Crisis Communication: Responding to Social Media Backlash

Intro

Social media can be a great way to engage with customers, build brand awareness, and boost sales. But it can also pose a serious threat to a business’s reputation, especially in times of crisis.

A crisis can be any event or situation that negatively affects the business, such as a product defect, a bad review, a customer complaint, a legal issue, or a scandal. When a crisis strikes, social media can quickly spread the news and create a public outcry, affecting the business’s image, credibility, and profitability.

According to a global study, 59.1% of Gen Z and Millennials are very aware of fake news surrounding COVID-19 and can often spot it, but 35.1% of them just ignore it. This shows that social media users are not always discerning or proactive in verifying the information they encounter online, making a crisis worse for a business.

Therefore, businesses need a clear and effective social media crisis management strategy to prevent and mitigate the damage.

How can businesses respond to social media backlash effectively and protect their reputation?

In this article, we will cover the following aspects of crisis communication on social media:

• The importance of having a crisis communication plan
• The best practices for responding to social media backlash
• The common mistakes to avoid when dealing with social media backlash
• The tools and resources that can help you monitor and manage your online reputation

Having a Crisis Communication Plan

The first step to deal with social media backlash is to have a crisis communication plan in place. A crisis communication plan is a document that outlines the goals, strategies, roles, and procedures for communicating with your audience during a crisis.

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A crisis communication plan should include the following elements:

1. A crisis team: A group of people who are responsible for managing the crisis communication process. The team should include representatives from different departments, such as PR, marketing, customer service, legal, and IT. The team should also have a designated spokesperson who will communicate with the media and the public.
2. Potential crisis scenarios: A list of potential crisis scenarios that could affect your business and how they could impact your reputation, operations, and finances. For each scenario, you should identify the possible causes, triggers, audiences, messages, channels, and actions.
3. A crisis response: A set of guidelines and templates for responding to different types of crises on social media. The response should be timely, transparent, empathetic, consistent, and accurate. The response should also address the following questions:
   1. What happened?
   2. What are you doing about it?
   3. What are you doing to prevent it from happening again?
   4. How can you help your customers?
4. A crisis evaluation: A method for measuring the effectiveness of your crisis communication efforts and identifying areas for improvement. You should track and analyze key metrics, such as reach, engagement, sentiment, feedback, and resolution.

Why is having a crisis communication plan important?

Having a crisis communication plan can help you:

• Prepare for the unexpected: You never know when a crisis will strike or how it will affect your business. A crisis communication plan can help you anticipate potential issues and prepare for them. This way, you can avoid being caught off guard or overwhelmed by the situation.
• Respond quickly and effectively: When a crisis happens, time is of the essence. Having a crisis communication plan can help you respond quickly and effectively to your audience and minimize the damage.
• You can use your predefined templates and procedures to craft your messages and deliver them through the appropriate channels. You can also assign roles and responsibilities to your team members and coordinate your actions smoothly.
• Protect your reputation: When a crisis happens, your reputation is at stake. Having a crisis communication plan can help you protect your reputation and restore trust with your audience. You can use your predefined messages and actions to show that you care about your customers and that you are taking responsibility for the issue.
• You can also use your predefined metrics and methods to evaluate your performance and improve your communication skills.

How to create a crisis communication plan?

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To create a crisis communication plan for your business, you can follow these steps:

1. Define the objectives of your crisis communication plan and articulate what you aim to achieve with your communication efforts. Clearly outline the desired perception of your organization during and after the crisis.
2. Identify the stakeholders affected by or interested in the crisis. Analyze their communication methods, needs, expectations, and concerns.
3. Enumerate the potential crises that may impact your business, assessing their likelihood, severity, and ramifications for your reputation, operations, and finances.
4. Articulate the key messages you intend to convey to your audience for each scenario. Determine the essential facts to share, emotions to express, and actions to take or recommend.
5. Specify the most suitable communication channels for engaging with your audience during each scenario. Develop a strategy for channel usage based on different communication purposes, ensuring a consistent and coherent message.
6. Establish your crisis team, defining the roles and responsibilities of its members. Clarify how they will communicate and collaborate internally and coordinate with other departments or external partners.
7. Identify the tools and resources required for executing your crisis communication plan, including access, utilization, and management. Plan for team training in the proper use of these resources.
8. Create a framework for evaluating the effectiveness of your crisis communication plan. Identify the key metrics to track analyze, and establish procedures for data collection, storage, and reporting. Utilize the data to enhance your communication strategies and plans.

