The goal of every business is to turn a profit while providing a good and/or service that propels you above the competition. Of course, this doesn’t come easy, and requires an astute business acumen, resources, and being the first one there to provide an unmet and in-demand product or service.
With the advent of the Internet and online reviews, many companies have turned to social media to create an engaging online presence that would-be users can easily find. However, it’s not all flowers and rainbows, as a well-intentioned post can give the wrong impression, or (da-da-dummm) a negative online review can cast your business in an unflattering light.
Before we dive into how to approach a negative review effectively, let’s take a look at a couple of bad examples of what not to do.
Don’t: Bury Negative Reviews with Phony Positive Ones
The Internet and social media have leveled the playing field, giving everyone a voice. Unfortunately, some businesses have taken the nefarious route of attempting to bury negative reviews, hiding what could be very valid concerns, as opposed to addressing or learning from them.
Bad Tactic: Downvote and Bury Negative Reviews on Indeed
[I will preface this with the fact that Indeed gives users the ability to upvote/downvote all employee reviews, which are anonymous. The reviewer is able to state their current employment status in regards to the company in question, provide an opening paragraph paraphrasing their time with the company, and list pros and cons.]
A retirement home recently discovered a bad review on Indeed.com. But instead of reaching out to the reviewer or implementing changes that would address the valid concerns of a former employee going forward, they chose to downvote the negative review 7 times and write 3 fake 5-star ones.
This becomes more apparent when you see that all three of these 5-star reviews were: posted on October 1st, 2019, most of them are chock full of spelling errors and typos, and as of this writing, no new changes or improvements have been implemented to improve working conditions. Not a good look, folks.
Bad Tactic: Pad Negative Reviews with Positive Ones on Glassdoor
[Unlike Indeed, Glassdoor only gives users the chance to upvote reviews they find “Helpful”. However, reviews are still posted anonymously, and the reviewer lists their current employment status with the company as well as their length of employment. Further, employers can respond directly to reviews as a means to mediate and/or otherwise address grievances.]
Another example of burying negative reviews is a marketing firm, who seems to go through fits and bursts on Glassdoor. Currently sitting at 55 reviews at the time of this writing, there are several examples of reviews lower than 3 stars being immediately rebutted (within 1 month) with multiple 5-star reviews that paint a vague, rosy picture of the company.
To their benefit, the owners themselves have attempted to mediate these concerns by directly responding to the negative review in question, but this is all undermined by rogue employees inexplicably attempting to silence their current and former colleagues with phony 5-star reviews.
Moral of the story: Bad reviews are a fact of life. Reactive fake reviews not only make you look bad, but everyone involved walks away not learning anything. Be the bigger person, positively address your naysayers in an organic and emphatic manner, and improve your reputation through positive, forward-thinking action.
Don’t: Let Automation Take Over Your Social Media Accounts
Look, we get it. Creating an organic social media landscape takes time, an asset most small business owners don’t have. In response to this, services like Buffer and Hootsuite have stepped up (as well as plucky, local SEO firms) to fill in the blank spots with automated, scheduled posts.
This is especially useful for small business owners who may not be able to afford a hilarious and engaging social media team that cranks out highly-shareable (read “meme-able”) content and responds almost realtime to hecklers and well-wishers alike in an organic, sometimes hysterical, manner.
So when can the problem occur? How about when you automate your social media suite to respond to any and all mentions by other users with a canned message. This happened to American Airlines once, when a user dropped an expletive-filled tweet deriding the company, with American Airlines happily responding with “Thank you for your support!”. Ugh.
Bottom line: automation is nice when you’re a business owner who has to get down to the art of running that business, but it’s a different beast entirely when automation is taken too far. Entire controversies have been birthed from unfortunately timed scheduled posts.
Moral of the story: Automation should only be used as a supplement to organic posting, not its de facto replacement. Dedicate 15-20 minutes each day to engage your followers organically.
Do: Address Negative Reviews Organically and Empathically
As a millennial myself, I can say with certainty that my generation enjoys engaging with companies with an active and organic social media presence. Whether it be Wendy’s good-naturedly throwing shade at McDonald’s, or hearing about the feel-good stories coming from a local video game store, we like to research these companies in-depth to see if they align with our own personal values in order to make informed decisions.
Sure, there may be trolls out there who leave 1-star reviews with a clear sense of malice, but as a company, we simply can’t afford to think that way. For every troll out there that wants to watch you and your company burn, there are handfuls of others with very valid concerns, all within the worldwide arena of the Internet (remember, everyone is watching and has a voice here).
Admitting your mistakes, making it right, and following up are basic tenets that are taught to mid-level management whenever they have to deal with a cantankerous customer (former mid-level trainer, here). The same applies to online reviews, only this time, the stakes are higher and everyone is watching.
Moral of the story: Do the right thing, and be the bigger person by addressing problems head-on instead of ignoring or silencing them.
Do: Learn From Your Mistakes
It’s inevitable. You simply can’t please everyone, especially when it comes to customers, clients, or employees. Sometimes, it’s just not a good fit, but that doesn’t mean that it has to blow up in spectacular fashion, or that no benefit can be wrought from it.
There are many sayings in the vein of:
A chain is only as strong as its weakest link.
The customer is always right.
However, there are no black/white rules when it comes to social media and/or reputation management. It’s all a matter of comprehending the concern, taking a deep breath, and responding without anger or defensiveness.
What the reviewer/user is typically trying to do is give you another chance to make it right, and it’s entirely up to you on how to address it. Just remember that the whole world is watching, and there’s no way out save for sportsman-like conduct, humility, action, and humanity.
How Little Egg Solutions Can Help
Do you need any help with managing your social media accounts or reputation management? Little Egg Solutions is a Boise SEO firm that not only provides these services, but so much more. We write blogs, optimize onsite/offsite SEO, linkbuild, and perform Amazon optimization. If you require another service that isn’t listed here, contact us today to see how we can help get your business on the front page.