How To Deal With Complaints On Facebook Pages

Any brand with its own Facebook page has likely run into some sort of negative commentary, and we can never get enough advice on how to address this in social media.

So we appreciate the following suggestions from analytics platform KissMetrics on how to create something positive out of the negative.

Kissmetrics recommends constantly monitoring brands’ Facebook pages to nip any negativity in the bud before it spreads:

Seems like common-sense stuff, right? You would be surprised how often I come across businesses with spam in their blog comments, complaints posted right on their Facebook wall with no response from the brand, negative comments on YouTube videos, or a slew of bad reviews on their Google Places page (Google actually offers a simple guide on how to respond to reviews).

You can’t just create these types of online properties and let them manage themselves. If you are going to create them, you have to actively monitor them. A simple daily check will do — small businesses can probably get away with less than one hour per day to go through and respond to their notifications. Larger businesses might want to consider dedicating an employee or two to the task.

Cautioning that negative sentiment about a brand may not always be restricted to its Facebook page, Kissmetrics suggests real-time searches:

When it comes to social media, people’s discussion of your brand may not always happen directly to your social media accounts as Twitter mentions or posts on your Facebook wall. You might want to keep an eye out on the following for your business name, brand name, or product/services that are unique to your business.

Run a search on Facebook, and look at the results. Be sure to use the options to the left to narrow it down to pages, groups, public posts, and posts in groups.

Once complaints or other negative feedback are located, Kissmetrics urges brand managers to:

Respond quickly, in order to change public perception about the brand.Attempt to interact with the person who posted the initial complaint or negative comment, in order to prevent it from snowballing.Take any necessary steps to resolve the complaint.In the case of positive feedback, reward the person who posted it.