How To Deal With Negative Content in 2023

Another new year is on the way. You may not be able to know exactly what’s coming down the pipeline, but you can be sure that you’ll have to deal with negative content and social media comments.

Whether you’re managing a company or just another person whose life is more online than ever, negative feedback is a fact of life. And while 2023 will probably bring some new social networks to respond on, the basic strategies for good reputation management remain the same.

Read on to learn more about dealing with negative content effectively and how a company like BRANDefenders can help you!

So you’ve seen a negative review of your business. An untrue video that mentions your brand. Or someone keeps posting hurtful comments about you on your social media.

Your emotions are high, but thinking before you act is important. Your response can gain you back some trust or push you down even further.

Be The Bigger Person

Take a minute, take a deep breath, and maybe make a cup of tea. You’re right to be angry, especially if someone is saying something untrue or purposely being hurtful. But it’s important to be the adult here and take the high road.

When you’re just dealing with trolls, it’s probably best to block and move on. If the people attacking you have a recent social media account or don’t seem to have a real issue to bring up, hide or block them as appropriate.

If the person has a legitimate complaint, responding judiciously is especially important. Even if they’re a bit aggressive, they have a real issue that you need to address.

Apologize for the discomfort or inconvenience they’re dealing with. Try to figure out their issue exactly and what you can do to help or make them whole again.

Take A Break, But Not Too Long

Take a moment to calm down, but don’t let real complaints stew for too long. People expect big brands to respond on social media within an hour. While you may have a longer timeframe if you’re a small business or an individual, you don’t have forever.

If you’re handling a complaint on social media, responding quickly lets anybody else watching know you aren’t ignoring people with real issues. Reputation management also means reassuring customers you’ll handle their complaints.

But more importantly, the customer will feel cared for, even if their problem isn’t solved. Feeling like they’re being listened to and taken seriously can take a lot of sting out of someone’s complaint.

If you’re dealing with a customer complaint now, you’ll also have more ways to solve their problem or fix it before it gets worse.

It can help to keep templates on hand for responding to complaints. This can work to speed up response time and take the emotion out of posts.

Take It Offline, If Possible

It’s never fun or fruitful to fight in public, and responding to customer complaints through tweets or Facebook comments is just that. 

Gently suggest the customer email you or give you a call. This gives you a chance to deal with their complaint without any comments from the peanut gallery.

It’s also easy to misunderstand and talk past each other when you’re communicating in character-limited posts. An email or phone call will let you hear each other more clearly.

Even if you’re dealing with a personal issue, it’s better to take it to a more private venue. It’s never fun to fight over the phone, but it’s a lot better than doing it over the internet.

Responding in the moment is all about tactics, but you need a real strategy for reputation management and dealing with negative content online. Ultimately, when someone is researching you or your company, you want the bulk of what they find to be positive.

Developing a proactive strategy is where a lot of people struggle. It requires a holistic view of all your social media, active management, and even enlisting the law when appropriate. 

Keep A Stream Of Positive Content

Keep a stream of positive content, or many, if possible! If you have a company, this means keeping up a steady stream of posts on your social media. Flood Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, and YouTube with what you want people to know.

As we move into 2023, social media searches are becoming more important as search engines become less important. so this step can’t be skipped!

Consider keeping a professional blog, whether you’re an individual or a business. Multiple blog posts will help to push down any controversies or negative content hanging out there.

In the reputation management business, this strategy is known as “burying.” Most people, whether doing research on a job candidate or a business, don’t go beyond the first or second page of search engine results.

By producing plenty of positive hits for your name or business, you can push any negative content down or at least provide a more balanced picture.

Make The Law Work For You

While you won’t be able to remove everything, there are a few things you can get removed from the internet, depending on where you live.

If you live in the US, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) means internet sources are required to respond to “takedown requests” submitted by copyright holders regarding their copyrighted content.

If you see someone misusing your copyrighted information, file a takedown notice with the website. Be warned that someone is allowed to use your copyrighted material for satirical or educational purposes, legally known as “fair use.”

You have even more options if you live in the EU or have content stored there. The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) provides for a “Right to be forgotten.” This means if an organization no longer has a legitimate need for personally identifiable information, individuals can request that that information be deleted.

GDPR requires search engines and other organizations have a form to request the removal of information. The information, provided it is covered under GDPR, needs to be removed without any “undue delay,” which European courts have held to be about a month.

With either DMCA or GDPR, hiring a lawyer or reputation management firm will help make sure your requests result in removal.

Keep An Eye On Your Comments

It’s easy for your online comments to become a mess of negative content overnight, but you might not be aware if you don’t have good visibility of your social media accounts. You should always keep an eye on what people are posting about you.

Google and Yelp allow you to remove fake business reviews. And all social media companies allow you to flag abusive comments. Even if the law can’t help you, terms of service can.

You do want to be careful, though. Each social media service has different rules about what’s allowed. And if you keep making reports that don’t result in removal, future reports may be ignored.

But it can be hard to check in on your social media accounts and run your business and do everything else! That’s why you may need to consider enlisting some support.

The reasons above is why you need to consider enlisting a firm like BRANDefenders. With plenty of professionals and their decades of experience, they can help when it gets to be a little too much.

BRANDefenders has worked with brands and companies across the US and around the world. Our online reviews tell the story-customers are thrilled with our results.

Reputation Management Is A Lot Of Work

There are a lot of different fronts to effective brand management. What will a reputation firm do to improve your brand’s image that you can’t do yourself? 

First, we’ll work to get any negative content removed if possible. We have the tools and the resources to track and flag abusive or false comments.

Secondly, we’ll work to push negative content down. That can mean improving your website, setting up social media posts, or starting a blog that keeps your name in the news in a good way. 

A reputation management firm will also proactively manage your SEO. We’ll make sure your posts use the correct keywords and work to get you the backlinks that get you noticed (again, in a good way)!

With BRANDefenders helping to care for your online image, you can get down to work and focus on what you do best.

BRANDefenders: A Company You Can Trust

With BRANDefenders, you have a partner you can depend on for effective brand management. We have a dedicated team of professionals that can help to clean up your online image.

We also have the skills to boost your presence in multiple ways. You’re covered, whether it’s producing videos for social media or articles to shape up your SEO.

Get a free, no-obligation quote and see what BRANDefenders can do for you!