Chris Syme, a communications/socal media strategist and former sports information director, is a frequent contributor and CoSIDA convention/continuing education presenter. In conjunction with the CoSIDA staff and Kristi Dosh, Esq., Syme authored and analyzed the last two CoSIDA social media/social media education surveys that the membership participated in.
Follow Syme via her blog and Twitter. See the blog below online.
You get up in the morning, drink your coffee, workout, eat some protein, pour another cup of coffee as you check your phone, and there it is…a Google Alert for your brand name. You click on the alert only to find that some unknown person has blasted your brand for something that has been blown way out of proportion. You quickly jump on Facebook and Twitter and notice that same person has posted something not-so-nice about the incident. It has a couple retweets and a like or two. What do you do next?
The panic sets in. You think, What the heck just happened? I have to do something about this now. Even though your first instinct might be to jump on Twitter and address the accusation, correct the falsehood, or answer the angry question, don’t trust your first instinct. Or maybe your first thought is, I don’t give a crap about this idiot, and move on with your day, avoiding social media. You think, This isn’t true– it will go away. Nobody will believe that. Wrong again. Truth is already being defined by the angry social media poster.
If you have an incident management plan, you know what to do. If you do not, there are some initial steps you can take to help decide when and if you will respond. Optimum mediation of any negative issue involves some initial assessment. Here are five steps you need to take before you decide whether or not to respond to a social media issue. Investigation is required to determine the appropriate response. I like to use the old school journalism “5 W’s” as a guide for assessment. I just tweak their order of appearance.
1. What happened? Can you make a phone call and verify the event, the accusation, or get the question answered? Is the issue personal or universal? Is the accusation, question, or issue a reality? Often brands are confused about what to do after a negative issue appears in social media. This is where you need a toolbox of tactics, or an incident management plan. This response chart from Agnes and Day (thanks to Melissa Agnes) is one of the tools that will help you sort out what happened and if you should respond. Also known as a triage response chart, it lends clarity to the process with an easy to answer “if this, then that” system. Here is another response chart example from Webster University.
If your initial assessment reveals that no response is needed right now, continue to gather information until the issue is mediated. Never assume that digital “quiet” means nothing is taking place. You’ve heard the saying, the calm before the storm? Be diligent in your investigation. If you don’t have them, start crafting some message points and holding messages. A holding message is a short communication you can post telling people you are aware of the issue, you are working on it, and you will get back to them with more information. It is usually done when it is apparent that an issue is escalating quickly and a response will be necessary. It gives you a little time to gather all the appropriate information for an initial response. Do not post one if you have no intention of following up. That will make things worse.
2. Who did this? Research the poster. What is their connection to the story? To your brand? Are they media? A disgruntled customer? A blogger with an anonymous tip? What is the degree of their connection? What is their level of influence? Are they repeating something they heard or something they experienced? Their degree of connection and level of influence will affect the escalation of the story. If you can’t find the answers, you may need help from someone in your organization with the skill to find the answers such as your social media or website manager. Do a Google search of the issue using some related keywords and brand nicknames to see if the issue has any traction. Conduct a Twitter search as well.
3. When did this take place? What is the time stamp on the first post you can find? Critical mass should be reached in the first four hours of an initial issue unless it surfaces overnight. According to Sysomos, 92 percent of retweets happen in the first hour. But I can tell you from experience that it may take a while for an issue to gain traction depending on the influencers and media that pick it up. Viral movement is related to influence plus reach. The bottom line: time is critical.
4. Where did this take place? Venue is also important. Is it an online customer service issue? Or did something very public take place? Did it take place within or outside your organization? Did someone get caught misbehaving in public? Try and run down just exactly where the issue is growing from. Again, you will probably need to solicit help from others in your organization if you don’t have an incident management plan.
5. Why did this happen? This is the big question. More than anything, the answer to this question will help you determine the escalation potential of the issue. Accident? Negligence? Indifference? Blind spot? Intent to cheat, discredit, or injure? As you move through those questions, the likelihood the issue will need a response increases. Find out the why as soon as you possibly can. However, just because it was an accident does not mean the issue shouldn’t get a response. It just helps to determine what the response will be.
The 5 W’s can help you determine when and if you should respond to a social media surprise. I’ve seen issues die out in a matter of a couple days and no response from the brand was needed. I’ve also seen an issue blow up in a couple hours and send a brand into a spin fest that they never quite recover from. It’s important to have an incident management plan as part of your communications policies.