The dawn of social media has taken bullies from schoolyards to the comment section on YouTube and, without a doubt, has transformed a lot of people into trolls too. It seems there’s no pleasing the people of the internet. No matter what you do, there will always be someone out there in the comment section whose mission is to take you down.

YouTube haters can do more than simply ruin your day, they can also cause some serious damage to your brand image — one offensive comment at a time.

Experts say brands and businesses can’t afford to miss out on the marketing opportunities and benefits YouTube has to offer. YouTube managed to garner more desktop visits than search giant Google in 2016, which proves just how powerful it can be as a marketing platform. What can you do when faced with persistent negativity from users you can’t even identify?

Handling YouTube haters can be a lot easier than you think and contrary to popular belief, going on the defensive is not the best way to control the situation. Learning how to take control of a situation involving a hateful tirade from an anonymous user can help you keep your brand image intact.

How To Spot A YouTube Hater

Contrary to popular belief, not all YouTube haters are the same. There are some who are motivated to negatively rant on your videos due to a bad customer experience, while others are just plain trolling.

It’s easy to assume that a scornful ex-customer is a lot harder to handle than a troll when in fact, it’s the complete opposite. It should usually be a lot easier to figure out what motivates a past customer, and provide them with the assistance they need to make them sing a different — and hopefully more positive — tune.

Trolls, on the other hand, are a lot more challenging to pacify because there’s no telling what motivates their hateful comments, other than their relentless thirst to spread negativity on the internet. You can’t fix their problems.

Ex-customers are just brand evangelists waiting to happen — all it takes is kickass customer service.

Hateful comments on YouTube are usually offensive and aggressive in nature. By being overly aggressive, the commenter depends on shock value to gain attention.

Image credit: The Daily Dot

Once you spot a hateful comment, don’t go on the defensive immediately. As the channel owner, it’s your job to distinguish a plain hurtful comment from a harsh truth

Yes, there’s something to learn from critical commenters on YouTube. You should learn to take all comments into account to better improve your services, products, and brand.

But if you’re dealing with a troll who’s on a hate tirade, you need to act fast so the negativity won’t spread in the comment section. In most cases people will ignore trolls, but you want to be aware and act quickly so you can manage the problem.

The best way to nip a problem like this in the bud is by acting fast and taking control of the situation.

How To Handle YouTube Haters

Hateful comments can be overwhelming, even for brands. Your course of action should depend on the type of comment you receive.

Remember, blocking, deleting and turning off the comment section will only make you look guilty in the eyes of organic viewers. If you want to address the problem, you must learn to take the comment head-on – with a positive attitude.

Learn To Ignore

There are hateful comments on YouTube that are way too outrageous to be worth your time — like this ridiculous comment left on Beyonce’s 7/11 video.

Image credit: The Daily Dot

At some point or another, we all just have to accept the fact that we can’t please everyone. Learning to ignore an irrelevant comment from an anonymous troll is one of the fastest and easiest ways you can kill the hype before it gets anywhere. Because if Beyoncé can ignore a hater, so can you.

Rule With An Iron Fist

You have to remember that YOU are your channel’s administrator, not the trolls. You have to take control and learn to deal with hateful commenters before they get out of control.

Remember, you have the power to block repeat offenders if they’re being senselessly offensive to you and your viewers. Blocking these assholes for their outrageous behavior sends a strong message to the community that you don’t tolerate senseless hate.

Turn A YouTube Hater Into A Fan

A YouTube hater is just a brand evangelist waiting to happen. Don’t be afraid to talk to a YouTube hater to find out what’s causing them to act the way they do.

Sometimes, a YouTube hater is fueled by a bad customer experience. If this is the case, go the extra mile and improve their experience by reaching out and providing them with the assistance they need. Whatever you do, don’t say anything hurtful back. Fighting back may be satisfying but it shows unprofessionalism — especially from a brand.

If you play your cards right, you might just turn a YouTube hater into one of your biggest fans.

Create A Customer Service Video

You can use your channel and create content for it that will help improve your customer’s overall experience.

Publish informative videos that answer specific questions from your customers — because the more they know about your product, the less likely they are to run into any problems while using it.

Warby Parker is a brand that primarily sells their prescription eyewear and sunglasses online. Because they have a limited number of physical stores, they used the internet — YouTube, more specifically — to provide customer’s assistance through their channel WarbyParkerHelp.

Their videos feature employees showcasing their latest releases, from trying them on to showing all the angles to give customers a better view of their products.

Through their informative videos, customers can buy with confidence, knowing fully what to expect from their products. You can also make your videos more visible and appear more credible by purchasing a few thousand YouTube Views from a reputable provider.

Buying Views is the fastest and most efficient way to improve your online persona without overly exhausting all of your marketing resources.

Hug A YouTube Hater

YouTube haters are not the worst thing that could happen to your channel. In fact, they shouldn’t be a huge surprise if you’re at all popular. By learning how to handle the situation as a brand, you’re giving yourself an opportunity to maximize what YouTube has to offer as far as customer service goes.

As a brand channel owner, you should know how to classify a hateful comment — whether it’s coming from a place of frustration from past customers or just hate from normal trolls on the internet.

Once you’ve identified what motivates the hateful comment, you can come up with a strategy that will help manage the situation — either by blocking the troll and deleting their comment or reaching out to your hater to give them better assistance. You can even go as far as creating informative videos that will help raise brand awareness and decrease misuse of your products and services.

If you decide to create videos, you should pair them with an impressive number of bought views from a reputable provider. Buying YouTube Views can make your video appear more credible and watch-worthy in the eyes of organic users. This will draw in more and more people to watch your videos.

While there’s no absolute way to rid the internet of YouTube haters, there are plenty of ways you can pacify and manage them — through positive and earnest methods.