Tips to manage crisis on social media

STRATEGY 2: NEUTRALISATION

Many organisations have found their reputation in a compromised position when fake news or untruths are spread pervasively on the social media. The consequences can be damaging and some impacted not only their reputation but loss of finances as well as having to address trust deficits amongst their stakeholders, their employees and the public at large.

With the proliferation of the internet and social media, negative news about the affected organisation is now more pervasive than ever. The virality of the news reaches a wider spectrum of audience. Most companies or organisations find themselves unprepared, and hence suffered the consequences. However in reality, there are ways for a crisis to be better handled or pre-empted.

A company or an organisation can prepare themselves to address any crisis in quick time by first and foremost develop a good communication infrastructure which includes the following:

a)       Communication policy

b)       Crisis communication manual

c)       Identify scenarios and level of crisis that may incur

d)       Identify spokesperson/s for different type of crisis level

e)       Prepare internal FAQ

f)       Prepare holding statement template

g)      Conduct crisis drill

h)     Train the respective spokesperson/s in media 101 ie knowing and understanding how    the media works, what do the media look for in times of crisis and how to address        their questions.

Next, when a crisis indeed did strike, common acceptable practice is for the issue to be addressed and a holding statement issued to the public (via company’s social media sphere, for example, twitter, FB, LinkedIn, Instagram) and the media within the next 15 to 30 minutes (depending on the seriousness of the crisis which may require investigation to be conducted).

Social media is the fastest platform to update the public, clients and stakeholders of any follow up actions taken (perhaps every hour interval for a serious crisis which involves death and/or injury). The selection of the spokesperson/s to address the public and the media is of utmost importance. This person has to be trained prior, has high credibility and in-depth knowledge in relation to the crisis at hand and whatever he or she says represent accountability on the part of the company or organisation he or she represents.

Any statement going out later than the hour will put the company or the organisation in a bad light and perceived as not being proactive enough to address the crisis or issue at hand.

The need to prepare for a crisis is for a crisis to be contained and not blown out of control. As an old Chinese saying goes, make a big issue small and a small issue a non-issue.  As we update, we will also be getting feedback from the public and/or clients. Some of them will be good, some will be negative. How do we contain the negatives?

Yesterday, I shared the DROWNING strategy. Today, let’s talk about neutralisation.

Neutralisation means to make something/some actions ineffective by applying an opposite force or effect. Hence, we can neutralise the negative postings, reviews or comments by posting up more objective comments or information. By doing so, it helps to balance both positive and negative information. Most of  the time when faced with criticism, most companies/organizations will immediately go into a defensive mode and start an eye for an eye rebutt or post standard formal responses which are dry and very impersonal. Some companies are afraid to manage negative news or do not have a team in the company who can handle it that they would rather not have a corporate FB page.

We have to always be mindful that when it comes to social media it is indeed personal. Hence, the way we construct our comments or feedback should not be too rigid and too formal. We should use more layman terms to ensure we sound more genuine and believable. Each comment requires different response. Never give out standard answers and it is a big NO to delete negative answers. At the end of the day, we wish to see more neutral opinions in the public sphere and with the availability of both good and bad news/posts, it helps shape a better public perception towards your company.

Examples in the F&B industry:

Bad comment: OMG! This queue at this stupid restaurant is so long! Don’t they know how to manage their time to serve their customers?

Neutral comment: Eh, wait a minute.  Doesn’t long queue mean the food is good?

Bad comment: Just a small little tiny bowl of noodles selling at RM15, and it is without any veggie and spring onions. Nothing to shout about.

Neutral comment: Yes. It’s pricey but as we all know all good authentic food is pricey.

            Nothing is perfect in this world, everything has its pros and cons. For a page with neutral comments, it looks more believable and convincing to the public. This is why by implementing the neutralisation strategy, it gives your company the benefit of doubt and gives opportunity for the public and/or your customers to make better judgement call by weighing all the comments.

Next, Strategy 3: ENGAGE. Read it tomorrow.


This article is contributed by Ivlynn Yap Cheng Theng, Managing Partner/ Crisis Communications Lead Counsel.