Social media failsWhat happens when things go wrong and how to fix it

As well as knowing when your brand needs social media, and what platform

it’s best suited to...

...you need to know what to do when it goes wrong

Brands are no longer in controlTHE MOMENT A

BRAND OPENS A FACEBOOK PAGE

OR A TWITTER ACCOUNT, THEY

ARE HANDING A BIG CHUNK OF

CONTROL TO THEIR FANS AND

FOLLOWERS...

“Consumers can now openly challenge brands in an environment where there is scope to make a massive

amount of noise.”

“Companies can’t gag users, or ignore them. It is feasibly possible to hold brands to a certain extent of reputation ransom, at least for those firms that care

about their reputations (not all do)”

Econsultancy

Where can it go wrong?

1 Human error

2 Misjudging the audience

3 PR disaster

There is a big list of ways that social media end in disaster, but we will take a look at examples that fall under these three areas:

In some cases, brands have been known to fall foul of all three!!

Human error

ChryslerTHE TWEET WAS

DELETED AFTER A COUPLE OF MINUTES BUT

IT WAS LONG ENOUGH FOR FOLLOWERS TO SEE

IT AND RETWEET.

CHRYSLER POSTED A PUBLIC APOLOGY ON

THEIR BLOG. THE MISTAKE WAS MADE BY AN EMPLOYEE OF THEIR SOCIAL MEDIA AGENCY

AND HE WAS DULY FIRED NOT LONG

AFTER, AND CHRYSLER PULLED THE ACCOUNT.

American Red CrossSIMPLE CASE OF

TWEETING FROM THE WRONG ACCOUNT, BUT THIS TIME RED CROSS TURNED THE FAIL INTO

A SUCCESS WITH A COMEDY RESPONSE

WHICH LED TO DOGFISH HEAD GIVING THEM A

#FF AND INSTRUCTING THEIR OWN

FOLLOWERS TO DONATE TO THE RED CROSS, WHICH THEY DID. WITH THE RIGHT

BRAND AND IF YOU ARE QUICK, A NIGHTMARE

CAN BE TURNED INTO A SUCCESS STORY

1. Need to have approval and sign off processes in place...and always double check after the update has been posted.

2. If it is wrong, take it down immediately and monitor the reaction. Were you quick enough?

1. Yes - Amend and re-post where possible.

2. No - If you were not quick enough or the situation is serious, escalate and follow your crisis management plan

But most importantly, run your personal Twitter account from somewhere different to the brand account.

Rules to avoid human error

Misjudging the audience

Kenneth ColeTHIS SHOWS THAT EVEN

WITH THE OWNER OF THE BUSINESS BEHIND THE WHEEL IT CAN STILL GO

HORRIBLY WRONG WHEN YOU MIS JUDGE THE

AUDIENCE

THIS WAS PUBLISHED IN THE HIGHT OF THE

EGYPTIAN REVOLUTION WHEN TWITTER WAS

BEING USED BY EGYPTIANS TO

COORDINATE DEMOS. THE RESULT WAS PUBLIC OUTCRY AND A FORMAL

APOLOGY FROM KENNETH COLE HIMSELF

Ragu

RAGU TWEETED AT INFLUENTIAL DADS

WITH A SHORT VIDEO BASHING DADS FOR

NOT BEING ADVENTUROUS WITH

THEIR COOKING

AMONG THE BLOGGERS CONTACTED WAS CC

CHAPMAN, A KEY INFLUENCER AND

PROUD FATHER, WHO FOUND THE VIDEO

HIGHLY OFFENSIVE AND BLOGGED ABOUT IT,

LEADING TO A TRENDING HASHTAG, #RAGUHATESDADS

Rules to avoid misjudging the audience

1. Think before you post.

2. Really think before you post!

3. Is what you are about to post relevant and value adding to the audience? If the answer is ‘no’ you probably shouldn’t post it.

4. When it goes wrong, it goes wrong very fast so be prepared with a robust crisis management plan.

PR disaster

KryptoniteTOUTED AS BEING THE

MOST SECURE BIKE LOCK ON THE MARKET, A

VIDEO POPPED UP SHOWING THE

‘EVOLUTION 2000’ BEING PICKED WITH A BIRO

RATHER THAN ACKNOWLEDGE THE FAULT, KRYPTONITE STAYED SILENT AND

MISSED A GREAT OPPORTUNITY TO

CROWD SOURCE THE R&D OF THE NEXT

GENERATION OF LOCKS WITH THEIR FANS AND

FOLLOWERS

Rules for avoiding a PR disaster

1. Depending on the scale of the issue, you might have to resign yourself to damage limitation

2. Employ social media best practice and put that crisis management plan into practice

3. Keep fans and followers updated. There is nothing worse than unchecked rumours to fuel the fire

4. Is this a negative that could be turned into a positive?

But most importantly, TALK TO YOUR AUDIENCE, DON’T GIVE THEM THE SILENT TREATMENT

How to prepare

Social media crisis management plan

AgilityThe

personal touch

Openness

Moving quickly

Speaking to customers in a

personal tone of voice

Transparency and honesty

In simple terms, these three golden rules should always apply:

GREAT

YOU CAN LET THE POST STANDOR RESPOND WITH THANKS

SHOULD YOU RESPOND?

IS THE POST POSITIVE?

IS THE POST FACTUALLY INCORRECT

OR MISGUIDED?

IS THE POST FROM AN UNHAPPY CUSTOMER, ( A POOR EXPERIENCE

INSTORE / WITH PRODUCT / FROM COLLEAGUE ETC)?

RESPOND DIRECTLY TO THE POST WITH THE CORRECT FACTUAL

INFORMATION AND LINKS TO

FURTHER DETAILS

DO NOT RESPOND

LET THE POSTSTAND IF

IT’S A NEUTRAL POSTING

SHOW GRATITUDE FOR POSITIVE

FEEDBACK

IS THE POST OFFENSIVE, DEFAMATORY OR

DEGRADING IN NATURE?

RESPOND AND RECTIFY THE SITUATION

ACT APPROPRIATELY AND DEMONSTRATE HOW WE WILL LEARN FROM THE SITUATION AND IMPROVE THESERVICE /

PRODUCT IN FUTURE

REMOVE POSTS FROMINDIVIDUALS OR GROUPS

DEEMED TO BE OFFENSIVE / ABUSIVE LAUNGUAGE WHERE APPROPRIATE

RESPOND TO THE POSTER (3 STRIKES AND YOU’RE

OUT APPROACH)

MONITOR THE SITE FOR PERSISTENT OFFENDERS

(WARN/ REPORT / REMOVE FAN AS APPROPRIATE)

NO

NO

NO

YES

YES

YES

YES

YESNO

At a granular levels, you should be prepared for a range of situations:

Social media crisis management plan

In any situation...

Listen Prepare Be openBe

consistent

Take action

Listen to the conversation happening around your brand

Prepare a point of view and how you will aim to add value, or limit the damage being caused

Be open and honest in all of your communications, through all of your channels

Consistent communication across all of the stakeholders and consumer touch points to make sure there is no confusion

And finally, take action and put it all into practice.

Doing nothing, and hoping it will fix itself, is the worse thing you can do...