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Prompt: writing the reply to a public complaint

Three versions of the same reply, so you can choose with a cool head instead of writing with a hot one.

By Redação Swonkie

Equipa editorial

2026-08-18

I will paste a negative public comment about the brand. Before writing anything, classify it: a
fair criticism, a misunderstanding, or provocation with no request in it.

Then write three possible replies:
1. Short, public, acknowledging and offering a concrete path
2. Short, public, correcting a wrong fact without sarcasm
3. No reply at all, with the reason why not replying is better

Rules: never "we're sorry you feel that way". No explanation longer than two sentences. Never
promise anything I have not confirmed is possible.

At the end, say which of the three you recommend and why.

The mistake that turns one comment into twenty is replying fast and in the same tone. This prompt exists to put a gap between reading and writing, and to put silence on equal footing with the other options.

The banned phrase is not an accident: "we're sorry you feel that way" moves the problem onto the person complaining, and is read that way by everyone passing by.

How to use it

Paste the comment and the facts you actually know. Without facts, reply 2 comes out invented, which is the worst possible outcome.

Before publishing the reply

Read it out loud. If it sounds defensive, it is not ready.

See it in the product

Keep going

Prompts
Customer stories

2026-07-28

Prompt: find the objections hidden in your comments

The question that repeats ten times in the inbox is the piece of content missing from the site.

A month of comments holds the list of reasons people do not buy. Almost nobody reads it.

Read this profile's comments and messages from the last month and answer three things:

1. Which questions repeat? Group them by subject and say how many times each appeared.
2. Which objections show up, even when they are not phrased as questions? (price, trust, timing,
   complexity, "not for me")
3. What words do these people use to describe what they need? Quote them exactly.

Do not count compliments or thank-yous. Do not suggest answers: just show me what is there, with
real examples. If an objection appears only once, say it appeared only once.

Redação Swonkie

Equipa editorial

Read the full piece
Prompts
Publishing

2026-10-27

Prompt: the final check on a caption

If everything is fine, say everything is fine. A reviewer who always suggests something stops being read.

Seven checks before publishing. None of them is about grammar.

Check this caption before I publish. Go through these in order and answer each with "ok" or with
the concrete problem:

1. Does the first line work on its own, before "see more"?
2. Is the promise in the first line kept by the rest?
3. Is there any claim I could not back up if someone asked?
4. Can you tell what this is about without seeing the image or video?
5. Is there a clear ask at the end, and is it something you can do on this network?
6. Does any sentence need context only someone who works here has?
7. Is there anything an outsider could read as offensive?

Do not rewrite the caption. Point and explain. If everything is fine, say everything is fine
instead of inventing a suggestion.

Redação Swonkie

Equipa editorial

Read the full piece
Prompts
Strategy

2026-10-20

Prompt: the questions for a kick-off meeting with a client

No question whose answer is on the website. A kick-off is for what is written down nowhere.

The answers missing in month one are always the same. Asking them on day one saves weeks.

I am about to start managing a brand's social media. I will give you the industry, what it sells
and to whom.

Write the kick-off meeting questions, grouped into five blocks:
- business (what actually makes money, what is seasonal, what is changing)
- audience (who buys, who influences the purchase, who will never buy)
- voice (what the brand would never say, who signs off, which subjects are off limits)
- operations (who approves, on what deadline, who answers messages, who holds the access)
- success (what has to happen in three months for this to count as working)

Six questions per block maximum. Open questions, one thing at a time. No question whose answer is
on the brand's website.

At the end, name the three questions that, left unanswered, make the work impossible to do well.

Redação Swonkie

Equipa editorial

Read the full piece