5 Tips For Dealing with Comments on Social Media

Expert Hana Klokner shares her top tips for responding to feedback on social media, both the good and the bad

Hana Klokner (@hanajayklokner) is an expert in social media marketing and a children’s book author from Slovakia. Hana started out in digital marketing in 2007 when she got a job at the age of 16 working for MacBlog.sk, an online Apple magazine based in Slovakia.

During the time that she worked for the company, she wrote around 200 articles about Apple products and discovered her passion for blogging. This fuelled Hana to launch her own “fashion blogazine,” through which she learned all about planning, producing, editing, and promoting content while she was still at school.

As her platform and team grew, Hannah struck up relationships with PRs for international fashion brands such as Mango and H&M. After moving to Prague, Klokner joined a coworking, where she hosted her first workshop on blogging. She then moved to London, where she reached out to London College of Communication to offer them a course on blogging, which she soon began teaching. She would also lead a course on social media marketing at LCC and take up a position as a lecturer at Istituto Marangoni.

Over the years, Hana has trained marketing teams for clients such as Amazon, GLH Hotels, and the UN, as well as creating marketing strategies for companies based all around the world, from Tasmania to California.

In this blog post, Hana shares her top five tips for responding to all kinds of feedback on social media, both the good and the bad.

1. Always respond (to both the good and the bad)

Hana finds that brands or individuals who are just starting out often forget to respond to positive feedback. “When they see a comment like ‘Oh, that’s so nice!’ they completely ignore it,” says Hana. They might feel like there’s nothing more to add or to say, or perhaps feel a bit shy about acknowledging the compliment, however, it’s essential to always respond. When it comes to negative feedback, it can feel challenging to have to face it publicly, but doing so can even result in that person becoming one of your brand advocates.

2. Write a full and personal response

It can be hard to write more than just a simple “thank you” when someone compliments you. However, if you can write a fuller response, the person who left the feedback will feel valued and seen. This will result in them being more likely to comment again in the future and support you online. Hana suggests adding something personal about the process involved in creating the content such as, “Thank you. It took a while to get this right,” or expressing your gratitude in an additional sentence, for example: “Your comment really means a lot.” Always be personal, don’t just copy and paste the same responses, as that will frustrate users.

3. Don’t delete negative feedback

Unfortunately, not all the feedback you will receive will be positive. Hana recognizes that as brands grow, they tend to receive more negative feedback as well as complaints. “The key is to be ready for it,” says Hana. Never delete negative feedback, see it as a learning opportunity. Deleting negative comments will only result in the users engaging even further, continuing to respond negatively. They will see you as censoring them, which breaks the trust in your relationship with them and gives you a bad reputation.

4. Move the conversation to DMs

When resolving complaints, move the conversation to direct messaging as you will likely need to ask the user for private information. Respond to their comment personally explaining that you will resolve the issue in direct messages.

5. Delete SPAM and ignore trolls

SPAM messages aren’t helpful for anyone. Hana suggests deleting them, as no one will miss them. If your inbox SPAM gets too much, you can also have the option to filter messages in the settings tab. When it comes to trolls, don’t respond to the messages at all but don’t remove them immediately. Responding is what fuels trolls and if they see that you have deleted their messages, they will start responding to other comments. Wait a few weeks and then finally delete them. If necessary, you also have the option to block certain users from commenting.

If you would like to get more tips and advice on how to manage your social media channels, sign up for Hana’s Domestika course, Community Management Fundamentals.

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