Just another day at the office, until it isn’t: a social media crisis strikes your organization.
In a recent webinar, October Social Media founder and president, Sabrina Merritt, shared her experience with handling an online crisis. Here are the key steps to take before, during, and after a crisis.
Be proactive before the storm hits
Preparation creates confidence and Merritt suggests preparing for any future crisis now.
Some recommendations are to create a FAQ document for anyone who may be involved on the response team, setting up Google alerts and social listening tools to put potential problems on your radar, and talking with IT and leadership about logistics.
When the crisis hits the fan
The first step is to judge if the online activity has reached, or has the potential to reach, the level of impacting the brand’s reputation. If yes, then it’s officially a crisis.
Next, determine if the crisis happened overnight or if it’s been a slow build. That could determine how you respond.
Once you’re in crisis mode, it’s key to first gather research, even if the temptation is to immediately act. Merritt says to examine these areas:
The event: What happened? (when, who appears to be involved, why)
Customers/trolls responses: What are people upset about?
How are they demonstrating anger: Posting, commenting, Facebook groups
Report the situation
Summarize the situation in an easily digestible report and send it to the appropriate parties. The report should include a synopsis of how the crisis developed, why it’s impactful, screenshots of illustrative comments, the reach it’s gaining, and a recommendation for next steps.
You can also include drafts of public statements for social media that leadership can review. The aim is to make sure the message is consistent across all the organization’s communications and your own social channels.
Take action and continue to monitor
Once you agree on a plan of action, it’s imperative to stay organized. Set up an hourly check-in schedule to see what has developed. Provide updates on a regular basis and document new hashtags and problematic users.
As the crisis subsides (and it will) form a plan to begin changing the narrative. Create posts and engage with content that will begin to bury the negative and spark the positive. It’s crucial not to let the waste simmer on your pages. However, make sure the crisis is no longer burning when you pivot, or it will seem like you’re avoiding the situation — which is not a good look.
Debrief once you’re past the situation
Conduct an audit of what worked well and what could be improved. Hopefully you won’t have to endure another crisis, but if you do, you’ll be even better prepared.