Your Social Media (In A) Crisis FAQ

Yesterday’s post marked the one hundredth post to my blog!

Since 100 posts is a lot of content to sort through, I thought it would be a good idea to take the most commonly asked questions about all aspects of using social media in your crisis management, and to provide a brief answer to them, along with a link (or several!) to different posts within my blog answering each topic more thoroughly. Kind of like a directory of sorts for your most frequently asked social media crisis related questions!

Editor’s note: As you may have noticed, this post dates back to 2012. Since then, things have changed. For instance, social media has evolved into becoming common, run-of-the-mill, everyday communication platforms. Since the integration of social media into every aspect of our lives (from personal to professional to business), there is no longer such thing as a social media crisis!

While the suggested links below remain relevant, please remember that it’s important to define the difference between a crisis and an issue for your organization, and that most “social media crises” are viral issues. Not crises. You’ll notice that I crossed out some instances of the term “social media crisis” below, to help provide you with a better understanding (though I didn’t cross them all out, just out of sheer laziness, due to the age of this post!).

Following are some links to more recent articles and videos, that touch on these topics:

Is There Such Thing as a Social Media Crisis?
What’s the Difference Between Managing an Online Crisis vs. an Offline Crisis?
How To Define a Crisis For Your Organization
How To Manage a Live-Streamed Crisis
How to Balance Timeliness and Accuracy in Your Crisis Response
Free Issue Management Response Flowchart

Your social media in crisis FAQ

Q: Do you have any case studies I can learn from?

Some great examples of crisis management (and mismanagement) can be found here.

Q: How do I know if I’m in a social media crisis viral issue?
There are two factors that can easily help you determine whether or not you’re facing a full-on social media crisis a viral issue: a spike in negative mentions about your brand/product/service/etc + loss of control.

Top 8 Signs Your Brand is Under Social Media Attack
How to Regain Control in a Social Media Crisis

Q: What is a social media crisis plan crisis preparedness program ?
A social media crisis plan is a crisis communications plan that you develop before you find yourself faced with a social media crisis. A thorough social media crisis plan should assess each and every possible risk that social media presents to your company, a contingency plan for each risk, training for your staff and spokespeople, a social media crisis policy and more.

More recent articles/videos:
What Is A Crisis Preparedness Program?
How to Develop a Crisis Preparedness Program
How To Socialize Your Crisis Management Plan

Links from 2012
What is a Social Media Crisis Plan and Why Do You Need One?
Interview: Why Social Media Crisis Management is Critical to Your Brand
How Often Should You Revise Your Social Media Crisis Plan?
Questionnaire: Should Your Company or Organization Invest in a Social Media Crisis Plan?
What to Include Within Your Social Media Crisis Policy

Q: How and when should I respond to a social media crisis viral issue?
Your first response to the crisis should be made within minutes of you discovering that the crisis exists. Your first response should simply say that you are aware of the situation, that you’re looking into it and that you will get back to them (your audience, the victims, the public) as soon as you know more.

Your official response should be released/published as soon as you have all answers regarding the crisis – and this should be done as soon as physically possible.

Recent flowchart you will find helpful: Free Issue Management Response Flowchart

Links from 2012
How to Respond to a Crisis: The First Step in Regaining Control of a Social Media Crisis
How Soon Should You Respond to a Social Media Crisis?
FAQ Your Way Through a Social Media Crisis
Real-Time is Now a Social Media Crisis Standard
How to Use Social Media to Communicate Your Message in a Crisis

Q: Where and how should I respond to a social media crisis viral issue?
The general rule of thumb is to respond on the same platform that the crisis broke out on, respond honestly, sincerely and promptly.

