Sh*t! I forgot a social media crisis plan

Fail to plan, plan to fail. Make sure you have a plan in place for the what ifs and holy ___ everything broke. Here are a few things to think about while designing your social media crisis plan:

Stop Scheduled Posts, Put Them Into Draft Mode: 

Make sure there aren't any scheduled posts going out while you're in the middle of a customer service "crisis." A few things could happen: it could appear as if you're ignoring the main problem by pushing out irrelevant content or it could potentially open your company up to more discrepancies with customers. For example; You’re a retail company that is about to schedule a post, "All pants on sale" but you have no pants in stock online -- this doesn’t look so great.

Be Where Your Customers Are:

Acknowledge and respond to the issue on all the channels on which your customers typically are. Respond to your customers where they reached out. If a customer tweets you, they expect you to tweet back, not email them. Some brands make the mistake of not searching for brand mentions on social networks where they don’t have a direct presence. Indirectly, they can still search for brand mentions on the social platforms. For example, you may not have a brand account on Instagram, but you should check it for mentions regardless.

A Simple Response is Better Than No Response:

Keep it simple and keep an open line of communication. Remember that during these situations, when all hands are on deck, your customers want you to acknowledge them. Many times brands feel that if they don't have all the answers, they shouldn't say anything at all. By not responding, or deleting negative comments, you can create a bigger problem than what you started with. So, acknowledge and address the issue to the best of your ability.

71% of consumers who experience a quick and effective brand response on social media are likely to recommend that brand to others, compared to just 19% of customers who do not receive a response. ~ NM Incite

32% of social customers expect a response within 30 minutes; 42% expect a response within 60 minutes. ~ Social Habit

Keep It Human - No Robots Allowed:

Empower your support team with training and tools, don’t discourage them from adding personality to the mix. Macros can serve as a good starting point, but trusting your team to respond accurately and promptly can go along way to humanizing your brand. When there's a problem, customers want to know that an actual human is aware of the issue. Say something more than "We're aware of the problem and our customer service team is working on it.” Repeat what the customer said to acknowledge the problem and follow up with an answer.

For example:

• Customer: My email is down. Fix it.
• Brand: "Oh no! We hate when email is down. We have a team that is looking into this now."

Utilize your brand ambassadors:

Your ambassadors can be your biggest allies during a crisis. Even if they’re also experiencing a crisis, they’re likely to be more understanding and more knowledgeable of the product than the average customer. Use this to your advantage - they’ll help spread the word by re-tweeting tweets and other social posts, providing your company with some additional time to address all customers. Reaching out to them via a private channel or closed group can not only help you diagnose the issue, but it also lends a neutral voice during a crisis.

With these tips, you can plan for failure without failing.

How have you handled a crisis on your company’s social media?

Let’s start a conversation in the comments below.