How?
How to communicate with your customer? What type of response to choose? Unfortunately, there is no neutral template for this. Communication with the customer should be comprehensive and have an overlap in the entire marketing of the company. At the beginning of everything, you need to create a content strategy, which is also the basis for the so-called "Tone of voice". This is pretty much a precise guide to how your brand will communicate with partners, employees and clients. A properly set tonality is based, for example, on values, target groups and creates the character of your brand. To illustrate this with a concrete example, we have the communication of Hospůdka Na Růžku, whose tonality we would call "the best defence is attack" and would definitely not recommend.
To delete or not to delete?
A question that many a social network user wonders about. There is no right answer. At Pen&Production, we recommend not deleting negative comments, with one exception: a comment that is rude, offensive or discriminatory, in short, a comment that has no meaning. In some cases, you can even deal with such comments or even live with them, such as the Czech liftago. By the time they changed their logo to Ukrainian colours, their social networks started teeming with hateful comments. We have a little feeling that replying to this type of comments has become a hobby in liftago, maybe even a bit of an addiction.
Even a negative comment is an opportunity
Imagine a situation where you're in a store, at a conference, at a presentation and you get a question that you pass over unnoticed and don't answer at all. Strange, isn't it? So why is it important to respond to all types of comments? By responding to a positive comment, you express your gratitude and show that you value the customer's feedback. You show your character, values and create a space for your followers to learn essential information and reviews. If it is a negative response that criticizes your product or service, your response can publicly explain and show why the negative experience may have occurred. You actually have a great opportunity to apologize for any mistake and try to make amends. With almost 50% of people writing reviews on social media, this is 21st century customer service and you need to adapt to it. Perfect customer service is behind every successful company and needs to be delivered across social networks, even Twitter.
A few tips that won't spoil anything
As we mentioned earlier, the way you communicate on social media should be based on your brand. However, there are a few tips to follow:- Be polite even to the rude
- Reply to comments, likes are not enough
- Tag the user you are replying to
- If there is an error, acknowledge it
- Try to take your dissatisfied comments elsewhere - customer support, mail...
- Stick to your tonality
- Answer like a human, not a robot
- Don't copy the responses, respond to everyone individually
- React quickly
- Don't be funny at all costs. Why? Find out in the attached picture
A funny answer is not always the answer
Funny replies to negative comments are very popular on social media. There are brands that can afford it. There are even situations where a witty response is appropriate, even if it's not the basis of your communication. But definitely don't try to respond in a wannabe funny way in every situation. In most cases, such a response will outrage the customer and you will lose them. Sometimes it's better to leave it to the pros, to an agency that will turn your profiles into a site with great customer service. We've taken the Sainsbury's supermarket communications as an example. We think their response not only lost them enquirers, but also dozens, maybe hundreds, of other customers.
If you don't know how to manage your community, drop us a line and we'll be happy to help you turn your social networks into a place with great customer service.
