Crisis Management – Positive Model and Tips for Social Media Crises

You can fill whole books on the subject of crisis management, you do! Crisis management is as extremely diverse as products, services and people are. From the big shitstorm to negative ratings. You have to be prepared for critical moments in social media marketing. But the very best tip is, as always in entrepreneurship, keep a cool head. Hectic has never been a good remedy. Take a deep breath, have a cup of coffee, think about it. But don’t just think about the negative statements of people, but also about the possibilities you have to steer against them. Also deal with the contents, often the truth lies in the middle. Is there perhaps room for improvement in your own company? As you can see, we do not want to recommend you to go for confrontation in the field of crisis management. In critical situations we recommend a sober and objective approach.

Crisis intervention – Tip: Positive model

In our articles on conversation and interaction, we already had the golden tip that fits perfectly here in crisis intervention: always concentrate on the 99 out of 100 people who love their product or service and not on the 1 out of 100 who criticizes.

If you’re constantly dealing with criticism and negative statements instead of focusing on your benevolent fans, the overall mood on the channel is more overwhelming than positive. It affects the climate. Social media marketing is ultimately group dynamics from the real world. Quite simply said, as one calls into the forest, so it echoes out. So if we go into social media management or community management with a negative basic image, then our negative basic image will also be transferred to our fans. So you want to focus on the one person that will always be there? A negative comment, the negative evaluation? Or do you want to be there for the majority of your fans who love your product or service? Exactly, the focus is on the fans who are positively inclined towards their brand, service or product.

Suddenly the crisis is there – what should I do?

Despite a positive model, crises can arise. Through external influences, e.g. innovations in the general social picture, as well as climate change, but also through internal structures, the currently generally known leaks. Crisis situations can also arise much more easily, e.g. due to a wrong posting. A certain group of people feels attacked, not understood or even offended. Smaller waves are created immediately, which can become self-running through the influence of larger multipliers, i.e. people with a higher range or relevance. Suddenly people react to the topic who are not really directly affected, or even people who have nothing to do with it at all. Responding to these comments and remarks, as well as constructive criticism, will be difficult. It is not a matter of factual arguments, but of emotional statements.

Accordingly, an initial guideline must be developed adapted to the situation, the origins, the timing, various factors. The processes in the social networks are so fast that in today’s crisis management one no longer necessarily has 24 hours time, e.g. until the newspaper article appears. Every user can comment and rate immediately and unfiltered. This brings with it a great danger and, of course, long-term disadvantages that arise from this type of interaction.