Is your brand prepared to manage a crisis on social media? It should be.
A "crisis" can be any event that negatively impacts your brand's reputation — and when they hit, you often have little to no warning.
And with social media moving at lightning speed, effective crisis management can be the difference between a few negative comments and a viral boycott.
Here are five steps to handling your social media channels during a crisis
1: Create a Social Media Crisis Policy
Before creating your social media crisis policy, it's essential to identify what qualifies as a crisis.
For example, you won't need a full-blown response every time a disgruntled customer tags you, but it's vital to recognise a problem before it escalates too far.
Brainstorm with your team to discuss when something should be flagged as a potential crisis and escalated to the relevant decision-makers.
Make sure to identify who those decision-makers will be well in advance. It's critical to choose those who have experience working in communications, as they'll be responsible for crafting a response strategy.
By confirming this in advance, you'll save precious time when implementing your action plan.
When sensitive issues arise, it can also help to have a revised approval process in place. But, again, knowing what this sign-off process looks like in advance can save you valuable time and make sure nothing slips through the net.
2: Pause All Campaigns and Scheduled Posts
When a potential crisis has been flagged, pause all advertising campaigns and scheduled posts (temporarily) until you are ready to reply.
There's nothing worse than appearing insensitive or sales when the moment calls for a more diplomatic response.
Plus, it's better to be a little late to the party with the right message than find yourself sharing pre-scheduled content that further fuels an adverse reaction from your audience.
3: Read the Room and Assess the Impact
During a crisis, the best thing you can do is take a quick beat to "read the room."
If it's a larger scale event, such as a global or cultural movement, take the time to observe what's being said online.
If it's an internal situation, take stock of the scenario, consider all the possible implications, and revisit any previous communications (if applicable) that you can you learn from.
While a timely response is vital, you don't want to miss the mark on your first message -- it's what most people will remember.
4: Workshop Your Response
Once you've had a moment to assess the situation, you can start workshopping a timely response.
While it's important not to rush and regret, you typically want to respond within 24 hours.
When approaching conversations on your social channels, check your mindset. The key is to listen and let your audience know that you value their opinions and appreciate their feedback.
It may feel natural to take a defensive stance, but this can often do more harm than good -- generating more criticism and negativity.
5: Create Actionable Steps to Address the Problem
You've dealt with the crisis, and things are settling down on social media -- panic over.
But now it's time for the follow-through.
Successful crisis management means being transparent with your audience and actively communicating changes within your company.
This means going beyond an apology or shifting content for the week -- you'll need to dig deeper.
Most people don't expect a brand to change overnight, but savvy audiences increasingly demand accountability from the brands they support or purchase from.
Managing any crisis on social media can be stressful. But being prepared with the right action plan means you can respond swiftly and get back your peace of mind.
Take the time to solidify your crisis plan today, so your brand is ready for whatever comes tomorrow.