We recently launched a high-budget ad campaign for a new SaaS product, and one "troll" comment has gained 200 likes, overshadowing our actual value proposition. Should we hide the comment, ignore it, or try to engage? I’m worried that hiding it will look like we are "censoring" feedback, but leaving it there is actively hurting our conversion rate on the landing page.
3 answers
Never ignore a viral negative comment on a paid ad. If it has that many likes, it’s "pinned" to the top by the algorithm. My rule is: if it's a legitimate complaint, answer it publicly with extreme empathy and a solution. If it's a "troll" (non-constructive/hateful), hide it immediately. However, since yours has 200 likes, hiding it now might cause a "Streisand Effect." Try "Killing with Kindness." Reply with a witty, data-backed response that disproves their point without being defensive. Often, if the brand's reply is good enough, the community will actually turn on the troll and start defending you.
Does your company have a "Community Guidelines" policy posted on your page? Sometimes having that public document gives you the legal/social cover to delete comments that violate specific rules.
Hiding comments should be the last resort. Use it only for spam, links to competitors, or hate speech. For everything else, treat it as an opportunity for PR.
Spot on, Helen. A brand that can take a joke or handle a critic gracefully always looks more "human" and trustworthy than one that operates behind a wall of deleted comments.
George, we do have one, but it's buried in our "About" section. Based on Patricia's advice, we decided to engage instead of deleting. We posted a video reply directly to the comment showing the software in action to disprove the troll's claim. Not only did the "hate" stop, but our CTR (Click-Through Rate) actually increased because people were curious to see the "drama" and stayed for the product demo!