Should writers respond to comments on Facebook Ads? #WriterWednesday #AuthorToolboxBlogHop #BookMarketing
All writers know we shouldn’t respond to negative reviews no matter how strong the temptation is to explain yourself (or your book or your motivation) to the reader. But what about comments in general? Especially those pesky negative ones. Should a writer respond to those? In specific, what about comments on Facebook ads? These ads look like any other post in your Facebook timeline, which means viewers are free to like, comment, and even share. And comment they do.
How should you the writer respond to such comments? Ignore them? Delete them? Respond? Here’s my lawyerly answer: it depends on the comment.
Positive Comments. I’m a big believer in responding to positive comments. You never know where it will lead. You may turn a potential reader into a super fan. There’s no need to think up some fancy response to each positive comment. I use the same standard response – just to let the reader know I saw the comment and appreciate her.
Questions. It doesn’t happen a lot, but you will get questions about the book. Make sure to check your Facebook notifications often in case the question is about different versions of the book. I often get questions about the availability of the book in other markets or other formats. I respond to those quickly – before the potential reader loses interest!
The Nasty Comments. This is a no brainer. Nasty comments that have nothing to do with your book can and should be deleted. The tagline for my novel Searching for Gertrude is: How far would you go for the woman you love? When I use this tagline for my Facebook ads, I inevitably get some man responding with a comment like: Not far at all! I have no compunction about deleting these types of comments. The comment has nothing to do with my book. Delete. Delete. Delete.
Negative Comments About The Book. Whether these should be deleted or not, is more difficult to answer. Many writers will tell you to delete them as you are paying for an advertisement and this is not helping you market your book. I, however, think differently. I believe potential readers have a right to hear what other people are saying. I also am well aware of readers now being cautious about buying books that only have raving reviews. (I admit – I’m one of those readers. Twenty reviews and all five-stars? Someone’s got a lot of awesome friends is what I think.) But should you respond to such comments? I have decided not to. I just leave them, hoping potential readers don’t take them too seriously.
As should be obvious from the above, you can’t simply make a Facebook ad and then forget about it. How do you respond to comments on your ads?
~~~~
This blog post is part of the #AuthorToolboxBlogHop. This is a monthly blog hop hosted by @raimeygallant. Make sure to stop by the other author blog posts in this month’s blog hop to fill up your author toolbox! Just click on the graphic to take you to the list.
I saw a marketing video where the host said you should respond to positive comments on Facebook ads and ask them if they wouldn’t mind leaving a review if they liked it. Seemed like a pretty cool idea 🙂 (I’m still on the fence whether Facebook, or ads, will be worth the investment though. More research is needed!)
I haven’t asked anyone to leave a review but everyone keeps telling me to try it. Maybe I will…
In practice I might feel a bit awkward about it, but it seemed like good advice 🙂
I saw the same marketing video as Louise! (Or maybe just something similar.) It helps if you add the link to where they should add the review…
As for replying to comments: I don’t feed Trolls. They’re a lot like Gremlins.
Ronel visiting for Author Toolbox day: <a href="http://www.ronelthemythmaker.com/the-one-atozchallenge-authortoolboxbloghop/"The One…
My coding skills aren’t up to scratch today…
The One…
Okay. Okay. I’ll try it. You’ve persuaded me.
I’d probably want to delete them. You make a great point. Unless they’re nasty, I guess it’s a good idea to think about leaving them. Some negative reviews about anything has never turned me away if I’m interested in something.
Good to see how other authors approach reviews and comments. I, too, NEVER respond to negative reviews, nor do I post replies that can appear defensive or aggressive. There is nothing to gain from this. I DO reply to positive comments on FB, and I will answer questions as long as they don’t spiral into lengthy threads.
As far as FB ads being worth it, I’ve found (to a point) they basically pay for themselves if you keep a close eye on your expenses. I’d rather spend money selling books even if I end up breaking even. It’s better than spending little/no money and selling very few books. My profits are still minimal, but at least I’m building readers.
Interesting post. I’ve never done a Facebook ad. 🙂
Anna from elements of emaginette
You make a good point; I think it’s important to be open and honest, so I wouldn’t delete comments that were negative about the book unless they were vulgar or offensive.
This is so interesting! I haven’t been as in touch with how facebook works in several years. I will get back into it, but I’m not in a rush. Definitely going to share this on Facebook!
P.S. I’m just trying to make sure that my monthly email reminders about the hop are landing in everyone’s inboxes. If you received this month’s email, would you mind shooting me a quick email to let me know? Thanks! And, again, great post!
Excellent advice. There are a lot of horror stories out there when an author responds to negative comments. Your advice is excellent.
Susan Says
Thank you. And thanks for stopping by
While I’m not at the stage of doing ads for myself, I have sometimes commented or shared other peoples. Sometimes I’ve had a response, sometimes I haven’t. C’est la vie.
Interesting. Probably the really big authors don’t have time to respond to every single comment. I’m not at that stage yet.