Social Media Crisis Management

Social Media Crisis Management. In social networks, everything looks peachy when you have a business and pleasantly converse with your community. It is also very satisfying to notice that you have their support and likes on your posts. However, everything begins to cloud when you start to see negative comments towards your brand. It is usually a very uncomfortable and worrying moment, which means you may face your first crisis.

Although this can be a real headache for many, the truth is that you´re nobody until you start having haters. In this situation, the important thing is to have a consolidated social media crisis management plan. Something that helps you act intelligently.

Do you have a crisis management plan for social media? If you still don´t have it, in this post, we will explain what a crisis in social networks consists of. And how to handle it in your favor.

What is anger on social media?

When your brand is on socials, you obtain many benefits, but you are exposed to several risks. For example, a misunderstood or ill-advised message may appear ill-intentioned to the audience. Likewise, a dissatisfied customer can become a hater, although they could also be a troll or the competition.

When this happens, a series of negative messages begin to emerge toward your business. They can spread immediately depending on their scope due to the interaction of the participants. And right at this moment, we can say that you are in the middle of a social media crisis.

Rage on social media often begins with a critical comment or mention. Generally, these comments can be without reason and are accompanied by a harmful emotional component. Indeed, it is essential to note that, according to studies, content that generates frustration or false news is usually shared faster than positive news.

Of course, the point is not to blame the user. Since a crisis can also be caused by an unexpected comment or reaction from your brand. In fact, an inappropriate post or a poorly presented product is already a reason to start having problems on social media. Thus, a protest may occur on social networks for being the best option to make a direct claim.

How to face a crisis on social media?

A crisis in social media can become a real challenge. This is because negative messages have a greater reach and are more difficult to stop. However, there are effective ways to get ahead or use that crisis for the benefit of your business.

First of all, you must put aside the fear of crisis management. You must think that being the talk of the town, even if it´s not how you want, is a way to give your brand more reach. Secondly, it is best to be prepared for a scenario like this with a crisis management plan on social media. And thirdly, it is necessary to have a good branding strategy to prevent something like this from happening. Do not forget that the stronger your brand, the less damage will be done.

How to prevent a reputation crisis on social media?

As we have already stated, the idea is that you can avoid a crisis of reputation on social networks. And here we will leave you some tips to do it:

Monitor your brand

Active listening lets you know any comments your brand generates on social media. This way, you can quickly determine when there is a positive or negative mention.

Likewise, you must analyze the user’s profile where the negative comment comes from. It is not the same that it comes from a dissatisfied customer as from a troll with misplaced criticism. The client deserves an answer, the troll does not. However, you should assess whether it is worth answering or ignoring. Similarly, check what product or service has caused the problem to solve it.

If you answer, think very carefully about your answer. Ideally, you should be able to talk to the client through a private channel to avoid escalating the situation.

Think before you answer

What you reply to a comment is more important than you can imagine. That is why you should reflect before writing or acting. If you have made a mistake, it will be very valuable to admit it. Arrogant attitudes tend to make matters worse, while sincerity will bring calm.

That´s why, to avoid being impulsive, read that mention several times to determine if it´s a negative or constructive comment.

Then run your response.

Take mistakes as experience

In advance of major crises, there is likely to be a mini-crisis. You must learn from these small situations. And when you get out of them, you must analyze what happened at the moment and take what can serve as a reference.

Ask yourself: What triggered the crisis? Which situation made it worse? What should be my answer? What can I improve in my brand?

However, if you have not experienced a social media crisis, you can observe the competition to learn from their mistakes.

Prepare a response for each scenario

There is a reality: you can go through a crisis on your social media anytime. Therefore, you must be prepared for any scenario instead of running away. You can imagine the worst situations and a crisis protocol to get out of them.

Likewise, it is recommended that you prepare several responses for each situation.

Because you will surely need them to know how to deal with an annoying problem.

Have a crisis management team

There´s nothing better than having, in advance, a group that oversees the management and handling of crises in social media. A large company should consist of its owner and marketing team. According to your resources, you can adjust your team to the crisis protocol through response training.

Don’t start stressing if your company is small and you take care of absolutely everything.

You can include related clients, the collaboration of colleagues in your sector, or influencers in your crisis protocol.

How to deal with an angry customer on social media?

Once the crisis arrives, you must know how to handle it. But you are not alone, because we will indicate some steps that will be very useful:

Observe to determine the problem

Start by reading the reviews to find out what has been the hassle of where you have failed.

This process must be done immediately. Since the longer you delay, the crisis can spread, and it will be more expensive to manage it:

Therefore:

• Check which social media it originated from.
• What other social networks did the problem reach?
• The origin of the problem.
• Check if the discussion starters are real people, trolls, or the competition.

Move forward with an action plan

If you already have a crisis protocol, the time has come to execute it, taking into account the following factors:

• You don’t always have to respond instantly. You can wait for the storm to pass.
• Respond publicly to the feed, but keep the conversation private.
• Do not delete the messages, or the situation could get worse.
• Your response tone should be empathetic and respectful.
• Acknowledge if there has been a mistake with an apology, and offer compensation if there has been a mistake.

Follow up

After putting into practice a crisis management manual in social media, it is essential that your posts are normalized to transmit confidence. You cannot stop monitoring the problem to determine if the complaints or annoyances continue. If you have already located angry customers, you can track them to see if they continue to talk about the same thing.

The monitoring process can also be carried out by means of tags or keywords. This will help you know if you should take further action.

You should learn from experiences like this

Social crises must be seen as a master’s degree for their management. Now, if you don’t learn, it might happen over and over again. You need to analyze what you can improve. And remember the solutions that have had a good impact so as not to leave them out of your plan.

Do you want to manage your social media appropriately?

Social media crises turn out to be inevitable, and all brands are exposed to them. The important thing is that you´re not caught off guard and have prepared a crisis management plan on social networks.

Are you experiencing a social media crisis?

At BluCactus, we can help you. We have a team of professionals. And we can assign a Community Manager to your brand to be aware of any eventuality and respond professionally to any situation. We are experts in crisis management in any socials. Contact us right now, and we will ensure your brand emerges stronger from any crisis.

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