Crisis Communication and Social Media Strategy
Crisis Communication and Social Media Strategy
By: Caleb Correa-Marcy
The world we live in can be very crazy and chaotic. Crisis is an inevitable part of our society. When a crisis happens to a company it can be hard to predict. The use of public relations is essential to proper crisis communication and management. In Guth and Marsh’s book, Public Relations: A Values-Driven Approach, they explain that crises “usually can be addressed in a limited time frame, often without arousing public attention or without draining an organization’s resources. However, crises tend to be less predictable. They require a considerable investment of time and resources to resolve and often bring unwanted public attention. And more than problems, crises can challenge an organization’s core values” (p. 207). Public relations experts have the power to help a company assess the situation, effectively handle all forms of media attention, and help develop a plan to rebuild/revitalize the reputation and core values at stake. Without the use of proper crisis communication, the organization is left with a horrible unorganized mess of issues surrounding the crisis at hand. Public relations is essential to crisis management through helping a company or organization successfully assess the situation at hand through offering guidance and advice, properly handling all media and press attention, creating a digital strategy, and creating public relation plans to provide ongoing support after the incident and allow the company’s reputation to heal.
In a time of crisis, social media is always one of the most immensely vital ways in which an organization must protect its reputation and image. In general, “Public Relations (or PR) is a field concerned with maintaining public image for high-profile people, commercial businesses and organizations, non-profit associations or programs” (Hazarika, 2016). So, public relations’ key function is to maintain the public image of an organization and in this day and age, this is done primarily all through media. When in crisis, public relations uses crisis communication, but more specifically, in crisis, public relations handles what is known as crisis management. “Crisis management is the process by which an organization deals with a major unpredictable event that threatens to harm the organization, its stakeholders, or the general public” (Hazarika, 2016). In simpler terms, crisis management is the use of public relations tools in order to create a change within the organization. If change is not made then the situation will just become a failure.
In the event of a crisis, the first place that the public will catch wind is most likely social media. In order for public relations to work effectively when it comes to crisis management surrounding social media, there are a few things that must be done. First off, the organization that is in crisis has to be incredibly prompt to respond. The company must address the public immediately following the discovery of the crisis. Second, the organization must remember that when in crisis, the company’s core values and reputation are in question and the company should exercise full integrity and honesty because the organization’s stakeholders and the public are far more willing to forgive a company’s honest mistake with time than a downright lie. Third, it is important that the organization’s statements to the public are very informative about the situation at hand and what the company plans to do. When statements are left vague and not informative enough, the public can easily generate rumors and falsehoods that further lead to the damage of the company’s reputation. Fourth, it is very important to show the public that your organization cares and is sympathetic to the issue at hand. Being defensive about the crisis only hurts the company’s reputation. When a company appears to care about and is sympathetic towards the victims of the crisis, the public is far more forgiving. Lastly, the organization in crisis must use social media to maintain and display two-way relationships.
A company in crisis can learn a lot about what they need to do by listening to public opinion. A company making statements through social media that display they have been listening goes a long way in revitalizing the reputation of the organization at hand. Public relations specialists should be proactive in following all of these steps and “For instance, they might draft support materials and statements on the behalf of the client so that the company is ready to answer any questions presented by publications or journalists connected to the industry. On the other hand, a PR professional might take over making statements on the behalf of the business entirely, while simultaneously scheduling meetings and interviews with the right press to ensure that the company comes off in the best possible light. All the while, a PR expert dealing with crisis management will be offering insights on how a brand can maintain the loyalty of their customers, shareholders, and investors” (Torossian, 2018).
These strategies can be applied to a wide variety of crisis situations. However, what are some key indicators of social media crises? The Digital Marketing Institute claims there are three: social media blunders, viral customer complaints, and campaign backlashes. A social media blunder can be a number of things; an employee accidentally posting something meant for their personal account on the company’s social media page, the social media account getting hacked, or an employee responding to a customer in a less than favorable way. Viral customer complaints are self-explanatory, however, for a typical complaint on social media that is not viral, it is essential to always have a plan for effectively respond to the complaint. Lastly, always be prepared for campaign backlash and have a plan for how your organization will respond.
Hootsuite provides some excellent additional tips for preventing/managing crises:
Create a social media policy: Every organization to have a well-developed social media policy for both the company and its employees. It is highly recommended that the social media policy includes copyright guidelines, privacy guidelines, confidentiality guidelines, and brand voice guidelines.
Pause all scheduled posts: This is simple, but at the time of a crisis you do not want your company posting its usual content like everything is normal. Doing this can make your organization look foolish and neglectful. Make sure to pause all scheduled posts so that the only new posts coming from the company are the ones addressing the crisis at hand for the time being.
Communicate Internally: This is absolutely key, constant internal communication is essential. This allows all employees to be on the same page, aware of the current state of the crisis, and ensures that all employees know what to say/do so that all information received by the public is consistent and accurate.
References
Guth, David W., and Charles Marsh. Public Relations: A Values-Driven Approach. 6th ed., Pearson, 2017.
Hazarika, Parakram. “The Role of PR in Crisis Management.” The Delhi School of Communication, The Delhi School of Communication, 24 Aug. 2016, www.dsc.edu.in/the-role-of-pr-in-crisis-management/.
Torossian, Ronn. “What Is the Role of PR in Crisis Management?” Medium, Medium, 4 Apr. 2018, medium.com/@RonnTorossian/what-is-the-role-of-pr-in-crisis-management-2b01b1104ae8.
“Crisis Management - Digital Marketing Lesson - DMI.” Digital Marketing Institute, Digital Marketing Institute, digitalmarketinginstitute.com/resources/lessons/social-customer-service_crisis-management_rqd.
Newberry, Christina, and Sarah Dawley. “How to Manage a Social Media Crisis: A Practical Guide for Brands.” Hootsuite Blog, Hootsuite Blog, 6 Feb. 2019, blog.hootsuite.com/social-media-crisis-management/.
