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Social Media Crisis Management: How to handle a Brand Reputation Crisis

diksha
December 24, 2024
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According to a study, 80% of customers use social media to engage with a brand. Once you make a post on social media, it’s published and made its impact. However, you can delete it but users see your post within a few seconds. It leaves its mark within a few seconds. The social media posts leave a long-lasting impact within a few seconds. We have how some brands suffer due to their social media posts. In such a situation, a social media crisis management strategy comes into play.

In this culture, where people are quick to judge and spread information, having a social media crisis management action plan is very important.

What is the Social Media Crisis?

A social media crisis is simply a situation where a negative activity that could be a result of your post, ineffective customer service, etc directly harms the reputation of your brand. There are many reasons why a post on social media gets negative reactions. Content that disrespects equality, and diversity often hurts people’s sentiments. Also promoting your brand aggressively during a world crisis such as a pandemic, war, etc could result in negative reactions and perceptions. Applauding a hate comment can also trigger people.

All the mistakes that a brand commits unintentionally can result in a social media crisis. Random criticism, trolls, etc doesn’t account for a crisis. A social media crisis is one where your inbox is flooded with negative messages, negative mentions, customers calling you to cancel orders, customers spreading bad word of mouth, legal action against your brand, etc.

Predicting the audience’s behaviour is tricky and if you fail in it then the result would be worse. Having a social media crisis management plan helps brands address, manage, and resolve crises at the correct time before they turn into serious and irreversible situations. A social media crisis management action plan identifies potential threats because it uses data-driven reports that can predict potential threats. It also enhances the communication of the brand and allows brands to take quick action in times of crisis.

How to plan a Social Media Crisis Management Action Plan

82% of customers trust social networking sites for making a buying decision. Also around 77% of millennials and Gen Z shop on social platforms. For these reasons, you must maintain a good reputation on social media platforms. Sometimes while acting in the best interest of your customers, you might offend them. In such a scenario you must have a social media crisis management plan to resolve the crisis as soon as it arises. Here is a short and easy guide on how to plan a social media crisis management action plan.

Identify Problem: The first in preparing a crisis management action plan is to identify the problem and its source. The problem doesn’t need to arise due to online posting or behavior, it can be due to a public remark or newsworthy event that led to a crisis-like situation. Finding the cause of the problem is very important to find an effective solution. Even if the crisis started offline you will feel its impact online. You should monitor the conversation and mentions of your brands and understand user sentiment. You must check if the situation has led to a social media trend, the harm it has caused you, and which social media platform is receiving more hate. Once you identify the problem and its cause, you must resolve the issue and spread it effectively across different social media platforms.
Define Crisis and Problem: Study the seriousness of the situation, is it a problem or a crisis? Both situations are different and require different action plans. A problem is whenever a customer contacts you because their product is not working, or they can’t avail an offer, etc. All these are minor problems and can be resolved with customer service, refunds, etc. however crises arise when multiple users collectively criticize your brand and demand a response or apology. Because the problem is complex and wide, you need special strategies to combat it.
Execution: When you have designed an effective action plan you must execute it on time. You must prepare an internal flow chart that divides the work of different teams. Customer service and executive managers should adopt smart strategies and communicate more clearly with customers. If required, senior management staff can also initiate a conversation.
Social Media Posting: Avoid posting anything on social media until the crisis is resolved. Avoid sending emails as well. This shows that you are determined to resolve the issue.
Evaluate Crisis Management Action Plan: At the same time monitor and evaluate your action plan. Study how effective it is and how customers respond to it.

Social Media Crisis Management Example

Big and small brands, none is prone to a business crisis. It is unexpected and can happen anytime. Here are some of the real-life business crises that a brand faces and their reaction to them.

H&M: H&M was accused of racial advertising when a picture of a black child wearing a green hoodie with printed words on it was posted by the website. The words were “coolest monkey in the jungle”. Several users felt offended and accused H&M of racial advertising. They were so angry that they refused to buy from them. One of their partners, That Weeknd announced that he would end his partnership with them. The brand issued an official statement to express their regret.
Nike: Zion Williamson, a basketball player for Duke University was hurt when his Nike shoe ripped during a game. He slipped and hurt his knee, which forced him to leave the game. Users criticized Nike for its product failure and its stock closed down 1.05% the next day. Customers started criticising them for poor quality at the same time rival shoe brand Puma also made a post on how Williamson’s injury would have happened in Pumas. However, they have deleted the post now. Soon after this incident, Nike offered an official statement that quality and performance of their products is their top priority and they are finding the cause behind this incident.
Burger King: On International Women’s Day, they sparked controversy by making a post that stated that “women belong in the kitchen”. The company was accused of making an insensitive and sexist comment. However, they aimed to poke fun at the sexist phrase and highlight the female cooks in the restaurant but the tone was lost on the social media platform and received heavy criticism. Their social media team issued an apology and spent the rest of the day issuing the explanations and deleting the post.

A social media crisis can happen to any brand. To manage and resolve a crisis you must remain calm, well-prepared, and creative. A crisis can occur at any time so you must be prepared to protect the reputation of your brand. Contact Lumia 360 for smart digital solutions related to online reputation management, social media optimization, and much more. We design customized solutions for different brands depending on their nature and needs.