Crisis Management in the Digital World, presented by Rene Smith (@Reenazoid) at Digital Atlanta 2012

1. Crisis Management
in the Digital World
Rene Smith
Social Engagement Manager
Engauge
@reenazoid

2. A Little About Me
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3. A Crisis Can Happen to Anyone.

4. A Crisis Can Happen to Anyone
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5. A Crisis Can Happen to Anyone
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6. A Crisis Can Happen to Anyone
"With this many Flo's, you could be screwed out of your
progressive policy payout TEN TIMES all at once!"
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7. A Crisis Can Happen to Anyone
7

8. What Constitutes a Crisis?

9. 3 Key Elements of a Crisis
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10. 3 Key Elements of a Crisis
1. An Unexpected Event
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11. 3 Key Elements of a Crisis
2. Threat to organizations goals and image
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12. 3 Key Elements of a Crisis
3. Short Decision Time
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13. The Crisis Lifecycle

14. Volume of Chatter Crisis Lifecycle
Crisis Preparation Catalyst Response Recovery
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15. Phase 1: Crisis Preparation

16. 5 Keys to Crisis Preparation
1. Develop an action plan
2. Build relationships
3. Response matrix
4. Escalation plan
5. Employee social media policy
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17. Develop an Action Plan
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18. Establish a Crisis Team
Community Manager Brand Manager Public Relations Corp. Communication
Customer Service Analyst Legal C-Suite Executives
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19. Identify Levels of Crisis
Code Yellow Code Orange Code Red Off the Charts
Consumer issue Multiple complaints on Extensive social chatter Extensive social chatter
involving identified buzz the same issue Some media coverage Extensive media coverage
words
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20. Define Roles and Responsibilities
Identify issue Crisis
Crisis
with Management Crisis Escalation and Management Plan Activation
Averted
moderation on Standby
Scenario
Sample
No more posts Identify issue
Posts on Consumers continue to activate online. Major News outlet picks up
seen on page for with moderation
Facebook page the story, driving users to continue to post on Facebook.
6 hours
Community manager Brand responds to
Identify spike PR, Corp.
alerts brand issue on appropriate
Communication and Social, PR, Legal and Sentiment category
managers
Crisis Plan
in negative channel.
Activation
legal alerted to the Corp. Comm team stablished to
activity or issue. work to prepare a monitor specific
Analyst activates Social Influencers
articles being response, escalation trend on
listening respond on page as
shared on Brand discontinues acknowledging and daily, weekly and
consumers, monthly level.
regularly scheduled addressing the issue.
social Social Influencer circulating correct
posts.
briefed information.
Community Community
Community Community
Involved
Manager, Brand Manager, Brand
Parties
Community Manager, Brand Manager, Brand Social Agency,
Manager Manager, Manager, PR,
Manager, Manager Social Brand Manager
Analyst, Social Corp. Comm,
Analyst influencers
influencers legal, C-Suite
Execs
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21. Establish a Timeline
1-4 Hours 4-8 Hours 4-24 Hours 24-48 Hours
Escalate issue to key Analyze volume and Craft response(s) Post response
stakeholders sentiment
Obtain proper approvals Continue to monitor
Publicly acknowledge Provide recommended
the situation response
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22. Build Relationships with Influencers
It only takes 10% of a population to convince the
majority to adopt a belief. (RPI, 7/11)
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23. Create a Response Matrix
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24. Develop an Escalation Plan
Community Manager
Code Yellow Code Orange Code Red Off the Charts
Customer Service Analyst Brand Manager
Public Relations Corp. Communication
Legal
C-Suite Executives
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25. Establish an Employee Social Media Policy
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26. Phase 2: Crisis Catalyst

27. An Unexpected Event
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28. Monitor the Situation
Social
Community Listening
Management
Trends Sentiment
Volume
Influencers
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29. Phase 3: Crisis Response

30. Crisis Response
“Responding to word of mouth in times of
crisis is not enough.” – Brian Solis
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31. Follow the Established Crisis Plan
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32. Acknowledge the Situation
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33. Be Clear in Responses
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34. Don’t be Afraid to Apologize
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35. Call on Brand Spokespeople
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36. Communicate Through Appropriate Channels
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37. Evaluate Response Tactics
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38. Phase 4: Crisis Recovery

39. Crisis Recovery
“Effective crisis management does not end
when the social chatter subsides.” - Me
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40. Crisis Recovery
You need to continue to monitor ask
yourself these questions:
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41. Crisis Recovery
1. Was it limited to social?
2. What is the volume?
3. What is the sentiment?
4. How has it impacted your search results?
5. When should you return to business as usual?
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42. Dos & Don’ts of Crisis Management

43. Do
1. Be proactive
2. Follow established crisis plan
3. Acknowledge the situation
4. Be clear in responses
5. Communicate using appropriate channels
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44. Don’t
1. Operate business as usual
2. Ignore the situation and hope it will go away (it won’t)
3. Delete posts
4. Be afraid to apologize
5. Stop monitoring
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45. Questions?
Rene Smith
#DigATL
@reenazoid