Everybody has a different way to deal with rejection and negativity. I believe in not taking the negative comments seriously. And that’s what many of us do. But there are some people who take negative comments on a whole new offensive level. In the corporate world, negative comments and reviews are an everyday story. Hence, taking everything offensively isn’t gonna help you grow. There are many kinds of reviews that companies or brands receive in the digital universe –  feedback on social media, reviews on Google My Business listings, social media page reviews, comments on social media posts, comments on blog posts, and lot more. In short, when you start with content marketing on social media, article submission website, etc., you will get comments or reviews. As the company owner, you need to handle negative comments strategically for your own benefit. In fact, you can even use negative reviews as a part of your content marketing strategy.

Firstly, let me clear some misconceptions about negative comments and reviews.

• Receiving negative comments and reviews don’t mean your business is bad.
• Poor reviews can actually help your business to improve.
• Handling bad and negative reviews is easy. (I will tell you how)
• The best way to combat negative comments? Get more good ones!

Image source: https://pixabay.com/en/feedback-star-rating-user-rating-2800867/

Bad Comments ≠ Bad Business

It is easy for people to get wrapped up with negative feedback as no one likes to see negative comments online. You may have received a negative comment or review on your website for one of your blogs, or someone posted a nasty comment about your organization on Google My Business, or even just an email detailing negative feedback or a bad experience your client had — don’t worry, it doesn’t mean that you did something wrong.

Bad Reviews Make Good Reviews Look Better

One of the positive side effects of a bad review is the light that it sheds on good reviews. 84% of people read and believe online reviews rather than a personal recommendation of some product or organization. If a business or an organization shows their negative comments instead of removing them, the good comments are perceived as credible to people. People will trust the good reviews as it proves that the company has nothing to hide. Keeping negative reviews are good for your brand as it makes customers trust you and believe that the reviews are real.  

Bad Reviews Assist You to Provide What Customers Want

Bad reviews can give shoppers the real picture of your company and let them know what to expect with your products and services. Providing potential customers with the realistic idea of the products has always been a challenge for eCommerce companies. One of the main reasons why a customer would enter a bad comment or review is not because the product was bad, it is because it didn’t meet his/her expectations. In fact, the most commonly used word in a negative review is ‘disappointment or disappointed.’ This is when negative reviews are based on personal experiences and each customer will have a different experience with your product or service.

Customers face disappointment only when their expectations aren’t dealt with, even if it may be after a service has been provided. For example, a clothing store gets negative reviews as “the outfit fits horribly. It’s a shame the largest size is only XL.” By collecting data from all such reviews, the clothing store might come to the conclusion that they are receiving more customers but aren’t able to deliver what they need. Hence, they can simply order larger and plus size clothing that can meet the expectations of every individual.

Receiving negative reviews or feedback on blog posts can make the upcoming posts better. You may wonder how. You can use negative comments to analyze what your clients want to read about. Create content that your readers demand. Look at which blog posts received the most engagement and continue to post more content on the same. Target topics that are trending, the ones that people need awareness about. Receiving negative comments can also be seen as a form of engagement.

Bad Reviews Create Buzz

Many brands have actually gained popularity through negative comments and have had more sales due to the same reason. Bad reviews can create a buzz about a brand, increasing product awareness in return and increasing sales. Remember the phrase ‘negative attention is still attention’?

A pizzeria from California called Botto Bistro has preferred the concept of negative comments as their brand awareness strategy. They are giving people 50% off on any pizza they order in exchange for one-star reviews. The reason they started this was to fight back against manipulative reviews. The effect of this strategy has been quite positive for them with a ton of publicity posts over social media inviting more and more people to actually visit the bistro and check out if the pizzas are actually worth one-star.

Another example of using a bad review for self-gain is by ‘Snowbird Ski and Summer Resort’ in Utah, U.S.A. They received a ‘deadly’ one-star review with complaints about their ski courses being tough. This is exactly what Snowbird resort decided to use for their ad campaign. Instead of being concerned or negatively bothered about the dreadful review, they used it as an advertisement to buzz around the internet. People found humor in it and also the fact that passionate skiers would see their advanced courses as an advantage to show off their skills.

Image source: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/when-1-star-review-turns-5-star-ad-campaign-brad-cooper/

There are several ways that you can combat negative reviews.

• Firstly, if your brand receives negative comments there is no need to panic. You should publish/keep your bad reviews to build transparency among your customers.
• It’s natural to have unhappy customers, but it’s important to reply to bad comments publically. In this way, your potential customers may read the reviews and get insights into your brand for responsibly handling all kinds of customers’ reviews.
• Customers pay attention to how you react to problems and mistakes, and they remember the results and reply comments. The best way to ensure your customers are happy even after a bad review is by posting follow-up comments or messages. Customers will be grateful for your commitment and will ultimately remember a positive experience out of a bad review.
• You can always collect data and learn from all the negative comments you receive to resolve any core issues that your customers may have.
• Collect as many reviews as you can, both negative and positive. Make the review process mobile-friendly so that you can collect more reviews.

Hope this helps you to manage the negative comments and reviews effectively. If you have any other ideas or suggestions to combat bad comments, let us know in the comment section.