Manage a Digital Crisis like a pro

The digital era has taught us many things, among them that a crisis can arise immediately. What can be a comment in a photo, can become a publication in a newspaper, what can be a 140 character tweet can become a federal investigation.

Everything that we do in social media or a digital platform in a personal or professional way can be used for or against us. That is why I think this article is really relevant and important. I want to help you avoid falling into crisis and if you are in crisis, I will teach you how to handle it, both from the business point of view and as an individual.

To manage or avoid a crisis, the most important thing is to establish possible crisis scenarios and establish a plan for each of them. Preparation is key so that a problem does not turn into a crisis. For a business, I recommend to create a crisis management plan by a PR specialist.

Possible problems in the digital platforms that could turn into a crisis and how to manage it:

Bad review or comment

• Don’t delete the comment or bad review
• Read carefully
• Don’t respond in a bad manner, always respond with respect
• Try to find a solution
• If needed, try to respond privately
• If its a person that just want to comment without facts or relevant information, ignore it; don’t give attention to spammers
• Apologize if its needed, humility always wins
• Compromise for a better service

Bad photo publication

• Don’t ignore
• Analyze the photo and search for information about what happened
• Choose different responses and analyze different scenarios
• Write privately to the person and try to give a solution
• A photo is almost like a fact, choose your actions carefully

How to prepare:

• Have basic responses for different scenarios
• Establish a company digital guidelines
• Hire a professional to do the responses
• Have a call center
• Block offensively words
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
• Establish rules on social media platform
  • Example: In the About section you can write:

    “We reserve the right to block users that may harm the company’s vision.”
    

Avoid:

• Blaming others or blaming customers (even if you are right)
• Ignoring customer’s reviews about a recent service
• Responding without the information of what happened
• Jump into conclusions
• Respond offensively
• Delete a comment (this could make it worse)
• Give too much information

Basic responses:

• “We are sorry, please let us know how can we make it up to you”
• “Hello Rosa, we would like to talk to you, your complain is important to us”
• “Thank you for your review, we will analyze and take action on it.”
• “We are very sorry to hear your complain, we would like to know more information, please call us at 888-888-8888”

Facts you need to know

• The internet have 4.4 billion users.
• 46% of online users are counting on social media before making purchase decision.
• Social media users are willing to pay a 21% premium for brands that deliver great service through social media.
• 63% of customers actually expect companies to offer customer service via their social media channels.

Remember,

Don’t wait until you’re in a crisis to come up with a crisis plan.