7 Social Media Crisis Management Tips in Business
7 Social Media Crisis Management Tips in Business
Social media in Singapore is indeed an efficient tool to communicate with customers and promote business. However, on the other hand, social media can also quickly spread negative things about our business. Remember, the internet is forever, negative things about companies may be irrevocable and become a widespread conversation. It could be, that’s when the social media crisis occurred. To overcome this, here are 7 tips that you can apply as a social media crisis management step in business.
- Create social media guidelines
A social media crisis can occur when one of the employees starts to create content that is quirky and violates the company’s identity. So, the right solution to prevent this is to create a social media policy for the company.
The guidelines must include core things such as copyright guidelines or how to use third party content, privacy guidelines or how to communicate with customers that distinguish them from personal communications outside of business affairs, information confidentiality guidelines governing what company information may be distributed. and no, as well as brand voice guidelines to match the communication style that fits the company’s identity.
- Monitoring business social media
Make sure you know what netizens are talking about on social media about your company. By monitoring business social media, you can know the current situation of the company on social media, even when the crisis is about to occur, you already know about it and can take immediate action. Use the right tools to monitor company social media. Just as when observing real situations we need binoculars. Tools for monitoring social media are the same as binoculars.
Do not let the company not know when someone complains about the company’s products or services through social media, then does not get any clarification from the company. Especially if the complaint is already crowded with negative responses from other people.
- Understand the meaning of crisis
From the results of monitoring social media, you can find out whether the company is entering a period of social media crisis or is still in the “normal” phase. If someone says negatively about the company, it’s not a crisis but a fact. However, if many people say negative at the same time, then it is certain that it is a social media crisis.
Identify the meaning of the crisis for the company and learn how significant the crisis will have an impact on the company so that you can make a well-targeted plan. Understand the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of your company, then decide whether the company team needs to implement a social media communication plan.
- Communicate with teammates
In every company or organisation, communication is the main thing because a new team is formed if communication is well established. During a social media crisis, it’s important to communicate with the team about the company’s situation. Gather the entire company team as soon as possible to discuss the conditions and causes of the crisis. This is to ensure that the entire team understands and avoids misinformation, so they know what to do immediately and can reduce the impact of the crisis.
- Temporarily stop daily posting
During the social media crisis, temporarily stop the daily posts that have been compiled. Facing a social media crisis, one must be careful because the situation around the company, especially on social media, is sensitive. Don’t let the crisis occur when your company does not communicate on target and instead continues to post daily content as usual. Posting the same daily content during a crisis will only make the celebrity company look insensitive or caring. All you need to do is stop posting daily content and start activating a consistent and targeted communication plan.
- Create a communication plan during a crisis
Communication during a crisis needs to show that the company understands the problem, and is committed to solving it. The communication plan must describe the appropriate steps so that it can be implemented by senior to junior staff. At a minimum, the communication plan should include; the guidelines identify the type and magnitude of the crisis, the roles and responsibilities of each department, a communication plan for internal updates, updated contact points, the process for responding to messages on social media, and links to the company’s social media guidelines. In addition, make informative and friendly posts on various company social media accounts, and try to respond quickly even during holidays.
- Learn from the experience
After going through a social media crisis, learn what happened. This is the right time to gather the whole team and evaluate the plans that your company has implemented when facing a crisis. Also, think about how to prevent a similar crisis from happening again in the company.
Those are some tips that you can apply when experiencing a social media crisis in Singapore. Finger crossed!
Contributed by: Conrad
Kiasu Printing & Rubber Stamp Maker (Singapore) Pte Ltd
Address: 1 Irving Place, The Commerze @ Irving #06-05 Singapore 369546
Telephone: 61000938