Over half of brands (55.5%) do not not have an effective strategy in place to deal with negative comments on social networks, according to a recent report from Social Media Marketing University (SMMU).

Some 24.5% of brands are in the process of developing a strategy for dealing with negative comments, 7.6% have strategies in place that are proving to be ineffective, and 23.4% do not have a strategy in place and do not have plans to develop one, the study found.

The report was based on data from a survey of 1,036 marketers, social media strategists, C-Level executives, and entrepreneurs.

Other key findings:

• 26.1% of respondents say their brand's reputation has been tarnished as a result of negative social media posts, 15.2% have lost customers, and 11.4% have lost revenue.
• 58.2% of brands receive customer complaints via social media occasionally, 10.9% receive them somewhat often, and 4.9% receive them very often.
• Only 17.6% of brands strive to respond to customer complaints on social media within an hour. Most (52.2%) respond within 24 hours, and 21.4% percent rarely or never respond.