Top 5 Strategies to Manage Negative Comments on Social Media Posts

Let's be honest. Who hasn't vented on a brand's social media page after a bad online experience? Our social media chat threads often resemble a graveyard of brand complaints. But how does such feedback affect companies? What impact can it have on your branding and business? Well, negative social media comments can severely affect consumer perceptions. They can irreparably damage your brand's reputation in a competitive business landscape. 

In 2024, over 5 billion people have been using social media globally — a number that’s projected to increase to over 6 billion by 2028. Any of these social media users can take to social media to speak to brands about their experiences. This reflects a shift in user preference for using social media channels to engage with companies and seek prompt resolutions directly. So enterprises must address online feedback, both positive and negative, to address online complaints and enhance customer service.  

Knowing how to manage negative comments on social media posts is critical in the digital landscape. As such, in this blog, we’ll be discussing how to detect negative comments in real time and strategies for managing them. So let’s get right into it. 

Why it's crucial to address negative comments effectively 

Negative comments may sting initially, but addressing them positively can be a game-changer for your brand. Here's how it helps: 

• Maintain your brand image: Negative social media posts can harm your brand’s image if left unaddressed. With 53% of customers expecting brands to respond to their negative reviews within a week of posting, leaving feedback unaddressed can create the impression that you don't value customer input. Effectively addressing negative comments demonstrates transparency and authenticity. It shows that you are not trying to hide and ignore criticism but are willing to engage with your audience openly. 
• Retain customers: Acquiring a new customer is five to 25 times more expensive than retaining an existing one. So it’s a given that your business and its costs get adversely impacted when you start losing existing customers. As such, you ought to be addressing negative comments properly to show your current customers that you value their opinions and concerns, which helps retain customers who may otherwise be dissatisfied and leave. 
• Turn critics into advocates: Reports indicate that 88% of global consumers trust earned media, like recommendations from friends and family, more than any other form of advertising. This trust underscores the importance of effectively addressing negative social media comments. You can turn disgruntled customers into loyal brand advocates when you handle concerns well. It proves you are listening and committed to resolving customer issues. 
• Prevent escalations: Ignoring negative social media comments can escalate situations, leading to further public backlash and damage to the brand's reputation. Addressing them, on the other hand, can avert social media crises. In 2018, for instance, a global coffee chain faced backlash over the wrongful arrest of two men in a Philadelphia store. The CEO swiftly apologized on social media and closed 8,000 stores for racial-bias training, preventing the crisis from escalating. 

How to detect negative comments in real time

Identifying negative comments in real time is key with the constant flow of online interactions. Use the following methods to stay sharp and ready to address any negativity before it spreads:  

Human moderation  

Employ a team of moderators to monitor social media channels for real-time negative comments manually. While human moderators may offer a nuanced understanding when interpreting and addressing negative comments, this approach lacks automation. Relying solely on humans for social media moderation can be costly, prone to errors and challenging to scale. 

Keyword search for customer service 

Activate real-time keyword searches to easily find customer care conversations by using specific keywords or phrases. With them, you can scan through fan and brand (chatbot and agent) conversations to find the interactions where your customers have not been happy. You can use a social media customer service tool to enhance the accuracy of filtered results and streamline the process of identifying and addressing specific topics or concerns within conversation threads. 

Social listening  

Use social listening for the real-time monitoring of online conversations, mentions and discussions about your product or brand to be in the know of negative comments in real time. It can also be used to compile a list of hashtags, keywords or phrases often linked with negative comments, like "angry," "disappointed" or "poor service," so you can quickly flag incoming messages or posts with said keywords and take proactive action. 

🤔 Not sure about where you can access this capability? 

There are a few tools in the market that provide basic social listening features, however, if you want to get deeper, actionable insights on negative comments, you’ll need a more advanced and AI-powered solution. For instance, Sprinklr’s social listening offering: 

🔍 Scans and flags incoming messages or posts for specific keywords 

📢 Tracks brand mentions and relevant keywords on social media to alert you about negative comments in real time 

📊 Classifies comments as positive, negative or neutral through sentiment analysis 

DISCOVER NEGATIVE COMMENTS IN REAL TIME NOW

Recommended Read: How should brands manage their online reputation 

5 strategies to manage negative comments on social media 

Negative social media comments are often inevitable, regardless of how carefully you cultivate a positive brand image. As such, here are five strategies to manage negative feedback on social media:  

Never ignore negative comments  

When you ignore negative comments, your customers may feel neglected. Addressing such comments shows that you value their feedback and are committed to resolving their issues. It also demonstrates to other users that you are attentive and responsive to customer concerns. 

For instance, in 2021, Burger King UK faced significant backlash after tweeting, "Women belong in the kitchen." The tweet was intended as a teaser for a longer thread about the brand's initiative to offer scholarships and mentorship to female chefs. However, the initial tweet lacked context or any indication that it was part of a broader campaign.  

Source 

The tweet was widely criticized, but Burger King UK responded by acknowledging the issue, explaining its intentions and apologizing for the poorly executed campaign. This approach showed that Burger King valued customer feedback and was committed to addressing the problem directly. 

