How to Avoid a Social Media Meltdown: 7 Tips

March 28, 2023 | Category: Blog, Branding, Crisis Communications Florida, Crisis PR, Media Relations, Public Relations, Social Media

crisis communications, crisis management, crisis PR, public relations, Red banyan, Red Banyan PR

Social media is an incredibly effective tool for sharing information online: you can target your audience, it’s fast and has an enormous reach. But the same reasons that make it so effective also make it risky. Misinterpreted comments and blatant mistakes online can grow into a raging fire fast. All it takes is a small spark and the internet can be ablaze with hate.

Taking action to prevent a social media meltdown and knowing what to do when an online firestorm erupts can be hugely effective when it comes to damage control. How you respond can reflect the way your brand is viewed by the public, which can affect your company’s bottom line.

Online reputation management, which involves taking broad look at all the elements that comprise your company’s online presence, is the best way to understand exactly what kind of image your business is presenting to the general public. And if an audit of your organization’s social media accounts yields some ugly surprises, you will need to act fast to shore up your organization’s overall image. What you do or don’t do can determine how the public views your brand or your business.

Here are 7 ways to prevent and deal with fallout on social media:

Be Proactive:

Develop interesting, meaningful content that provides added value that will inspire your customers to engage. Pay attention to all reviews and make sure to communicate.
Create a social media policy that outlines how employees should represent themselves and the brand on social media. A social media policy will also outline who has access to official company accounts and what online behaviors are prohibited. A social media policy could also address whether or not employees are permitted to access their personal social media accounts while at work. Having a social media policy in place ahead of time is a safeguard that can help prohibit a social media disaster from happening in the first place.
If you have a great story to tell, tell it first and in your own words. If you are trying to recover from something negative, become to go-to source instead of the alternative source. Tell your tale on social media and pay close attention to comments. Take control of the narrative and shine a light on the most positive elements of your story.
Never ever lie. Lies can cause long-term damage by undermining your credibility in ways that a mistake will not. Eventually, the truth will come out, and you could look worse than ever if you were not truthful in the first place. Few have sympathy for liars.
Target your response. If your business reputation is adversely affected, figure out who stands to lose the most. Loyal customers may give you a second chance if you come clean with them about what went wrong. Give your longtime customers the same respect you expect from them.
Keep close tabs on social media. Set up alerts so you know when your brand name comes up on social media and closely monitor what is being said. If something is said that is misleading or incorrect, weigh in with the correct information and try to set the record straight. Ignoring unfavorable comments simply cuts you out of the conversation. When a social media meltdown occurs, it’s important to recognize the long-term damage that can occur if you don’t act fast.
If something unfavorable about your brand crops up on social media, counter the negative posts with positive ones, address comments with truth and contact the media with your version of the facts. Don’t wait until you must respond to someone else’s version of the truth. If you made a mistake, own it and explain how you are going to correct the problem, so it never happens again.

Red Banyan‘s team of crisis PR and social media experts can assess the problem, implement a plan and take action. Speed matters when it comes to social media, because small mistakes can grow into huge problems fast, even if the accusations are not fact-based. Taking control of the narrative is key to surviving a social media meltdown and emerging safely on the other side. Our team of social media experts can guide you through the steps that are necessary to weather an online attack.