A Downhill Spring in Crisis Communication

Shawn AlainPresident@ViralInNature

United Breaks Guitarshttps://youtu.be/5YGc4zOqozo

United Breaks Guitars

United Breaks Guitars with 15 million views on YouTube United Breaks Guitars 2 with 2 million views Dave Carrol Statement with 1 million views 2 days after first song United Breaks Guitars 3 with 1 million views United Breaks Guitars Books United Airlines Stock Drops by 10% costing the company $180 million

dollars

Ski Resort Rides Slippery Downhill Social Media Slope Incident Involving Owners Son Ski Patrollers Fired Wrongful dismissals lawsuits filed Many of the remaining staff on the mountain staged a walk out Ski Resorts response was to go silent and delete their Facebook page Fired Ski Patrollers set up their own Facebook page that attracted

thousands of followers (about 4 times as much as the mountain at the time)

Stages of a Social Media Crisis

01 No Current Threats

There are no current threats or potential threats online or offline. This is the best time to create a plan and train.

02 – Constant Alert

Because of the nature of the industry you are in, it’s inevitable that a crisis will happen. Maybe you’re in the railroad industry were a future derailment is a certainty, or Oil and Gas where protesters are common place. There’s a higher than normal chance of a crisis happening anywhere from tomorrow to three years from now.

03 - A Minor Crisis

You had a few negative comments which is out of the ordinary for your social media. No need to sound the alarm just yet because this might just be a small and isolated incident. Chances are this isn’t going to go viral, but nevertheless let’s nip it in the bud before it does.

04 – Imminent Social Media Crisis

A social media crisis is within days, hours or even minutes from happening. This could b ebecause of a report that is about to be released or a media story that is about to end up on the six o’clock news. Any good reporter that is doing a story on you or your business will call you first and give you a chance to tell your side of the story. The good news is, this now gives you time to prepare.

05 – Major Crisis

You are in the midst of a social media crisis right now. This has the potential to cost you millions or even be a business killer. But if you act fast you can minimize the damage and start on the path to rebuild your reputation.

Farmers market example

Web Posting Response Assessment

Common Mistakes The most common mistake by far is crisis paralysis. Without a plan this is almost

guaranteed to happen and it’s the worst thing you can do. This will happen when a crisis starts and then your Social Media Manager is ordered to temporarily halt all communication while your Communication Manager and Executive Team debates a plan on what to do next. Unfortunately 24 hours in a crisis is a lifetime.

Tempers flare. It’s easy for tempers to get the best of you and your team during a crisis. For the typical owner, an A type personality who is also extremely proud of their product or service, this is a blow to their ego that they take personally. Staff may start laying blame on how this could happen and irrational decisions could be made. Laying blame and ways to prevent this are best left until after the crisis is over right now you just need to stick to your plan.

Not being truthful. Be honest first with your staff and to the public. If you attempt deception and are found out it will only prolong the crisis.

Blaming others like computer hackers for poor and unprepared attempts to fix a crisis. It’s already been tried several times before and nobody believes it.

Over moderating your social media. Social media enables conversations between companies and their customers and criticism is part of that conversation. Companies need to be mature enough to accept criticism, to the extent it isn’t vulgar or defamatory. To only publish positive comments is to return to dictator style communication. The good news is that those companies who do embrace social media, criticism and all, outperform those which are afraid to expose themselves.

Not having a plan in place

Viral In NatureAn award winning social media, reputation management & web development agency

We can create your social media crisis communication plan www.viralinnature.com | salain@viralinnature.com | 1.844.403.2899 Follow us @ViralInNature