Going viral isn’t always a good thing.
With more brands and consumers online than ever before, it’s no surprise that what used to be private is now public. In fact, 39% of consumers report providing brands feedback via social media. No industry is immune. Recently, Dollar General, Hertz, Airbnb and Popeyes have all experienced crises brought on by social media.
By integrating social media into your crisis communications plan, you can stay informed and effectively manage the crisis and communicate with your stakeholders.
Below are a few tips for using social media in a crisis:
Incident Monitoring
Consider social media your lookout for a potential crisis. Individuals are likely to take to their profiles to post when an incident occurs. Utilizing a monitoring system to search for keywords related to your company can tip you off to a crisis way before you start getting tagged.
Message Delivery
60% of journalists report visiting a company’s social media while working on a story. In times of crisis, this can work to your advantage. Be sure your messaging appears across social platforms to inform journalists and consumers that may be looking for additional information.
Performance Assessment
By tracking your mentions and their sentiment, you can assess how effective your communications response is. As you respond to an event, the number of mentions should fall as the sentiment changes to neutral. Don’t get discouraged if a few users stay on the topic; instead, look for overall trends.
