How do you manage public feedback and comments?

1 Set clear goals and guidelines

Before you invite or respond to public feedback and comments, you need to have a clear idea of what you want to achieve and how you want to communicate. Do you want to inform, educate, persuade, or entertain your audience? Do you want to encourage dialogue, debate, or action? Do you have a specific tone, style, and voice for your brand? Having clear goals and guidelines will help you craft your messages, select your channels, and measure your results.

2 Monitor and analyze feedback and comments

You can't manage what you don't measure. That's why you need to monitor and analyze the feedback and comments you receive from your publics. You can use various tools and methods to track and evaluate the volume, sentiment, source, and impact of the feedback and comments. This will help you identify trends, issues, opportunities, and threats, as well as adjust your strategy and tactics accordingly.

3 Respond promptly and appropriately

One of the key principles of public relations is to respond to feedback and comments in a timely and appropriate manner. This shows that you care about your audience, respect their opinions, and value their input. However, not all feedback and comments require the same level of response. You need to prioritize and categorize them based on their relevance, urgency, and tone. For example, you may want to thank positive feedback, correct factual errors, address complaints, ignore trolls, or escalate crises.

4 Be transparent and authentic

Another important principle of public relations is to be transparent and authentic in your communication. This means that you should be honest, accurate, and consistent in your messages, as well as acknowledge your mistakes, limitations, and challenges. You should also be respectful, empathetic, and courteous in your interactions, and avoid being defensive, aggressive, or sarcastic. Being transparent and authentic will help you build credibility, trust, and loyalty with your audience.

5 Learn and improve

Finally, you should always learn from the feedback and comments you receive and use them to improve your public relations efforts. You should analyze the feedback and comments to identify what works and what doesn't, what are the strengths and weaknesses of your communication, and what are the needs and expectations of your audience. You should also solicit feedback and comments from your internal and external stakeholders, such as your employees, partners, customers, or media. By learning and improving, you can enhance your public relations performance and outcomes.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?