THE SECRET IS BEING PREPARED
In a crisis, the social media can be even harder to manage than the press and broadcast media.
While both can destroy reputations in the blink of an eye, it’s much easier to rebut or deny a distorted newspaper report than it is to control a social media crisis.
If you operate a consumer brand, it’s essential to monitor the social media and have an action plan in place to cope with a potential crisis.
DON’T BURY YOU HEAD IN THE SAND
The frightening thing is that many prominent consumer brands still have their heads in the sand when it comes to social networking sites.
Because they don’t monitor social sites, they don’t know about negative comments and, when they are alerted, it is often too late to avert a crisis. It’s vital to know when to speak out and when to say silent.
To stay ahead of the game, brands should have a social media crisis management plan so that communications staff know in advance what action to take in the event of online criticism, harsh comments or a full-blown crisis breaking.
MONITORING THE SOCIAL MEDIA
Real time social media monitoring is essential but so too is having communications staff on hand to respond quickly thus avoiding situations getting out of hand.
There is little point in having great monitoring tools if it takes two or three days to respond.
Social media crisis management is very much part of great customer service but it must also form an important chapter in your crisis management plan.
We operate in the social media day and daily and our experienced crisis management team are the people to trust in a social media crisis.