Respond quickly   

Time is of the essence when dealing with negative feedback. Responding quickly helps de-escalate the situation and shows that you proactively address customer concerns. Prompt responses can prevent the ill sentiment around an issue from spreading to a broader audience. 

Source 

Here, an Airbnb customer had a bad experience. However, a prompt, helpful and informative response to the customer has helped in lightening the frustration that they’re feeling.  

Be apologetic  

Show empathy and apologize for the inconvenience caused. Even if the issue was beyond your control, a sincere apology can go a long way in calming an upset customer. It demonstrates that you acknowledge their negative experience and are willing to make amends. 

Source 

Patreon kept their apology short, sweet and heartfelt. They were able to soothe the irate customer and redirect them to DMs in two sentences or less.  

Give a solution privately  

After acknowledging the issue publicly, take the conversation to a private channel to provide a solution. This allows you to handle the matter discreetly and personally, which can lead to a more satisfactory resolution for the customer. It also prevents the comment thread from becoming cluttered with details and other people chiming in with more negativity. 

Source 

Here, Apple Support replied to a distressed customer within 3 hours and redirected them to DMs, providing them with a prompt and effective solution privately.  

Don’t always delete negative comments  

While it might be tempting to delete negative comments, it can backfire. Customers may feel you are trying to hide the issue or disregard feedback. Instead, address the comment constructively and show your willingness to resolve the problem. This transparency can enhance your brand's credibility and trustworthiness. 

However, if you find that the negative comments are abusive or go against the Terms of Use of Instagram, do delete them.  

💬 Social media has no downtime and users can contact you anytime  

Queries and complaints don’t arise at any specific hour of the day, and customers demand quick resolutions for their issues. So you should be prepared to respond to them 24/7. But what if you lack the resources to maintain that level of availability or responsiveness? 

This is where Sprinklr’s social media customer service software can come to the rescue by allowing you to: 

🤖 Deploy a single AI-powered chatbot that’s scalable on multiple social channels and can be trained in different languages 

↪️ Engage and respond swiftly to customer service concerns across 15+ social channels 

⏰ Reduce response times with the AI-powered Smart Response and Paraphraser features that ensure agents meet expected quality standards 

AUTOMATE COMPLAINT RESOLUTION NOW

Tips to incorporate negative feedback into business improvement 

Negative comments often contain valuable insights, frequently offering genuine and actionable feedback. Let’s see how you can put them to good use:  

• Analyze patterns: Look for recurring themes in the negative comments you receive on social media to identify common pain points. This will help in identifying which areas need immediate attention and improving customer focus. 
• Prioritize issues: Rank the feedback based on the frequency and impact of the issues raised. Addressing the most critical problems first will help you improve customer satisfaction exponentially. 
• Engage with customers: Engaging in constructive dialogue can offer you deeper consumer insights into people’s concerns, which will better inform your business strategy. 
• Implement changes: Utilize customer feedback to update your knowledge base and drive product/service enhancements. Communicate these changes to your customers on social media to demonstrate how their feedback leads to tangible improvements. This will earn their trust more. 
• Monitor outcomes: After making changes, track customer responses and feedback to see if the adjustments have resolved the issues. Continuous social media monitoring will help you refine your processes and products further. 

Read More: How to Respond to Customers on Social Media (+ Examples)

Examples of negative comments for brands  

Here are some brands that have effectively managed social media criticism to strengthen their branding and avoid crises: 

#1: Airbnb  

Source 

What is Airbnb doing right here?  

• They’re replying to major customer complaints within 24 hours. 
• They acknowledge the inconvenience caused. 
• They redirected the customer to their DMs to deal with their queries privately. 

Where can AirBnB improve?  

• Their response is a bit generic. They could offer a more tailored acknowledgment. 

#2: Nike  

Source 

What is Nike doing right here?  

• Most customer complaints are replied to within an hour.  
• They have a “Send us a private message” CTA within their reply.  
• They’re apologetic and concise.  

Where can Nike improve?  

• Their current message implies that customers should share purchase details publicly on the thread, potentially exposing sensitive information. They should encourage customers to share such details privately as well through direct messages. 

Starbucks   

Source

What is Starbucks doing right?  

• They are communicating clearly that they can offer no immediate resolution. 
• They aren’t engaging with the irate customer on the same thread after the communication.  
• They are apologetic in their reply.  

Where can Starbucks improve?  

• It's a long message for X. It could be more concise. 

These brand examples showcase the power of promptly and professionally handling negative feedback. By addressing criticism effectively, these firms have protected their reputation while strengthening trust and customer loyalty. 

Handle negative comments with ease using Sprinklr 

Addressing negative feedback can be an opportunity to improve your product/service and exceed customer expectations. However, monitoring, identifying and responding to these comments manually is challenging.  

Social listening can solve this problem for you. It automates the process of monitoring and identifying negative feedback across social media platforms. Using advanced algorithms and AI, social listening tools can quickly detect mentions of your brand, analyze sentiment and alert you to potential issues in real time. This allows your team to respond promptly and effectively without constant manual oversight.  

Want to know more about how you can turn frustrated users into delighted ones?