Does the thought of a social media crisis frighten you? Does your company push it to the side and learn how to deal with it when the time comes? Having a planned strategy and a team with a can-do spirit can manage any crisis, even an online one. Our marketers at GCS Malta delve into a few tips that expert Julie Athertondiscusses in her book How to manage a social media crisis.
- Build a crisis team.
Establishing a team to manage such a crisis requires thought, planning and experience. The individuals in the group must previously work together before a problem. During an emergency, there will be panic and stress. The importance of having established a team that already have built working relationships will ensure the crisis is managed swiftly and effectively. The team should have trust already created, small in size, and limited hierarchy levels where each team member knows their role in such a crisis.
- Establish roles.
Make sure each team member is aware of their respective role and responsibility. First, decide on a spokesperson who will take responsibility and be humble and honest about the situation. Next, decide on the level and who is responsible for sign-off; for example, is the manager or managing director? In what cases is higher-level sign-off required?
- Content database.
Ensure you have a content database ready and easy to find in the event content is required to publish and tackle a crisis. Content should be neutral, clear and straightforward to avoid any further crisis emerging.
- Determine your social channels.
It would be best to determine which social channels will portray your message credibly and consistently. It should include the channel where the crisis is mainly occurring. Such channels include:
- Twitter – where journalists and traditional media outlets are highly active,
- Instagram – where influencers and celebrities have large followings and actively participate, and
- Facebook has a vast reach and is often the go-to channel of choice for news for large public sections.
- The tone of voice and measurement.
Your tone of voice needs to align with your brand image but incorporate empathy, human consideration and honesty.
It is essential to establish if your crisis management is improving the situation. If it is causing more damage, specific measurement tactics need to identify the damage or wins of the case before it’s too late. For this, sentiment analysis, compliant levels, stock price, or a combination can measure the problem.
Social media is a highly vocal critical friend. When an organization continually listen, learns, and engages, its crisis management and reputation can only grow.
Why GCS Malta?
The marketing team at GCS Malta can aid your business in all your marketing needs and help you plan for a social media crisis. Contact us today for more information.
