Social media has become a public platform for customers to speak their minds and one of the places to do so is in the comment section. Since public comments are viewable by both existing and potential customers, they are often the best way to catch a brands’ attention. This also means that negative comments have a huge impact on your brand image. As a brand manager or business-owner, it may be tempting to delete negative comments and resolve the issue in private to minimise the damage, but this may actually end up doing more harm than good. Why?
Deleting comments ruins trust.
If a customer posts a negative comment, deleting their comment would be the worst way to regain their trust, even if you contact them privately. The act of hiding their opinion makes it seem as if you have no faith in your own service or product. This also holds true even if a customer does not have a bad experience but notices the deletion of negative comments made by others. The best course of action would be to reply publicly, even if the issue is ultimately resolved in private. This way, you can appease the dissatisfied customer while displaying your professionalism to others.
To illustrate the harm that deleting a comment might cause, here are two potential scenarios:
Customer A comments that they haven’t received their product.
Scenario 1:
You delete their comment and contact them directly. However, before checking their personal messages, they check their comment for a reply and realise it’s gone. They feel slighted and cheated. Not only do you lose a customer, they may resort to leaving negative comments on a platform beyond the brand’s control, like a public forum or a review site.
OR
Scenario 2:
You reply to the comment and apologise before directing them to their personal messages. The issue is resolved privately and Customer A is satisfied. Some time later, Customer B sees the comment and asks how the situation unfolded. Customer A responds positively that they’ve received their product. Both Customer A and Customer B are left with good impressions of the brand.
So while there are instances where comments should be deleted for your brand and your customers’ safety, like spam or inappropriate content, any other negative comment, be it criticism or a negative review, should be responded to appropriately rather than deleted. Use it as an opportunity to improve and build customer trust.