A crisis may occur in the business due to a lot of reasons. A major one can arise from the lack of communication, both internal and external. If the problem is not handled correctly at the right time, it may disintegrate in chaos. There are many ways in which individual crises can be managed.
Social Media is a very good platform that you can use to handle and manage a crisis effectively. It has a huge number of connected users who interchange a huge number of messages every day. Hence, one needs to be very careful while handling this as it can generate a lot of negative publicity. On the other hand, it can also repair the damage and revive the reputation of a business. The businesses need to closely supervise what the social media platforms are saying and what the growing trend is. Then they have to respond to it in the most effective way if they want to do a successful crisis and reputation management.
First, there are some things you need to clarify and be clear about before you resort to social media.
· Identify the actual problem: The main trick here is in understanding the actual reason of the crisis. If you are unable to identify the reason the crisis, you will not be able to solve it.
· Call a meeting about this with the internal shareholders to discuss the problem.
· You must also estimate the extent of the damage so that you are able to implement a suitable damage control measure.
After you have charted out the above points, you can follow these social media practices to control the crisis:
· Social Media Tools: You need to have access to the professional social media tools if you want an accurate idea about the condition. It will help you monitor the situation and you will be able to take steps to control it better.
· Ready the Content: You need to be ready with the content that will play a pivotal role in controlling the damage that has already happened. You need to plan it out correctly with the text, images and videos and how you want to use it.
· Train Your Team: Your social media team must be adequately trained to handle the crisis. They must all be aware of the situation and how they should respond to it.
· Use Advertisements: They are quite expensive but they are a good method of sending your message across.
· Connect To Your Supporters: However bad might your crisis be, you can be certain that you have a group that will support you. You need to find them and get connected with them. They will help you defend yourself and will contribute towards influencing the public opinion to a large extent.
· Do Not Reply To Abusers: In the social media platforms, there will be different kinds of people who will hold a grudge against you and abuse you. They might directly attack your brand, but you must learn to ignore them. If you do answer, be polite with them or it is better to not answer them at all.
Read on why on Twitter people begin to unfollow.