We’ve separated the 10 tips for responding to comments on your brand’s social media into 5 simple do’s and 5 don’ts so that you know both what to do and what not to do.

You may have the best post/ad in the history of Facebook, but if you forget to monitor and reply to comments left on it you risk turning a great post/ad into a ticking social media crisis bomb.

Interacting with your audience through social comments is an effective way to make a connection with your target market.

By providing great customer service through social comments, you not only retain existing customers but also win new ones.

The 5 Do’s of Responding to Comments on Your Brand’s Social Media

1. Do respond in a timely manner

By responding relatively soon you are showing your followers (your potential, past, and current customers) that you care about them and value what they have to say.

Keeping conversations going means keeping the community you’re trying to foster around your brand going.

Even just a like on a comment from your company’s social profile can be enough to show that you’re there and you’re listening and engaging!

2. Do monitor ALL of your comments (the good, the bad, and the ugly)

People can be quite kind, but they can also be unbearably cruel; it’s the internet after all!

The trick is to react calmly and coolly to the cruel and to acknowledge and celebrate the kind.

Using the like method above can be a great way to show kind users you appreciate their thoughts (just don’t mix this up and like negative comments–that can get confusing!)

3. Do respond to ALL of your negative comments. Yes. ALL of them.

Responding to negative comments is important.

Deleting or ignoring negative feedback reflects poorly on your brand.

If you don’t address negative comments on your social media, your followers will start to assume your business is not able to handle criticism, that it’s willing to ignore its customers, and that it might not even be active on the network!

4. Do encourage negative commentators to continue the conversation in private

When you respond to a negative comment, try to encourage the user to transition the conversation to a more private place, like in the direct messages of the social network the negative comment came from or via a support email address.

While you want to show onlookers that you do care about negative opinions, you’ll want to move negative conversations out of the limelight.

5. Do present a professional front

Stay calm and collected.

Monitoring and engaging with your comments will earn your brand a reputation with your followers.

If you consistently respond professionally, you’ll foster a solid reputation.

The 5 Don’ts of Responding to Comments

1. Don’t ignore “small” problems

Unanswered comments will give your business a reputation for bad customer service, and potentially lose you business.

Research from Twitter found that 81% of consumers won’t recommend a company to a friend if they don’t get a reply from them on social media.

2. Don’t lose your cool

The saying “the customer is always right” should always apply in your response to negative social media comments.

If you or whoever’s assigned to currently respond to social comments get frustrated easily, you should introduce another intermediary employee who can better represent your business and your brand voice online.

3. Don’t delete comments.

Deleting comments make it look like your brand doesn’t care, is wrong in the situation, or it has something to hide.

And, more often than not, people notice when their comments get removed and they come back with a vengeance, escalating their comment(s) further.

4. Don’t make the same generic response to every comment

People will catch on if you respond with the same line to EVERY single comment.

Once people start noticing that unhappy comments receive the same message in reply, it will only make your company seem insincere and inauthentic.

5. Don’t be afraid to make comments personal

Have a few standard lines to initiate with, but don’t be afraid to personalize your responses to the unique comment’s content and user. While some companies may want to keep a strict brand tone, social media requires socialization, which requires human interaction. If you keep everything passive and technical, you’ll never make any connections on the platforms.

Mentioning their name and including what they said in your response is a great way to show you’re both paying attention and you care.

Finally, adding a signature from a real person on your team is a great way to add some human personality into your brand persona.