm the Wall with some defending rebuttal.
 | WATCH OUT |
In case there is ever an extreme issue like threats, make sure to seek legal assistance. They can contact the social media sites to have something removed that you don’t have access to.
Make sure you put guidelines for handling negative comments into your social media procedures and train your team on how to handle them. The worst thing to do is to just delete all negative posts, or to start an argument.
When you delete a comment, you have to remember that all of your fans had the opportunity to see that negative post, and if it was something they agreed with and you didn’t address it, you will have lost their trust. Similarly, if you get into an argument with your fans, it reflects very poorly on your company.
The Least You Need to Know
• Good social media takes manpower to monitor multiple sites, engage, and respond.
• It’s essential that you build a team even if you are a small organization.
• Don’t go overboard and start a 24/7/365 social media monitoring system off the cuff—that may not be right for your business.
• It is your job to transform negative comments into constructive exchanges.