In life, and in business, reputation is everything. Social media can both create and solve crises, and the incredibly fluid nature of social conversations requires brands to be on a constant state of readiness. Even a corporate PR director could create a crisis on Social Media just like how Justine Sacco did with the famous Aids tweet !
Social Media become a risky business and digital conversations firestorms can cause real damage to your brand reputation if you did not deal with it successfully! Some brands do it right and even can transform the backfire into a positive buzz.
Cairo Runners Case
This positive initiative have been spreading a positive energy in Cairo by exhilarating running experiences every Friday. Cairo’s latest fitness craze, Cairo Runners, which is the first and largest urban running group in Cairo. Along 2 successful years has grown to be an active running community that sees regular more than 2,000 participants, as well as a non-profit organization specialized in planning marathon events in the heart of the Cairo.
Cairo Runners usually using #WERUNCAIRO slogan. But few days ago they have proven they also have the skills to run Social Media management elite skills after they have managed a negative feedback and actively attract attention bye giving a lesson how to maintain your fans reactions on digital media after publishing one of the finest Social Media Crisis Communication statements in 2014.
It started when they decided to celebrate Cairo Runners 2 year anniversary with a touch of inspired paint run. But! cleanup plans failed ! The reaction on Social Media was fast by simply show respect to the community when they sent an apology statement to explain the massive color attack for the residents of Zamalek and clarify that they ware ready for the paints mess but the cleaning company was a no-show and they couldn’t manage to find a replacement on such a short notice.
Social Media Crisis Management
Businesses often turn to communicate on social media channels to stir passion and activity within communities where their online audience interact. But not always it go smoothly as by applying your digital media presence, you become vulnerable to angry customers attacks and maybe brand blackmailing. Social Media become the new Public Relation, as most of the crisis might face a business is sourced from digital media specially Twitter devoted to the fast nature of the micro-blog social media.
Also Read: Vodafone Getting Laid In The Shade Tweetbomb
3 Ingredients in the Perfect Social Media Crisis Management
Social Media crisis detection and monitoring strategies. Brands should waste no time diving into the conversation the moment a crisis strikes. Find in 3 easy steps how to effectively manage a Social Media Crisis:
Admit it
From Abla Fahita to The Left Bank data is useless unless you can convert it to information and ultimately into knowledge. The sooner you can capture and evaluate a crisis, admit it to prove to customers that you are present and dedicated to addressing the issue. This will allow you to earn your customers’ trust and respect. Also note that It’s hard to deal with something you can’t see. So, its highly recommended to start seeking some sort of social media listening tools to be applied in your organization then find ways to understand then convert the data into useful information.
Work to fix to the problem
Social Media shifted the definition from of your people from Target Audience into Active Users, meaning : this platforms gave your customers a voice to express their feelings about your brand, They can give positive and or, negative reviews to evaluate your service and or, products.
Honest explanation and personal apology well received can stop the negative buzzword and the damage to the brand reputation. You still can use the negative reviews as a chance for enhancements and better re-develop your business quality to keep your reputation dash-boards in the green area. Also, a compensation to an angry customer will end up with positive or, at-least a neutral feedback.
Promise it will never happen again
The risks of social media are well-known, be sure you have the way to quickly escalate and resolve the issue with no-repeat. And you should be aware to change the internal operations to prevent facing a new crisis. Your fans will not like to see a repeated mistake appear in Facebook news feed or, more angry tweets again
To sum up what we can learn: Don’t think about defensive approach to a Social Media Crisis. The best crises handle is to respond pro-actively at the right time with the right solution.
After reading this article, you might ask: What is the future of communications?
