Negative comments can leave brand managers in the hot seat. But that doesn’t mean it is the end of the world. Negative comments for every brand, large or small are just inevitable. Just as in the reality of human beings, brands also follow the golden rule, “survival of the fittest.” You can’t get stuck on that handful of haters throwing in negative comments, especially without a backing. So what do we do? We find ways to increase the positive comments and as mundane as this sounds just move the hell on. Or you can just follow the footsteps of the renowned Oprah Winfrey, and just refrain from reading them altogether.
Secret Sauce of Social Media Branding
Let’s just imagine a restaurant. Not the Michelin Star kind of restaurant but one that’s going on an upward slope; the community knows they have great food and are always packed. Now one fine day someone feels like stirring up a rumor, and without evidence makes the claim that the restaurant has rats roaming around in their kitchen. I mean talk about a literal recipe for disaster! We can’t change the way that people on social media react so it’s expected that most won’t ask twice when trying to join the herd with their oos and aaas. And of course, not everybody’s first reaction is going to fact-check the claims.
Many news channels and other media outlets might pick up on it. The dire question here is, should this restaurant spend thousands of dollars on damage control? If they want to spend all their assets for nothing and wind up in bankruptcy, this could be the way to go. The smart brands usually the bigger corporations will know that fighting with fire only leads to more fire. So instead they use what is known as the “avalanche technique. This technique required the managers for the brand to pull out all previous positive comments for the past several years while aggressively soliciting new positive reviews from loyal customers” To be honest, it doesn’t matter what you have got to do, do whatever it takes, but get those positive comments going on all social media immediately. If that means free pizza for all, then free pizza it is.
Increase Your Comments
So the brand manager of this restaurant simply needs to shower their social media with a ton of positive comments about their brand. In this case quantity matters even more than quality or in this case the negative comments. And to distract people from the unfavorable they could hold a contest or put out an ad for a giveaway.
This creates a mirage of positivity with a ton of snow under the lying negative comments until they won’t show up until page 5 of any google search. And we know no one really clicks past page one of the google searches.
Bend it like Amazon
Amazon is a prime example of how to create a trustworthy relationship with the user. When visiting the Amazon site, you’ll notice that buyers are free to comment however they feel. They write their true experience with the product as they please. In fact, Amazon will go ahead and reprimand any product that has a history with false reviews. Hence why they’ve tightened their regulation when it comes to reviews because they strive for transparency. They’re being savvy in researching that customers will buy anything if they feel that the reviews are genuine and honest. They’re showing that each product has a balance of good and bad, which portrays a realistic idea of the product. As we know nothing is perfect, but they leave it up to the customer to decide if the pros outweigh the cons before making a purchase.
This same idea could be applied to the restaurant. They can still focus on pumping out positive comments, but positing the negative comments without any defense portrays naturalness. Because it’s true what the ancient Persians said: Keep your friends close but keep your enemies closer. For social media, to keep your enemies closer merely means to keep an eye on the haters — but you don’t need to respond to them other than to love and increase your brand, whatever it may be, in the most favorable and positive light you can show.
