Love Your Haters: A Guide for Franchise Marketing Teams to Deal With & Defeat Internet Trolls

Every franchise brand will eventually encounter internet trolls. Here's how to identify the 8 most common types—and respond to each with professionalism, humor, and smart strategy.

Internet Troll #1: The Provocative Commenter

Trolling Strategy: This social media troll makes exaggerated or inflammatory statements to provoke an emotional reaction. These are often insults, hyperbolic claims, or baiting statements meant to spark controversy.

Example: "Your food is garbage and I can't believe anyone buys this crap!"

Franchise Marketing Response:

• Don't engage emotionally: Acknowledge their commentary, but don't escalate. Keep responses factual and calm.
• Redirect to solution: "We're sorry you feel that way. Can you please DM us with details, so we can help resolve the issue?"
• Block or delete: If the troll continues, don't hesitate to block or delete their comment to maintain a positive environment on your profile.

Internet Troll #2: The Attention Seeker

Trolling Strategy: Some internet trolls just want attention, whether through exaggerated praise, complaining, or simply getting a reaction. They may ask provocative questions or demand responses.

Example: "Your always posting this stuff. So cringe!"

Franchise Marketing Response:

• Avoid feeding the troll: Sometimes, it's best to simply ignore these people.
• Polite acknowledgment: A light, polite, carefree response can sometimes de-escalate a situation. "Thanks for your feedback, we appreciate your thoughts!"
• Redirect: Offer them an opportunity to engage in a meaningful conversation privately.
• Correct: Let them know that you do, in fact, offer variety in your content. Provide examples! And if there's a grammatical error in their critique, correct them. 😉

Internet Troll #3: The Repetitive Complainer

Trolling Strategy: This type of social media troll keeps posting the same complaint over and over again to create frustration and drown out other voices.

Example: "I'm STILL waiting for my refund, it's been 3 weeks!" repeated multiple times.

Franchise Marketing Response:

• Address the complaint directly: Provide a clear, concise update on the situation.
• Take the conversation offline: Invite them to reach out via direct message or email for better resolution.
• Use automated responses: If the same complaint is repeated often, set up an FAQ or automated response addressing common issues.

Internet Troll #4: The Sarcastic "Expert"

Trolling Strategy: These internet trolls position themselves as experts, often acting condescendingly to undermine your authority, services or products.

Example: "Yeah, that's real cute. Maybe if you actually knew what you were doing, you wouldn't need this ad."

Franchise Marketing Response:

• Keep it real: While it might be challenging to remain polite, we suggest you do so while also keeping your response focused on facts.
• Invite constructive conversation: "We appreciate your expertise! Feel free to share suggestions on how we can improve."
• Don't lower yourself to sarcasm: Acknowledge your own expertise without getting drawn into their tone. You'll be factually correct and your maturity may annoy them.

Internet Troll #5: The Obsessive Critic

Trolling Strategy: A wise woman once asked, "why you so obsessed with me?" 🎵Have you thought that yourself? That's because these internet trolls continuously criticize your business, often going beyond simple complaints to undermine your credibility entirely.

Example: "I had a horrible experience here last year, and I'll never recommend you to anyone!"

Franchise Marketing Response:

• Respond professionally: Acknowledge their experience and offer to rectify it.
• Showcase social proof: Highlight positive reviews from other customers to balance the conversation.

Internet Troll #6: The False Information Troll

Trolling Strategy: These social media trolls spread false or misleading information, in order to confuse or mislead your potential customers.

Example: "They use low-quality ingredients in their products—do your own research!"

Franchise Marketing Response:

• Correct with facts: Gently correct the misinformation, providing facts and links to reliable sources so they can do their own research!
• Stay factual: Keep your tone neutral and avoid being defensive. Followers are more likely to side with straight facts here.

Internet Troll #7: The Guilt Tripper

Trolling Strategy: These social media trolls try to manipulate emotions by presenting themselves as morally superior, trying to shame the business into a certain response.

Example: "It's really sad that you can't even answer your customers. You should be ashamed of yourselves!"

Franchise Marketing Response:

• Stay calm: Acknowledge their concern when you can, but don't let them guilt you into responding under pressure in the moment.
• State your position: "We're sorry if we missed your message. We're committed to providing great service and will respond as soon as we can!"
• Set expectations: Be transparent about your response times, products, services, and more.

Internet Troll #8: The Humorist/Troll with Memes

Trolling Strategy: They use humor, memes, or mocking to belittle your brand or business while fancying themselves comedians. This is often a tactic to make your brand seem out-of-touch or embarrassing.

Example: Posting a meme mocking your logo or recent campaign.

Franchise Marketing Response:

• Play along carefully: If it's lighthearted, sometimes responding with humor can humanize your brand. Duolingo pretty much sets the gold standard here!
• Don't let it devolve: Avoid getting caught in a meme war or responding too much.
• Shift back to professionalism: "Glad you find it funny! We take customer feedback seriously and would love to help if there's anything else we can assist with."

Key Strategies When Getting Trolled on Social Media:

1. Don't engage immediately: If you sense a troll, take a moment to collect your thoughts. Responding out of frustration can escalate the situation.
2. Take the conversation offline: Whenever possible, move the conversation to private messages or emails.
3. Maintain a positive tone: Your response should always be professional and empathetic, even if the other person isn't.
4. Encourage feedback: Invite genuine suggestions, and if the troll has a real issue, resolve it behind the scenes.
5. Leverage Positive Feedback: Highlight happy customers who leave genuine praise. This can counterbalance negative comments and promote positive social proof.
6. Use Humor (When Appropriate): Humor can defuse tension, but be cautious—it can easily backfire if not handled well. Know your brand's voice and whether it's appropriate to respond in kind.

When small businesses are empowered to recognize and respond to internet trolling effectively, they create a more positive, supportive online environment. Eventually, your trolls will leave you alone . . . Or who knows? They may come out to support you (publicly) as your brand's #1 fan! 😍