Best Practices for Responding to Social Media Backlash

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When a crisis occurs and you face social media backlash, you should follow these best practices to handle the situation:

1. Acknowledge the issue: Don't ignore or delete negative comments or posts on social media. Instead, acknowledge the issue and express your concern and apology. This will show that you care about your customers and that you are taking the matter seriously.
2. Provide updates: Don't leave your audience in the dark or make them wait for too long. Provide regular updates on the issue's status and the actions you are taking to resolve it. Use multiple channels to reach your audience, such as your website, blog, email newsletter, and social media platforms.
3. Be honest and transparent: Don't lie or hide information from your audience. Be honest and transparent about what happened, why it happened, and what you are doing about it. If you don't have all the answers yet, say so and promise to share them as soon as possible.
4. Be empathetic and respectful: Don't be defensive or arrogant when dealing with social media backlash. Be empathetic and respectful to your customers and their feelings. Listen to their feedback and complaints and try to understand their perspective. Thank them for their patience and loyalty and offer them solutions or compensation if appropriate.
5. Take action and follow up: Don't just say sorry and hope for the best. Take action and follow up on your promises. Implement corrective measures and preventive actions to avoid similar crises in the future. Communicate with your customers and let them know how you have improved your products or services. Ask for their feedback and suggestions on how you can serve them better.

Examples of good responses to social media backlash:

1. KFC:

In 2018, KFC faced a major crisis when it ran out of chicken in hundreds of its UK outlets due to a supply chain issue. The fast-food chain faced backlash from angry customers who vented their frustration on social media. KFC responded by acknowledging the issue, apologizing sincerely, providing updates regularly, offering refunds or vouchers, and making fun of itself with a witty ad campaign that rearranged its logo from KFC to FCK. The ad was widely praised for its honesty, humor, and humility.

2. JetBlue:

In 2007, JetBlue stranded thousands of passengers on planes for hours during a winter storm. The airline faced a huge backlash from furious customers who complained about the poor service and treatment on social media. JetBlue responded by acknowledging the issue, apologizing profusely, providing updates frequently, offering refunds or vouchers, and launching a customer bill of rights that promised better service and compensation in the future. The Bill of Rights was widely applauded for its transparency, accountability, and generosity.

3. Starbucks:

In 2018, Starbucks faced a major crisis when two black men were arrested at one of its Philadelphia stores for allegedly trespassing while waiting for a friend. The incident sparked a huge backlash from outraged customers who accused the coffee chain of racial discrimination and bias on social media. Starbucks responded by acknowledging the issue, apologizing sincerely, providing updates regularly, offering free coffee or food, and closing more than 8,000 stores for a day to conduct racial bias training for its employees. The training was widely praised for its empathy, respect, and commitment.

Common Mistakes to Avoid When Dealing with Social Media Backlash

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When dealing with social media backlash, you should avoid these common mistakes that could worsen the situation:

• Being unprepared: Don't wait until a crisis happens to start planning your communication strategy. Have a crisis communication plan ready and train your staff on how to use it.
• Being reactive: Respond before social media backlash escalates. Be proactive and monitor your online reputation regularly. Identify potential issues early and address them before they become crises.
• Being inconsistent: Don't send mixed or conflicting messages to your audience. Be consistent in your tone, voice, style, and content across all your communication channels. Align your messages with your brand values and mission.
• Being insensitive: Don't make jokes or trivialize the issue. Be sensitive to your customers and their emotions. Avoid using jargon, slang, or acronyms that could confuse or offend your audience.
• Being silent: Don’t disappear or go offline during a crisis. Be present and active on social media and engage with your audience. Answer their questions, address their concerns, and provide them with valuable information.

Tools and Resources for Monitoring and Managing Your Online Reputation

To help you monitor and manage your online reputation, you can use the following tools and resources:

1. Hootsuite: It’s a social media management tool that allows you to manage multiple social media accounts from one dashboard. You can schedule posts, monitor conversations, and respond to comments, analyze performance, and more. Hootsuite can help you streamline your social media activities and engage with your audience effectively.
2. Mention: It’s a media monitoring tool that allows you to track and analyze any mention of your brand, products, competitors, or keywords across the web and social media. You can set up alerts for any topic and receive real-time notifications whenever someone talks about you online. Mention can help you measure your online reputation, identify influencers, and manage crises.
3. ReviewTrackers: It is a customer feedback software that allows you to collect, manage, and respond to online reviews from various platforms. You can track your ratings, sentiments, trends, and insights across all your review sites. ReviewTrackers can help you improve your customer satisfaction, loyalty, and retention.

Final Thoughts

Social media backlash can be a serious threat to your business reputation and success. However, with a good crisis communication plan and the right tools and resources, you can handle social media backlash effectively and protect your brand image.

Acknowledging issues, providing transparent updates, and displaying empathy are crucial steps to regain trust. Taking prompt, decisive action and following up ensure a proactive approach.

With these strategies, organizations can navigate the challenges of crisis communication in the age of social media, safeguarding their reputation and fostering stronger connections with their audiences.