Negative Blog Posts: A Gateway to Improve Customer Engagement

The advent of the digital age has made it much easier for customers to share their opinions of brands. With an estimated 1.6 million new blog posts everyday, consumers are constantly sharing their impressions of every conceivable product or service. Throw in Twitter, Facebook, forums, and other social media outlets, and there’s a veritable ocean to manage with social media feedback management. With numbers like this, you can bet there is at least one negative post out there about your service, company and/or product. Since online consumer reviews can have a significant impact on sales, it’s important to carefully monitor and properly respond to posts—especially the negative ones. This article will explain how to turn a lemon of a post into the lemonade of continued sales and loyal customers.

First, let’s talk a little about how customers get to the point of posting negatively about your company. If they’re willing to proactively share their negative opinion, they’re likely actively disengaged customers. According to PeopleMetrics’ 2009 Most Engaged Customer report, “The actively disengaged customer is four times more likely to post to a blog or website about their poor customer service.” Ultimately, you want to avoid creating this sort of customer. Something has happened to change them from engaged, passionate customers to disengaged, irate customers.

Aside from the costs associated with the loss of a customer, these disengaged customers can be poisonous for your company, since they’re more likely to tell others about their experience. The 2009 MEC also found that “The actively disengaged customer will tell, on average, three people to avoid a company and its services, versus just one negative recommendation from a customer who is sitting on the fence.” Of course, once a customer’s negative opinion goes online, you can bet that many more than three people will see and remember it. That’s why it’s crucial to have the right response.

But before you can respond, you have to find the negative posts. As mentioned above, it’s important to monitor your reputation on the web. Be aware of what people are saying, and arrange for a marketing guru in your company to respond to consumers’ posts. (If you’re looking for an easy way to track your online reputation, Google Alerts are a handy tool for tracking the online appearance of certain words, like your company’s name.)

This sort of tracking is akin to dipping your company’s toe in the waters of online reviews. If you’re ready to take a deeper plunge, get involved with online communities surrounding your product, service, or company. Contribute to the conversation by leaving comments, writing guest posts, or setting up a blog for your company. As in any community, members of these online hubs are more trusting of people and companies they hear from—so give them a change to get to know you.

Even if you play nice in the online sandbox, however, there are bound to be at least a few occasions when bloggers throw sand in your eyes. Accept the fact that there will be negative posts about your company, and be prepared to respond appropriately and punctually. (Remember that things can snowball very quickly online, so a timely response is best.) Here are a few tips for responding to negative blog posts:

Control your emotions through strategy. Although it can be tempting to dash off a scathing response the minute that you see a negative post, you should avoid this temptation at all costs. Those who are responsible for a company’s online image should have a plan in place for responding to negative posts. Part of that strategy should be a “cooling off” period. Perhaps a meeting to vent frustrations is in order. Once the burning sense of injustice has cooled, team members can work together to craft an appropriate response.
Respond directly to the post by leaving a comment. The easiest way to respond to a negative post is to leave a comment to the post. Again, do not leave angry or defensive comments, as this will likely only bring more comments, traffic, and negative impressions of your company. Instead, politely correct any factual errors and ask how you can help the poster. Fix obvious customer service problems, just as you would if a customer called your customer service hot-line. Be honest and courteous in your reply. Doing so shows the online community that you are committed to putting the customer first, and that you clean up your mistakes. If you solve the poster’s problem quickly, you may even earn a positive follow-up post.
Offer additional resources. If the negative post refers to a common customer service issue, leave a comment pointing the post’s author to your company’s resources surrounding the issue. If the post poses a new problem, add that issue to your company’s online support desk. Doing so will help to prevent future frustration for your customers. There’s no better way to take a proactive, positive stance on a negative blog post than to provide additional resources.
Respond in your own blog. If your company has a blog, post a story about any negative posts. This allows you to fully respond to any issues and learn if other customers have had the same problem. Although it might be initially nerve-wracking to admit that your company has made a mistake, companies who take this risk are generally rewarded with more trust from consumers. Remember that your customers are human too—they also make mistakes, so as long as you have an appropriate response to your error, they’ll give you a break. (In fact, they might come away with more positive feelings, since analyzing and correcting your own mistakes implies that you are an innovative company that’s willing to learn and improve.)

Finally, consider thanking the blogger. This may seem crazy, but keep in mind that before the Internet exploded into our lives, people were still making negative comments. Then, however, you didn’t have the chance to reply in a public setting. In this sense, you can be thankful that this negative impression of your company was left in a place where you could find it and respond. Ultimately, negative blog posts pose an opportunity, not a crisis. By taking advantage of the opportunity to respond, you can improve your customer service and win more Engaged Customers who are loyal to your company.

~Monica Nolan, Account Manager