Ten years ago, I developed a crisis communications plan and training workshop for executives of a regional pizza chain.
As part of the planning process, I had to present feasible crisis scenarios that this company might face--a food poisoning outbreak, workplace violence, fatal collision, employee theft, fire, earthquake, high profile lawsuit, etc.
By anticipating these scenarios, I could help the organization's executives prepare and be ready to hit the ground running in a crisis.
If I were working on that project today, I would definitely be incorporating social media into the scenarios both as a threat and an opportunity.
Domino's Pizza showed last week exactly how social media can be both the problem and the solution. In case you missed it, two dimwitted Domino's employees made a YouTube video of themselves tampering with the food they were preparing and acting in ways sure to get them fired if not criminally charged. They uploaded the video April 13 and it got noticed--quickly!
Domino's shut down and sanitized the store, fired the employees (who've also been charged by the local D.A.'s office with a felony), posted a response on YouTube from the company's U.S. president, and launched a Twitter feed from its corporate headquarters to engage directly with customers and commentators.
This example should serve as a wake-up call to any organization that hasn't upgraded its crisis communications plan to include both social media as a communications tool but also social media as a crisis accelerant!
Social Media as Crisis
Social media backlashes now constitute a crisis of their own. Therefore, if you haven't done this already, it's high time your organization thought about and prepared for the possibility of a social media crisis.
Take the Motrin mom backlash on Twitter over the release of a tongue-in-cheek Motrin campaign targeting baby-wearing mothers as an example. The entire crisis was initially confined to the 3.4 million unique visitors on Twitter in November 2008 and a vocal sub-set of those who were offended by the campaign. Ultimately, their complaints and discussions became the number one trending topic on Twitter, which attracted the attention of traditional media like USA Today as well as the Motrin makers. The campaign was pulled and apologies made.
In March 2009, Twitter was visited by 14 million people. This growth in just four months is staggering, particularly now that it exceeds the combined print circulation of the top five daily newspapers in America.
While in terms of website traffic (a fairer comparison), CNN.com had over 30 million unique visitors last month--or double Twitter--Facebook.com drew in 91 million. (See the stats via Compete.com.) Based on their numbers and reach alone, these social media sites definitely matter to anyone charged with managing communications for their organization.
Think of each 'user' of a social media site as a potential 'contributor' with the ability to shape opinion or break news themselves. Then you then get the full idea of how quickly a social media backlash can spread on a site like Twitter and why having a crisis plan ready to trigger in response is so essential.
Social Media as Solution
While the bad news is that social media can wreak havoc, the good news is that you can also harness its power in response to any type of crisis--and, in fact, you should.
In your crisis communications plan, your social media section should set out who is in charge of content for the organization's Twitter feed, blog, YouTube channel, and Facebook updates--to name a few. Login information should be at the ready so that the organization is not inadvertently locked out at the precise moment when these communications tools are needed.
The social media or community manager must be at the table along with the organization's media spokesperson and decision-makers. In a crisis, the social media message must be consistent with all other message points. And because of the immediacy of social media -- which makes it even quicker than a press release -- under no circumstances should social media communications be left to someone without first-hand knowledge of the situation and direct access to the organization's leadership.
Credibility is key in a crisis. And for your organization's communications to hold the high ground in social media circles, they need to be timely, accurate and authentic.
If you're not timely, other commentators will fill the vacuum with opinion, speculation, and innuendo. If you're not accurate, your mistakes will be outed immediately and contribute to the crisis. And if you're not authentic, you'll be ignored or, worse, ridiculed.
With live streaming video possible from a cell phone or laptop, and so many channels for sharing information with stakeholders and the public, social media used correctly during a crisis should be an opportunity for a smart and prepared organization to build its relationships with stakeholders and enhance its image and reputation.
So if your organization has no crisis communications plan or hasn't reviewed and updated its plan in several years, dust it off and upgrade it for compatibility with Web 2.0!
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