When we have a crisis in social media. 5 basic principles

When we have a crisis in social media. 5 basic principles

Situations in social media with potential risk to brands' reputations have become increasingly common in recent years. But there are significant differences between simple “situations” and real crises in social media.

In the text below, Eliza Rogalski, Founder, Managing Partner and Head of Corporate Reputation at Rogalski Damaschin, explains what made her rewrite her own crisis manual and shares the principles she relies on when assessing the risks of a social media “situation”:

I'll start with a confession: In the past two years, I've handled more potentially risky situations on social media for brands than in my entire agency career.

Fortunately, not all of them ended up developing into crises. Unfortunately even the ones I least expected have become topics with potential for controversy throughout the social media universe.

Along the way, I developed a method by which I could analyze any controversy and be able to make the best reasoned recommendations.

In these two years I have “unlearned” some time-validated principles with hundreds of crisis situations. I have instead re-learned to better assess the risk of speaking or remaining silent, the risk of intervening with a public position or answering only to whom one asks, the risk of giving explanations or offering solutions.

I rewrote my own crisis manual.

But the most important lessons we have learned reinforce the power of discernment, which is acquired, like the mastery of a violinist, pianist, or surgeon, through experience.

The tools with which we work today have changed, of course. But the precision with which fingers, eyes, brain and heart are trained to analyze reality and react accordingly has not changed.

The difference between a crisis and a “situation” in social media

From practice I have observed the reflex of many brands or organizations to react to absolutely any controversy in social media. A trend in opposition to the resistance to dialogue that we were commenting on in the 2000s.

As hard as it was then for me to convince a company CEO to take a public stand in a controversy, the more difficult it is today for me to convince a management team not to enter social media in the next 72 hours because they may make decisions they will regret.

I have not developed a special flair for crisis situations, but only a thinking algorithm, which I can share with as many colleagues who work with social media as possible.

The major difference between a crisis and a “situation” in social media is that not every situation is a crisis, and not all situations need to be resolved as crises.

In my experience, criticism from a consumer, influencer, or social media commentator that reaches less than 5% of the total universe targeted by a brand or organization in 48 hours is a situation that needs to be monitored and prepared for future escalations.

A social media controversy that includes your brand by accident, but is not a criticism of the core business or reveals a practice contrary to the values that the brand promotes publicly, does not justify a proactive approach by intervening in the public space, even if it exceeds the 5% reach threshold.

Equally, it doesn't matter what reach has a controversy, whether it's about core business or brand values. Then you find yourself in an ongoing crisis for which you need to consider not only a reactive scenario, but above all a proactive dialogue with those who also want to find out from you a point of view.

“Situation” or crisis in social media? Principles for a fair assessment

Here are my principles when assessing whether we have a crisis or a “situation” in social media:

1. Define the problem correctly. Real crisis in social media or simple “situation”?

Who are the victims? How did they end up in this situation? If nothing in your business practices has led to these people getting hurt, then you just have a social media situation.

Prepare reactive statements in case the press, authorities or your own customers — i.e. stakeholders with a large influence on a business — ask more questions. Be prepared to approach them proactively with personalized information that meets their need for information.

Ask a communication specialist to constantly monitor and measure the volume of conversations. At the same time, get out of social media for a few days (I know it's hard not to refresh your posts every 30 seconds, but you really need to take a break).

Set “alarm thresholds” and quietly return to your business agenda. What is a wave, as the wave passes. Stay on your rock.

2. Crisis vs. Situation. Define the risks correctly

As in an accounting balance, put in one column what you lose if you stay silent and in the other what you lose if you talk. And silence and dialogue have a price in social media. If you choose to talk, sell yourself dearly.

Social media is par excellence the medium deficient in attention and depth. Here the exchange currency is fluctuating and fluid. It's inflation of opinions, of egos, of disobedience, of “breaking news.” Sell your “speech” there and when it's worth exactly how much you put on transparency.

Perhaps there is a credible influencer or ambassador, an expert to whom to exclusively offer your position and your explanations. Talk to him about your vision of the data and facts you found out, the commitments you can make publicly after learning the facts, the actions you take to find out the truth.

Negotiate your position and openness. Everyone will want to know what you have to say in a controversy. The first to whom you give this exclusivity will gain even more authority and influence in his community. And his desire to “give first” or “exclusively” has a value, you meet in the middle.

3. Anticipate escalations. How a Simple Situation Can Evolve Into a Social Media Crisis

A social media “situation” can escalate into a crisis — we described above how you recognize the two forms of public criticism. But even when you've determined that you have “just one situation,” you're not sure you're past the danger.

Better shut yourself in a room for two hours with the best people around you and ask yourself this question: “what is the most absurd, serious and improbable situation we could find ourselves in as a result of this criticism?”

You thus define the greatest risk, and from here on out your job is to prepare reaction or anticipation scenarios. Be ready not only for the highest risk, but also for more diluted but more likely risk situations than this extreme.

Set alarm thresholds and criteria by which to make decisions.

As you can see, you have a much more important job and with deeper strategic implications than “flagging” a social media post that can even be the source of an escalation whereby a simple “situation” instantly becomes a crisis.

4th. Check your agenda. Time management in situations with potential crisis in social media

Henry Kissinger says in a book, “I can't have a crisis next week because my agenda is already full.”

I've often been asked this question — whether it's wise for a CEO, CMO, CCO, or any member of the crisis cell to take a public stand on social media about a controversy involving his company. There is no general answer here, because the success of such an initiative depends on many details.

First of all, if you decide to do so, make sure that over the next few days you will have the time and the emotional availability to respond calmly, reasonably, with humor (if appropriate) and with a lot of common sense to every criticism, doubt, slander or insult that may be brought to you in public.

Secondly, make sure that you are not alone in this. Synchronize your interventions with those of your teammates, experts, and independent commentators who can provide multiple and credible perspectives in favor of finding out the truth.

It is said that no one has won a war with the media. Well, in the world of likes no one has won a war on their own.

5. Control your own emotions whether you are facing a simple “situation” or a crisis on social media

Social media is par excellence the territory of emotions, and lately especially of negative ones. Try to have positions that do not stimulate these emotions. Cultivates common sense, logical and to the point speech, balanced dialogue, sympathy and intelligence.

Monitor the emotions of the community. Try not to answer if you are not sure that through what you will say or show you can also generate positive reactions at least equal in influence to negative ones.

If you have 5% reach of negative conversations, devise a strategy to generate at least 5% reach of credible positive conversations.

If you put on TV a spot that sparks controversy and negative reactions on social media and you didn't think that in 30 seconds people can't always understand an often complex message, such as a brand speech, you still have time to call your communication people.

Ask them simply: “How can we apologize in a way that is as compelling and valuable to people and the brand as well?”

In conclusion, in the category of “social media crisis communication” you can't be the only smart one in the room. You can, however, be a wise listener, a quality that all management textbooks qualify as “leadership.”

This article was posted in IQads

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