Effectively Handling a Social Media Crisis

It has happened to most of us in one degree or another”that crisis which lands on your brand’s Facebook page and triggers an excess of angry or dissatisfied posts from fans all over.

What do you do? Effectively evaluating, diffusing and responding to a crisis is imperative when handling a social media dilemma. Managing a crisis through social media platforms may seem intimidating, but must be done to correct the issue and to quickly reestablish the legitimacy for the brand.

Some steps that can help you during a social media crisis include:

1. Address the problem. Do not ignore or push the crisis aside assuming it will go away. Ignoring the crisis could land you in even more hot water and could ignite a firestorm of further issues.
2. State the facts behind the crisis and be honest. Reassure fans that you are working to resolve the issue at hand and will not stop working until the problem is fixed.
3. Resourcefully and continuously use other social media outlets to address the current crisis or problem.
4. Once the crisis is diffused or resolved, keep the conversation and the engagement with customers going. Follow up with posts, messages and other pages that may be still addressing the crisis. (Make the public aware that the crisis has been resolved!
5. Contact your client or write a timely report so they are fully aware of the social media crisis that just occurred. Be honest and vocal about the issue that occurred.
6. If necessary, share the report through other brand platforms, including the brand’s website and blog.
7. Learn from the crisis. Let your agency or company understand the ramifications that took place as a result of the crisis. Then, review your social media crisis plan and make sure all employees are aware of what to do if a social media crisis occurs again.

Remember, we are all human and mistakes happen. However, always maintain a detailed and updated plan that will prepare your brand for the worst when a crisis occurs.

Have you or your company ever had a social media crisis? How did you handle the situation? Drop us a line and let’s keep the conversation flowing!