experienced crisis management professionals
The record cyber bank heist announced by the federal government on Thursday reminds us just how fragile the world of the internet really is. An environment we trust with our most private information is really a public highway of information up for grabs to hackers and criminals everywhere. Can you protect your information? Here are some quick resources to help you lower your risk and defend your organization against an attack.
Part of being social (as opposed to doing social) is monitoring what others are saying about you and knowing when to respond. In part one, I outlined the basics of setting up Twitter lists and Google Alerts to build the foundation of a simple online monitoring system.
What would you do if you woke up one morning, looked at your Facebook page, and saw hundreds of angry comments about your brand surrounding a thoughtless comment made by an employee? No matter what kind of crisis plan you have, there is nothing that can completely prepare you for what comes next.
When a business or organization has a crisis, media members scramble to be the first to report the news. Today, every journalist—print, digital, and television—has access to social media in real-time. The added pressure to hurry sometimes causes journalists to shortcut fact checking, use limited sources, and misquote people in their race to be first. How can you help? Here are five tips for helping the media stay accountable in a crisis. This is by no means an exhaustive list, and you are encouraged to add to the list in the comments.
If you have never had a negative event blow up on Facebook, your turn is probably coming. What are you going to do when a comment, post, picture, or news item goes viral in the wrong way? Here are five tips that will help you navigate the critical first 48 hours.
“Pay it Forward Day” is coming April 25, 2013. The phrase has an interesting history and was tearfully illustrated in the 2000 movie of the same name. Our culture values promoting others, and social media is a great example of that. Instead of picking a certain day of the week (#FollowFriday), we should have a regular habit of promoting our Twitter followers. Adding value to our followers is the best way to create not just a following, but a loyal following. Here are three un-cheesy ways to promote your Twitter community.
Most of us think of Twitter as a real-time news feed where people share what’s happening in 140 characters or less. But, a tweetless Twitter can be an important part of your marketing mix. If you’re not convinced that Twitter is for you because the idea of tweeting on a regular basis seems daunting, here are three ways to use Twitter to boost your business or organization without ever sending one tweet.
“Give and it shall be given to you” is one of the oldest proverbs from the Biblical gospels. Giving has a reciprocal reaction when done sincerely. If you add value to people with the intent of solving their problems, making their lives better, or just giving them a shout-out, you will receive back.
In my series on developing loyalty strategies that produce strong brand advocates, we’ve already looked at conversation building and crowdsourcing. When rating social media loyalty strategies, “add value” is at the top of the scale. But it is there for a reason—it takes the most work, but it produces the greatest rewards. And when it comes to crisis prevention, the support you’ll garner from implementing value-adding strategies will be your strongest shield.
In college athletics, the first official day of the fall season doesn’t wait until the third week of September. It occurs in August when the student-athletes begin to trickle back to campus for preseason camps. That is also the time that media relations staffs begin to reacquaint themselves with their teams by meeting with coaches, introducing ourselves to the newcomers and holding training sessions.
Last week I made the case for why crisis managers need to become fluent in social media engagement, or loyalty strategies. I believe the most important phase of crisis management is planning and training. Organizations that only react to crises without a plan run the risk of longer recovery and more damage than those who plan ahead. Part of that planning and training should be coaching organizations on how to use social media strategies that are designed specifically for building loyalty that can help shield them in a crisis.
