To err is human. Facing criticism is not easy but it needs to be faced head-on. How a person deals with negative comments and reviews talks a lot about their character. This holds good for a company and all other entities as well. It is always good to own up your mistakes and start working on how to rectify your mistakes and improvise from thereon. But doing this Social Media Platform will not be a piece of cake. Still, you must deal with it calmly. A renowned company lost its market place due to negative reviews on digital media. Read on to find how a young CEO managed to face the critics head-on and came out victorious with the help of her Social Media Manager. Identities are masked due to confidentiality protocols.
Background Scenario
Ms. Kate completed her Bachelors in Fashion Designing and started her boutique. When she first started, she did not indulge in traditional marketing methodologies. Being a millennial, she made the best use of digital media features. Initially, she was taking care of all the social media marketing handles by herself and she was doing pretty well indeed. She was recognized as the best woman entrepreneur of the year. As her reputation grew, she branched out and obviously, her workload increased. She did not realize that maintaining a constant presence on the digital platform was essential. Hence she started to miss out responding to inbox messages and comments, she became busy and she couldn’t devote quality time for it. Unfortunately, that paved her downhill path.
Chapter 1: Misty Digital Platform
‘I never realized that facing adversity would be so challenging’ thought Kate to herself. ‘I need to and definitely will clear this mess at the earliest possible’ she took an oath to herself. Ms. X was a woman whose courage levels never dropped a bit when she faced more challenging situations in her childhood. She wasn’t 100% prepared to face the flip side of the digital media. She knew that this too would pass, but how was she was going to face it and overcome it was a big question mark to her. Finally, Kate mustered up her courage and took a deep breath and told herself ‘I’m going to make it through this mist!’. She dialed Kevin’s number.
Chapter 2: Social Media Manager to the rescue
‘I never thought this could get worse Kevin! Not only my reputation is at stake but my market place is crashing down. I don’t know how to handle this Kevin!’ shook Kate’s voice. Kevin is her friend from school who now works as a social media manager. ‘Kate, it is okay, this is normal in this era. Now is the time to show the world who you are’. With that Kevin sits for discussion with Kate. Kate shares all the social media credentials to Kevin and takes his help professionally. Seeing Kevin at ease with the huge challenge in front of him, Kate is compelled to ask, ‘How do you maintain your cool even at this situation?’. It is then Kevin explains, ‘There are simple strategies to implement when it comes to social media handles, Kate. I will explain those now as I incorporate them into your social media platforms’.
Never take it personal
Digital Media is a platform is a place where you get in touch with numerous unknown people online. This might create an illusion that you know all of them and vice versa, but that isn’t the actual scenario. So, no matter what happens, never take things personally. After all, virtual life and real life are different altogether.
Respond as a Businesswoman
It is normal to let your emotions get the worst out of you at times. That is why you need to maintain your character role online. You are portrayed as a Businesswoman online, so be one. When you respond to comments, reviews, and inbox messages, respond like a professional businesswoman
Use social media platform’s options properly
When the developers design social media handles, they gave many options for a reason. Things may not go as planned always, that is why you need to have your own back by using the options offered by the apps. You can disable comments, not let others post on your timeline and filter out who can tag you. There are many privacy options as well. You can choose the best options that suit your requirements.
Make sure you respond and be active on digital media daily basis
To have your business availed 24x7x365; you need to maintain your online presence. It is essential to respond to your customer’s queries reply to your inbox messages. This will leave a good impression about you on your customer’s mind. Also, having a CTA button on your digital media handles will get more queries and calls. Make sure you respond professionally.
Maintain your ‘cool’ online
It is very important not to snap. It is very normal to lose your cool, but having it all under control saves a lot of trouble later on. Always maintain a cool attitude all the time especially when you respond to comments online. Remember that you’re leaving your digital imprints through your response. So it essential to maintain your poise, on all your social media platforms.
Own your mistake
We can’t be perfect all the time though we strive to be so. Hence when there is a flaw, admit it and own it. When you own your mistakes, no one can use it against you. When you own your mistake you give a chance for improving yourself which is a good sign. Address to the consequence and apologize. This is will help you maintain a healthy relationship with your customers.
Throw limelight on your strengths
When you are drowning in a sea of negative reviews, your strengths serve as your life jackets. You need to hold on to your strengths rather than losing focus on them. This way you can regain the lost balance and you will be able to sprint back to the track. So whenever you feel like losing hope due to any kind of criticism, focus on your strengths.
Resolve the issue
No matter how big of a problem you encounter in life, facing it head-on and resolving it may seem hard, but it is not impossible. So, take responsibility and start figuring out the solutions to the problem rather and worrying about it. Focussing on the positivity will lead you to the solution thus resolving the issue in the end.
One-on-one is always good
When an angry customer is being addressed one-on-one rather than a generalized answer, he/she will feel heard. This will help them calm down as they feel that their problem is being handled. You need to go to their inbox and sort the issue. Also, you can get in touch with them through e-mail or telephone and sort their problem. This will make the angry customers calm down and who knows, they can turn out to be your positive marketers online eventually.
Focus on the next hype
‘What’s next?’ this attitude is a proven winning attitude. Crying over the spilled milk is of no use. You need to concentrate on the next. ‘Okay! Something awkward happened! So what?!’ You need to have the attitude of getting over and starting over. But in the process of getting over, make sure you carry forward the lessons that you learned so that you will not repeat the same and will improvise yourself from there.
Chapter 3: Move On
‘Kevin! Thank you so much for handling this whole situation like a pro! I learned a lot of lessons from you Buddy!’ Kate was so glad and relieved at the same time. ‘Kate, listen, it isn’t a big deal. All you need to do is, be present at the moment. And never panic no matter how worse the situation is because only if you be calm, you will be able to find a solution’. ‘True Kevin! Thank you for sorting this out and teaching me a good lesson as well’ said Kate. ‘Kate, I did what I’d do professionally. Besides, what are friends for? Now, its time to move on’.
Conclusion
The above short story has a take-off for us all as readers. We all are on various social media platforms and this situation happens to many of us. Be it on personal social media accounts or business accounts, criticism is something that we can’t dodge. If you don’t want these negative comments to be seen, you can delete it off. The above-explained strategies will help you to face your critics head-on, be it on your virtual life or in your real life.
