To be effective in crisis control in 2020, shouting to the world from your rooftop or holding dated press conferences just won’t cut it.
In a world of social media, consumers expect a bucket load more than what they used to. Nowadays, utilising social media in dealing with whatever crisis comes your way is a top priority. Here are some of our tips and tricks for effectively using social media for crisis management.
- Know what ‘crisis’ should be shared to the public.
There are definitely some cases where managing a crisis is best done offline. If the crisis is not affecting many stakeholders, ie. It is a minor or internal issue, best to hold back from updating your status or making the issue worse by bringing everyone’s attention to it. In cases like these, highlighting the issue on social media will probably lead to a prolonged negative conversation about said crisis. So be wise with what you share.
2. Monitor!
In order to hit this step as best as you can we recommend assigning members of your team to be constantly monitoring and engaging in conversations online.
Keeping an eye on conversations will give you a clear insight to the positive and negative things that are being said about your company. This also allows you to contribute to conversation and control the narrative of your crisis.
3. Be engaging.
As said above, engaging in conversations online is crucial to controlling the pace and direction of your crisis. Responding to questions and rumours as soon as possible is key.
Try cut out the corporate statements. These are generally thought to be dismissive or inauthentic to your stakeholders. Instead answer honestly, conversationally and compassionately.
Lastly, we advise reaching out to partners in your industry and keeping them up to date. Therefor, all lines of comms are saying the same message and it’s another way for you to keep control of the narrative.
Over and out.