How to Respond to a Twitter Attack
How to Respond to a Facebook Attack
How to Respond to a YouTube Attack
Your Quick Guide to Using Social Media in a Crisis

Q: I’m a small company, do I really need to invest in a social media crisis plan?
The good thing about social media is that it levels the playing field. It provides all companies and organizations with the same possibilities and opportunities. The bad thing about social media is that it also provides all companies and organizations with the same risk! No matter the size of your brand, it is absolutely within your best interest to invest in a targeted social media crisis plan – and ideally, it should be put at the top of your to-do list.

What is a Social Media Crisis Plan and Why Do You Need One?
How Powerful Can One Unhappy Customer Truly Be?

Q: My company/organization has already invested in a crisis communications plan, do we really need to add social media crisis communications to it?
Today, it is rare for a crisis (even the ones that break out on mainstream media) to not find its way to social media. Social media is where the news happens and people talk, vent, complain and share. If your crisis plan does not have a social media crisis communications aspect to it, then don’t fool yourself, you are NOT prepared for a crisis!

Interview with Jane Jordan-Meier: The Four Stages of Highly Effective Crisis Management
Interview: Why Social Media Crisis Management is Critical to Your Brand
Are You Ready for a Social Media Disaster?

Q: When should I start monitoring the discussions and mentions around my brand?
Yesterday. Whether you’re active on social media or not, your customers and market are. If you aren’t actively monitoring what your customers and market are saying about your brand online, how do you ever expect to be able to detect a crisis (or detect sales and lead opportunities) in real-time?

What is Social Media Monitoring?
What Type of Social Media Monitoring Should I be Doing?
Top 8 Signs Your Brand is Under Social Media Attack
5 Secrets to Becoming a Super Social Media Monitor 

Q: I don’t get many mentions in a week, do I still need to invest time in social media monitoring?
No matter how big, small, popular or unpopular your brand, social media monitoring is crucial and is a must-do for every single company and organization dealing with customers or clients today.

How to Know If You Need a Social Media Monitoring Team
The Best Social Media Monitoring Tools For Your Brand
Social Media Monitoring Tools Reviewed: Twilert

Q: How should I respond to negative comments being posted about my company online?
First it depends if they’re negative comments, or unacceptable comments. The former should always be responded to (never deleted) and should be taken as an opportunity. The latter are unacceptable and need to be deleted.

5 Proper Ways to Respond to Negative Criticism Online
When to Move on From Engaging in Negative Comments
When is it Acceptable to Delete Comments Posted to Your Social Media Channels?
Interview: How to Deal with Sockpuppets and Other Forms of Negative Criticism
When Should You Take Negative Criticism Or Discussions Offline?
6 Steps to Correcting Online Rumors About Your Brand
There is Such Thing as Bad Publicity 

Q: What are some great social media crisis related case studies that I can learn from?
There are tons of great social media crisis case studies for you to learn from. Both the successes and the failures prove to be great learning tools for strategic ways to strengthen your social media crisis plan even further.

Check out this link for a list of some really great social media crisis case studies

Q: Do I need to prepare all of my employees for a social media crisis?
Absolutely. Every single employee of yours has a social graph and access to social media channels – whether it’s their own personal ones or your company’s. For this reason, every employee needs to be empowered in a crisis, as well as needs to clearly understand what their role is and what is expected of them. Not empowering them will lead to more stress and, quite possibly, more crises.

How to Empower Your Employees for a Social Media Crisis
6 Features to Include Within Your Internal Communications Platform
The Employee’s Guide to Social Media Crisis Management
To CEO or Not? Who Makes The Best Spokesperson in a Crisis 

To the next 100 posts!

A sincere thank you to all of you, my fabulous readers, for your continued support, readership and the many stimulating conversations we share here and across our many other social platforms! I sincerely hope that these past 100 posts have provided you with great resources, tools and strategies for helping you protect your company or organization from the threat of a social media crisis; and may the next 100 continue to provide you with that same, if not more, value!

Here’s to you and the next 100 posts!

Have any social media crisis related questions or struggles that you’re dealing with? Something you’d like for me to address in a blog post? Leave me your requested topics and issues below!