Ask Buffer – Should I Respond to Every Social Media Comment?

src=”https://buffer.com/resources/content/images/2022/03/ASK-BUFFER-02.png” alt=”Ask Buffer: Should I Reply to Every Social Media Comment? “>

Question: I have been spending a lot time on Instagram and Twitter growing my audience, which is fantastic. However, I am starting to receive a lot more comments and customer questions and it is becoming difficult to answer every one. What do I need to do? How quickly? What should I do with the negative ones?

It is crucial to know how you will handle comments. They are a direct means of communicating with customers, receiving feedback and building trust and loyalty.

You don’t need to reinvent the wheel for every comment. To start, I suggest creating community guidelines to guide your response strategy. You can include things such as:

• Your voice, tone, personality, and style that you would like to use online
• Example responses to expected questions in your chosen tone and style
• Guidelines for crisis communication, such as major shipping delays and staff shortages
• There are guidelines for when to ban users from your social media accounts (many brands have policies that make it clear that they will not block anyone who uses discriminatory or derogatory language).

These guidelines will help you think about how you will handle situations, and if you have to manage social media for others.

Let’s answer your questions now:

Do I have to respond to every comment?

It can build community on social media and your followers will expect it. According to a study, social media is second most used channel by customers to communicate with brands (and first for Millennials).

It is important to respond to followers’ comments with a positive and helpful experience, even if it is a simple “Thank you!”

You can also reply to comments and show your customers (and followers) that you care. This helps you to build relationships and makes you stand out from other businesses that aren’t as responsive.

Finally, followers will be more inclined to comment on other posts and tag you in Stories. They’ll also share your brand with others who are not following you. This increases social media engagement and acts as word-of mouth marketing.

How timely do I have to be?

It can be difficult to respond to every comment, DM, or message if you don’t have a dedicated team or manager for social media. It is crucial to respond promptly, especially when you use platforms such as Instagram, where Stories expire within 24 hours.

You can set aside some time each day to check your social media accounts. This could be as little as 15 minutes per hour depending on how many comments or messages you get. Or it could be every 15 minutes. It can be added to your schedule so that it becomes a part of your daily routine.

To get ideas for new content, you can engage with comments either before or after you schedule your Buffer posts. You can also use Buffer’s engagement tools. We have a simple dashboard which makes it easy for you to quickly see and respond to your comments without having to jump from one platform to another.

Here’s how it looks when people comment in Buffer.

You don’t have to reply to every comment daily if you find it too overwhelming. Instead, prioritize the most popular platform. Focus on Twitter, for example, if it is the platform that you get most questions.

You can set expectations with your followers regardless of your schedule. Some people include the typical response time in the bio, while others pin a tweet to their profile with more details. It’s a great idea to share information about when you will answer customer service questions.

What should I do about negative comments?

Negative comments and customer feedback are part of social media. It’s not fun to deal with negative comments and customer feedback. However, it is important to do so quickly to minimize any possible fallout.

It’s crucial to plan your response carefully. Listen to the negative comments that customers make and respond in the same way you would with a person.

Buffer draws a lot of its inspiration from How To Win Friends and Influence People. This book focuses on empathy and understanding and putting others first. This philosophy was crucial to the early culture decisions at Buffer, and it is how we view our community strategy.

We are quick to admit faults and take responsibility for problems. However, we try to resolve issues without blaming others or misrepresenting key information. If a customer complains about a payment problem, we may reply by saying “We’re sorry for this trouble here. Would you be willing to check if your payment details have been updated?” This appears to be a problem with your form of payment.” Instead of “Your credit cards were declined,”

We offer our customers and followers free of charge our apologies and address the end result for them. We wouldn’t say “We’re sorry that our platform didn’t work for you”, but “We’re sorry that we made it difficult.”

Remember that comments can be a great way to give feedback about your business. These comments can be used to help you identify areas that need improvement, get inspiration for new content or to highlight gaps in your offerings.

These can be used to simplify your communications and save time. If you get the same questions regarding shipping times all the time, you could create an Instagram highlight or FAQ page to answer them. If customers are consistently unhappy with your customer service response times you can investigate the causes and create a plan to correct them.

You can use social media comments to monitor customer sentiment and improve your online presence. Make a plan and respond quickly to your followers. You will see your community grow more engaged.

What is your approach to comments on social media? We’d love to see any thoughts you have about this tweet!