The Steps to Managing a Social Media Crisis

We all fear the dreaded social media crisis, and it is important to have a clear cut policy in place when it comes to managing the situation.

Have you ever looked at your overall social business strategy and asked yourself if you have a clear-cut set of steps to follow in the event of a social media crisis? Few brands do. No one likes to think about the devastating social media crisis but it is imperative that we do. After all, we have all seen cases of brands that have no strategy in place and what that can lead to.

There are a few steps that need to be taken in order to effectively manage a social media crisis. How you handle a situation will, of course, be at your discretion. But before you act, take a step back, take a deep breath and follow these instructions.

1. Figure Out What Happened

In the American political system use of the word “coup” to describe civil unrest in another region has some pretty severe consequences. That is why, when something does break out, politicians are very hesitant to use the word. On a much, much smaller scale, you need to have the same approach to a social media crisis.

One or two negative reviews on Yelp! or Trip Advisor does not a crisis make. If you open your social profiles to find a few negative comments, figure out where they originated, to what they are referring and determine whether or not this constitutes a real social media crisis.

In the strategy you create for handling crises it’s crucial that you outline what constitutes a social media crisis. When something does erupt on your social channels, trace it back to the origin and determine if you need to be in full panic mode or if this is something that can be handled easily.

2. Assign Priority Steps

Now, for argument’s sake, let’s say this is a crisis of epic proportions. What you’ll need to do is determine the order of actions determined by priority. If a crisis has reached major news outlets, maybe a press release should take precedent before reaching out to your social audience. If you are facing a barrage of criticism on Facebook, maybe you should focus your efforts on quelling the situation there before moving on to less active networks.

One thing to keep in mind at this point is that there is a notable difference between social crisis and social media engagement.

When engaging with your audience on a day-to-day basis, you want to give equal attention to your most influential audience members as well as those with very few followers and little social clout. While it might seem like a harsh reality, the same does not hold true for crises. In a social media crisis, not every one of your followers can be treated equally. Of course, over time you are going to want to address all comments (or as many as possible) in order to maintain your brand’s integrity. But at the beginning stages, you are going to have to order your individual responses in terms of influence.

The repercussions of a major industry influencer tweeting that they despise your brand are far greater than the repercussions of the negative tweet from a user who created an account simply to spite you. Keep in mind that in the time of a crisis, it is not business as usual.

3. Determine Appropriate Responses

OK – so you have laid out the exact order in which you plan on responding to this crisis, now it’s time to decide how you are going to respond.

There are two ways to go about responding to the crisis: you can either be on the defense (not in the conventional sense), apologizing to your fans and assuring them that this will never happen again, or on the offense, defending your product and explaining, calmly and with a sound argument, why the crisis does not reflect your overall business. Let’s look at a few examples.

Defense

A little while back, Home Depot tweeted an image that was largely seen to be racist and tasteless. While the brand made it clear that it was a third party that was responsible for sharing the message, they had no choice but to take responsibility for what had happened and assure the public that this did not reflect the values of the brand.

This was a clear example of a crisis. And this probably did some damage to the brand’s integrity. But by owning up to the incident, explaining what had taken place and trying to fix it, people eventually forgave them.

Offense

Let’s preface this by saying that going on the offense in the event of a crisis is a 1-for-100 case. Rarely will your brand succeed by standing by your position, particularly when you are in the wrong. That said, when done correctly and, more importantly, under the right circumstances, it can be an excellent way of quelling a crisis.

During the most recent Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Under Armour came under fire when the American speed skating team, for whom Under Armour had designed the ‘fastest’ suits ever made, failed to win or even place.

Instead of apologizing and assuring the world that they would try harder on the next go around, Under Armour decided to defend their product and explain that they were not to blame. Essentially, the brand did not levy the blame elsewhere (as they easily could have) but instead stood by their product, explained the reality of the sport and came out on top, with more long-term contracts being signed in the aftermath.

Going on the offensive is a risky move. If it works it is bold and genius. If it flops, your brand may never recover. Make the choice wisely.

4. Assign Tasks

Now you know that it is a crisis, you know the priority of responding and you have determined how you want to respond. It’s time to assign tasks to different teams.

As noted above, a crisis is not business as usual. Your customer service team is on apology duty, your social media team is an engagement team and your PR team is reaching out to any and all services to try and prevent the story from growing any bigger. And keep in mind that all of this is happening in seconds. You need to assign tasks and roles.

Again, this is a feature that needs to be included in your crisis management strategy. Figure out who approves outgoing messages. Make sure your teams are all working toward a specific goal and not flying by the seat of their pants. Instinct might be a great thing when creating a new campaign, but a crisis requires knowledge and logic.

This is where the prioritization is going to be extremely valuable. When there is a checklist of items that a team is responsible for (in order) it becomes much easier to get a handle on a situation.

5. Take Ownership

Of course, over the entirety of the crisis management process you have been taking ownership of the situation. At no point did you deny that anything had happened or told your unhappy followers that they were being too sensitive. (NOTE: Do not do that.) But once the highest-rising flames have been extinguished, it’s time to get out there, clearly explain what had happened and convey your sincerest apologies.

We’ve all seen examples of CEOs and VPs posting videos to blogs, YouTube and other social channels explaining a situation. A branded apology is much better than a quote in a news publication. You want people to see that you are taking ownership of a mistake and, more important learning from it.

6. Know When You Can’t Win

According to Jay Baer, “Never send a third reply. A third reply is an argument, not an answer. On the third reply, you take it offline.” Put simply, you can’t please everyone. There are some times when you simply aren’t going to give an audience member what he or she wants. You need to know when to walk away.

Continually responding doesn’t look good. Your brand does not need to get the last word in. When responding to individuals, send the apology, maybe send a follow up explaining what had happened, but don’t start going in circles. Accept that a crisis means you might lose a fan or two. It’s a reality of doing business on a large, public and social scale.

Conclusion

Your brand should learn from what has happened. A crisis is a great opportunity to see what works and what doesn’t. Learn what makes you audience tick and what they dislike. This will help generate brand loyalists down the road and keep you from encountering another crisis.

How does your brand handle crises? Tell us in the comments below or on Twitter!