How do you manage social media and PR disasters?

Be responsive and available. Reach out to your stakeholders (even if it is just a one-sentence statement) and journalists and stay consistent in your communication.

Assess, strategize, and conquer. By accurately assessing the situation, you can strategize an appropriate response. But, also consider, "is there an opportunity in this crisis?"

Not every bad online episode is a crisis. On the contrary, the majority of negative online events are run-of-the-mill customer service issues. Ask yourself the following questions. 1) What is the potential reach (ie readers, viewers, or listeners) of the negative news? 2) Were there any social media influencers involved in the event? 3) How influential were they (evaluate their reach and follower-base)? 4) What about the mainstream media? Have they picked up the news? 5) What about the audience reactions to the news? 6) Has it gone viral (see United Airlines PR crisis)? Concurrently, you need to assess internal stakeholder (ie employee or board member) reactions.

One key component of any good crisis communication plan is press releases. Press releases can be an extremely effective way to communicate with your stakeholders during a time of crisis. But how do you make sure your press releases are actually helping you achieve your objectives? Here are some tips: 1) Keep it short and sweet – no one wants to read a novel during a crisis; 2) Be clear and concise – use simple language that everyone can understand; 3) Focus on the facts – stick to the facts and avoid sensationalism; 4) Highlight what you’re doing to help – people want to know what you’re doing to mitigate the situation; 5) Use quotes sparingly – too many quotes can make your release seem confusing or unorganized.

It's always best to be transparent and deal with the core issue before it gets out of hand. Key staff and partners should be empowered to handle a crisis with honesty and ethical behaviour

I was the CMO of WeWork when we entered a big crisis mode in 2019. A few lessons. 1. Engage externally and internally as much as you can. 2. Lots of stories will fly around, be quick to respond and set the record straight or else rumors take on a life of their own. 3. Create actions that get in front of it with honesty, to clients and to media.

Utilizing data analytics, businesses can proactively identify potential users facing similar issues who haven't raised complaints or feedback. By engaging these users through personalised communication, FAQs, and educational resources, companies can resolve problems before they escalate. This proactive approach fosters better customer experiences, boosts satisfaction, and builds lasting brand loyalty.

In my experience, turning a negative comment into a positive outcome is an art. Once, by promptly addressing a client's concern on social media and offering a tangible solution, we not only retained the client but also won over a few sceptics who were following the conversation. → Use monitoring tools to stay on top of feedback. → Apologize sincerely and engage with a solution-focused approach. → Maintain transparency and respect in every interaction. → Offer concrete solutions or compensations where necessary. This strategy not only resolves issues but also strengthens your brand's reputation.

Transform a social media or PR disaster into a learning opportunity that fuels improvement. Part of entrepreneurship is creating opportunities for growth, even when all the chips are down.

A lot of people might not think this is applicable, but sometimes it helps to be prepared. Assemble a crisis communication kit, armed with templates, statements, FAQs, and essential contacts for various scenarios.

A crisis management plan is the best way to go. First, you need to identify who is responsible for monitoring who crafts the suggested responses, who approves them, who is in charge of making the decisions and who actually communicates them to the public. Often times, in big PR crises, the social media team is the fastest to respond but not always the most informed on the matter. That is why the first response needs to be fast but it also needs to buy your brand time to investigate the issue before coming up with a detailed answer.

After the crisis or incident has blown over (phew!), it isn’t time for you to rest yet… The best organisations conduct a post-mortem of the crisis: 1) Measuring and evaluating the total media/social media impact of the crisis. This should include both quantitative and qualitative indicators like Reach, Impressions, Media Value (or Advertising Equivalent Value, ie AEV), virality, and so on. 2) Document the chronology of the incident, all the way until it is resolved. 3) Document all learning points and remedial actions taken. 4) Conduct table-top exercises for crisis management scenarios. This could cover the specific situation which erupted into the crisis, as well as other similar scenarios.

Having led social media teams for big brands, the biggest lesson learned is to take a beat. Social media moves so fast and teams are trained to react in near real-time. Whether it's a minor snafu or a full-blown crisis, it's important to take a few moments to collect your thoughts and prepare a simple game plan. Avoid the knee-jerk reaction to respond immediately.

At times we forget how powerful brand loyalty is. When you build a community of loyal customers, we are building a family. More like your brand cheerleaders. Those who feel they are part of the brand and they own it. When this happens, these customers do not want to see anything happen to their brand. I experienced a negative comment on a social media post and the basis of the complaint was from misinformation. Before we could react, the loyal customers were already "raining" on the person that made the comment. They defended the brand, schooled the customer and as a result we had more leads that converted to sales. The person retracted, apologized and we realised brand loyalty and educating your customers about your services go a long way

Always try to be open. Use communication consistently for dialogue as well. When there is a lot of successful communication at the bottom, even a crisis is often seen as a smaller matter.

Always be genuine to your audience when it comes to admitting any social media or PR mistakes you might make. Talk to them explaining the reasons behind the problem. There was something why people once chose to stay with your brand. Now, you have to regain their trust and loyalty.

1. Keep a close eye on social media channels and news outlets to detect any negative mentions or emerging issues as soon as possible. 2. Address the issue promptly by acknowledging it publicly and expressing empathy. 3. Have a pre-established crisis communication plan in place that outlines roles, responsibilities, and communication protocols for responding to different types of crises. 4. Maintain transparency throughout the crisis by providing accurate and honest information to the public. Avoid withholding or misleading information. 5. Issue a sincere apology to those affected by the crisis. Acknowledge any mistakes or shortcomings and outline steps you are taking to address the issue and prevent recurrence.