According to Wikipedia Troll describes a person who posts provocative, irrelevant, or off-topic messages to an online community with the primary intent of upsetting or eliciting an emotional response from users and readers. There are different kinds of trolls and it is important to know what is the best way to deal with them in each case, depending on the size of the company. The way you reply to a troll can affect your brand or reputation. So here are some tactics.
The first thing you have to do is analyze if it is a troll or someone who is unhappy with a service offered or product of the brand. In the second case, it will most likely be that he will shut up at the moment in which we offer him a solution and of course our apologies.
It is important that you know your followers and your market well. If you have seen that it is a troll, follow the following tips.
If you discover that there is a troll on your social networks:
- Never feed the trolls. By this I mean that you don’t have to play along with them so as not to give them the attention they are looking for. On the other hand, we do have to answer your comments, for which there are various tactics.
- Use a neutral tone and always positive your goal beingtalk out.
- Very carefully and tactically use humor. You have to do it in a very subtle way because a misunderstanding can cause negative reactions and lead to a crisis. What do you think of the Air Europa Community Manager’s tweet?
- If a troll is viralizing false information, the best thing to do is nip in the bud with facts. For example, in the case of the new IPhone 6 (famous hashtag #bendgate) he responded with a statement that the company admits that phones can bend, but that this does not happen with normal use of the Iphone. In the end Apple received only nine complaints and shared this information as well.
- don’t join them. The worst thing you can do is join them and behave in the same way because that’s how they’ll get away with it and you’ll destroy your brand’s reputation. There are companies that do do it with a certain tactic, but they are usually large companies and although they generate a lot of engagement with this tactic, they are in danger of a crisis. That is the case of Tesco Mobile, which let’s say that it practices ‘corporate trolling’, answering its followers in an almost offensive way in some cases. It is better that you answer perhaps with some sarcasm or irony but think carefully about what you are going to say before sending it.
- You should never take what a troll says personallyyou must relax, think about it very well and then answer.
- Don’t just delete commentsAnalyze the situation first. Deleting is the easiest but you will have to face the consequences because the troll will be able to argue against your brand that fact in addition to what he has already said. However, if his comments are offensive, you can hide behind the use policy of our page and delete those offensive comments.
- In the event that the attack becomes a crisisYou must follow the instructions determined in the crisis plan that must have been previously prepared. This is very important since the company must act according to the predetermined strategy at the communication level, defending the values ​​of the brand, image and of course credibility.
Have you had any bad experiences with a troll? Tell us! Thanks for sharing.
Via: Passionate about Social Networks
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