Still not involved with social media?
It’s rare to hear of a crisis now that did not involve social media in any capacity, and fact is the majority involve it a great deal. When someone hears a nasty rumor about your company they don’t pick up the phone and call your info line, they log onto services like Twitter and Yelp! to search, or post a query to whomever feels like responding.
What happens, then, if you don’t have a group of active social media accounts? Or maybe you do, but they are so out of date that nobody remembers the passwords? An Eye on FDA article offers advice:
“…if you don’t have social media assets that will allow you to respond and get your messaging into play on the matter, then you should know what kinds of social media assets your strongest allies have and how you can leverage them. But once the crisis starts, if you don’t have these assets yourself, it is too late to develop them and likewise, if you have not assessed those of your allies, you will now lose valuable time.”
I would even say that relying on an ally’s social media assets is taking things too far. With literally thousands of services and free tools out there available to help manage social media, there is no excuse for not having firm control of your very own. Even if you are truly too busy to handle it internally, there is a massive market for affordable outsourcing on the Web.
When it comes time for crisis management, social media will be involved. Be prepared.
The BCM Blogging Team
https://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/