Success or failure on social media is determined completely by how you engage with your fans. If all you do is broadcast your messages and ignore their responses, you’ll alienate them and you won’t win any fans. Responding to your fans is the most important thing you do on social media.
A Speedy Response
In order to run a successful social media campaign, you’ve got to be there every day. The main reason is that you’ll have people commenting and asking questions, and speed of response is important. Everything on social media happens in real-time and you need to be there.
Don’t let a message sit unanswered for days. Make it part of your routine to answer all questions and comments before the day is through. Try never to leave anybody hanging.
Quick and Easy
You don’t have to give your customers long, elaborate responses. Most comments will be brief. They’ll be things like, ‘Great post, I totally agree,’ or something like that. For comments like that, all you need to do is say ‘thanks.’ On Facebook, you can simply like their comment. The idea is to just show that you’re there and you’re responsive.
Be On Brand
Whenever you’re on social media, you always need to be on-brand. Keep that in mind when you reply to comments. This will keep you from saying anything inappropriate. Also keep in mind that when you communicate online, they don’t get your facial expression or tone of voice. Be careful of saying things that could be taken the wrong way or joking with people (they may not get it).
Responding to Negative Comments
Lots of businesses shoot themselves in the foot by not replying to negative comments. These are actually the most important. If somebody complains about your service and you let that complaint go unanswered, it can be deadly.
Your response should follow the best customer service practices. Pay attention to their complaint, empathize with them, thank them for the feedback, apologize, and figure out how you can solve the problem and make them happy.
Remember that you’re not writing your response solely for them. It’s for everybody. Your response is your chance to turn things around. Show that you’re a responsive company that listens to its customers and tries to make things right for them.
It All Starts with a Good Plan
It’s a lot of work logging in daily and responding to a bunch of comments, but you can streamline it by preparing responses. Use templates for responding to certain types of comments. Be prepared with what you’re going to say to each question or comment. Vary it from one response to another so that they’re not all the same.
I already said this but because it’s so important, I’ll say it again – the worst thing you can do is NOT respond. Create a response plan and do it daily. That’s how you engage with your customers.
Tony
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