Disaster Avoided: Social Media Crisis Plan
The horrible terrorist attack in Columbus, Ohio, Berlin, Paris, London, St. Petersburg, Paris, Stockholm, Manchester, London Bridge brought front and centre a post about how to avoid a social media crisis during a real crisis.
A social media crisis plan gives you time to act. Act so you avoid a second crisis.
Take action because ‘acts of God’ and ‘acts of men’ are immediate news on Twitter, TicTok, and IG.
Don’t let your brand get caught up in a whirlwind.
#Avoid #PRDisaster.
During a natural disaster or a crisis, the best social media crisis plan is to do nothing and simply be quiet. Be quiet.
And. Just. Listen.
And. Just. Listen.
And. Just. Listen.
But before you can just listen you gotta have a plan in place to action. A social media crisis plan.
DO IT NOW. Ok? Now. Yes, Now complete this Crisis Avoided Social Media Disaster Plan. Then sit back:
#AndJustListen
Don’t worry, this is Urban Renström, there is always science and research involved in everything I talk about.
Social Media Crisis Plan – step 1 ‘Expect the best, Plan for the worst’
Remember that boy-scout motto?
When a crisis happens, turn off all Social Media:
- Inform:
Social / PR / Marketing / Customer Service you’ve reached DEFCON 1 and they must turn off all scheduled posts and Ads.
- Monitor:
All branded and trending hashtags to avoid getting caught in a PR disaster. Suggest setting up Google Alerts. Now is a good time to do that … Ok?
- Turn off all schedule post and updates
The wrong image or word can insult and inflame raw feelings and emotions. And the wrong image or words will mercilessly get shared 1000’s of times. Each share irreversibly damages your brand. Turn off social media.
- Sympathetic Comment
Post the requisite “Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends affected by _____” also post the “we will refrain from posting during this crisis in respect of those injured etc.”
- Moratorium
Don’t post for a set period of time, e.g. 24-48 hours.
- After Moratorium
Post an ‘our thoughts are with those injured/missing/affected’ message.
Resume normal social communication with consideration to recent events.
Step 2) Collect, Print, and Secure
Secure All ‘Administrator Level’ access for all Social Media accounts. Like a shared Google doc.
Make a simple table allowing access by key personnel – and ensure you have redundant coverage.
| Social Media Passwords | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Social Network | Person In Charge | Mobile phone Number(s) | Usernames | Password(s) |
| Buffer | ||||
| Hootsuite | ||||
| Website |
Step 3) Act
If you’ve Planned and Collected all the passwords in step 2 then act.
Turn off all updates; monitor your branded and trending hashtags, and monitor brand names.
AND. JUST. LISTEN.
AND. JUST. LISTEN.
AND. JUST. LISTEN.
Care to add a step 4? Post in the comments.
