We will agree with this statement, yes, social media does in fact expose businesses to negative feedback and customer complaints.

The challenge is however that these seemingly bad conversations will happen whether the brand is on social media or not. Ideally you want to be there to address and manage the outrage, or at least be aware of it.

In most instances, consumers turn to social media as a last resort. We often-times find that these frustrated customers have already followed traditional protocol and sent an email to some dusty inbox only to be responded with a generic reply. They have called through to the customer care centre only to find themselves in an ongoing carousel of being put on hold. You might find, in some cases that the person had reached out via private message on social media, before… taking it public!

Customers are demanding more from brands

They have gained a sort of public power. Anyone with a social media account is a journalist of sorts and with an easy swipe open of their lock screen can direct a complaint to any brand or company for the world to see. Of course, once one complaint has been aired, it gives licence to other complaints to come out into the open. And so one seemingly innocent online complaint could turn into a viral storm of trending hashtag(s). The true reality is that consumers, you and me, just want good service and value for money.

Customers want to be heard and ultimately valued

People use social media to level the field between them and big corporate and all businesses should do is turn a kind ear to listen, address and then consider whether maybe they should implement change into their organisation.

Yes, its scary. No one, not even big business wants to be exposed to a social media scandal, however rather listen, be active and address concerns before they turn to complaints especially since taking on feedback could make for good business returns.

If you as a business owner still find social media too daunting to even consider, reach out to us.

We have many years’ experience in this space while also taking into consideration consumer behaviour, social media trends and human psychology to assist and support our clients in managing their social media strategies and implementing crisis management processes.