The social media crisis. So overwhelming. So controlling. So stressful. But it doesn’t have to be! Follow these 25 powerful tips and watch that crisis crumble to your mercy – and don’t forget the forgiveness and loyal following of your once angry customers!
- Speak! Don’t stay silent
- Confront the situation head on
- Don’t delete those negative comments
- Respond to each comment and complaint
- Be understanding, sincere and apologetic
- Build a loyal following before a crisis strikes
- Get all the facts before you release your official statement
- Release a detailed official statement
- Optimize your official statement for maximum reach
- Set up an FAQ that answers all possible questions about the crisis and your brand
- Respond in real-time
- Communicate with your staff
- Respond to the crisis on the same platform it broke out on
- Make every communication a two-way communication
- Don’t lose your cool – stay calm and focused on the end goal
- Understand that your customers are upset
- Clearly identify how you’re fixing the issue
- Explain how you will make sure the situation never happens again
- Give your advocates the opportunity to come to your defense
- Know which negative comments are not worth engaging with
- Never waver from your brand values or day-to-day message
- Regularly monitor the discussions around your brand (before, during and proceeding a crisis)
- Develop a social media crisis policy and make it accessible to all members of your staff
- Have a crisis team in place
- Understand the power of an apology
Special bonus tip: Document and analyze each event within the crisis
So there you have it! The 25 (+1) secrets to turning the tables on a crisis – taking the power away from the attacks and putting it right into YOUR hands!
Some strategies should be developed before a crisis, some during and some proceeding. But the important thing is to be prepared and capable of taking the negativity that comes with a social media crisis, and turning it into a positive opportunity for your business.
What secrets or tricks do you have up your sleeve for dealing with and overcoming a social media crisis? Share them with me below!
Author of Crisis Ready: Building an Invincible Brand in an Uncertain World, Melissa Agnes is a leading authority on crisis preparedness, reputation management, and brand protection. Agnes is a coveted keynote speaker, commentator, and advisor to some of today’s leading organizations faced with the greatest risks. Learn more about Melissa and her work here.
Responding in real time is the best advice out of these. If the customer don't get quick update about the situation he/she is frustrated and its quite bad for the reputation for your company.
Hi Bishwajeet,
Responding in real time is definitely one of the smartest things a company facing a social media crisis can do. You can tell a lot from a company's response time: how well they "get it", how well they listen and how much they care, to name a few.
Thanks for stopping by and leaving your comment!
While these are all *amazing* tips, I especially love #22. Monitoring can help prevent most negativity from getting too out of hand. Of course it can't prevent it all, but it can certainly nip the problem in the butt a lot quicker than usual.
When you mention having a crisis team in place, do you mean social media specialists or do you mean that company's should hire an additional team of experts?
Hi Morgan,
Monitoring is definitely a secret weapon that every company can easily equip themselves with – and should! And for those instances where you can't prevent the crisis, at least you're capable of detecting it early on, which means resolving it as quickly as possible.
Great question! A crisis team means something different to each company, depending on their size and needs. For small brands and brands-of-one (personal brands like ours ;)) I'm referring to the individual who's responsible for monitoring and dealing with a crisis. For bigger brands it could be a team of monitors and a communicator responsible for addressing a crisis, should one occur. Depending on the size and needs of the company, a team could consist of an internal team or an agency or firm. The important thing is that every company, no matter their size should have a team in place (whatever that means for them) who understands their roles within a crisis and what's expected of them, and obviously how to handle one.
I hope this answers your question! I've got a great post that explains this in even more detail if you're interested: http://agnesday.com/how-to-know-if-you-need-a-soc…
Thanks for the great comment and question, Morgan!