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1,000 to 10,000 to 1,000,000 followers; magic to any CEO’s eyes in today’s digital day and age. Where more followers on Twitter, Facebook and social media channels in general mean more exposure, sometimes that’s not such a good thing when the comments turn negative.
Where there are peaks there are troughs; where social media has built multi-billion dollar brands, it has crumpled others with communication disasters that only these hotshots could have fully recovered from. Where instant feedback and a million hits are exciting, when the good turns ugly how do you escape online slaughter?
Appoint someone qualified to manage your social media channels, who has the knowledge, authority and the access to handle issues as they come up. Being prepared with a strategy and the right person on your team, means you’re not fighting an unfair battle when terror strikes. You can also enlist the services of a public relations firm to handle crisis by forming a pre-emptive plan.
The worst thing you can do is not say anything at all. Don’t think you can just hit delete and it’ll all go away, you have to comment. Stay calm, don’t take it personal and address the concern raised.
If a comment contains information about you that is inaccurate or incorrect, don’t take it as negative criticism. Play an active role in correcting it by providing the right information, backing it with facts and figures that can be validated.
Communicate and engage with your stakeholders and fans and convert them into brand ambassadors. If defending you is a third-party endorser – that says a lot more than your Brand Manager whose job it in fact is to say good things about you.
The Midas Touch may be a legend, but you can turn the ugly into gold if you do it right. How you respond to negativity is key, and may even be an opportunity for you and your company to shine brighter than ever before with the right response. There are plenty of examples of PR disasters you can learn from and tips you can follow that might help you the next time you get a nasty message on your wall.
From negative to positive. How do you do it?