1. Crisis Plan
Define what counts as a crisis
If negative comments are made about NAAEE by individuals in the press or online, and it's coming from
more than one entity at the same time, NAAEE should consider responding to this as a public relations
crisis to address it. Ongoing social listening work should give you a pretty clear idea of what a typical day
looks like for your brand, so use that as a tool to understand abnormal and bad days. For negative
comments to count as a crisis, there needs to be the risk of long-term damage to NAAEE
Working with the Media
The media can play an essential role in informing the community, but can also highlight the crisis with or
without the help of NAAEE. Depending on the level and duration of the crisis, the number of media
representatives and requests for information can increase exponentially. The most important members
of the media are reporters (newspaper, radio and TV) who NAAEE has a pre-establish working
relationship. As a result, the communications team should work most closely with these members of the
media.
● Appoint a liaison to address logistics and needs for the media.
● Scheduled press updates and released statements are the most efficient and effective way to brief
the media.
● Communicate through press updates so that all media receive the same information at the same
time.
● If you set a time for a media briefing. keep it. Even if you do not have new information, it is
important to provide the media with an up-to-date statement.
Guidelines to a Crisis
● Establish a hierarchy. Establish a chain of command and an approval process.
● Take ownership. The worst thing to do during a social media crisis is nothing. Instead of hoping it
will blow over, have an internal meeting and prepare for the next course of action(s).
● Stop all scheduled posts. During a social media crisis, scheduled posts will make NAAEE look callous
or indifferent at best. If there are scheduled posts, stop them immediately.
● Engage but don’t argue. Once NAAEA has posted the initial response after the first meeting,
reconvene to get key staff working on a more in-depth message. That might mean a press release,
an official statement, or a letter or video from the Executive Director.
● Keep it short. Avoid getting pulled into a long discussion of what went wrong. Instead, try to move
the conversation to a more personal channel, like private messaging. Offer a phone number, email
address, or other means of communicating outside of social media.
● Check and Double-check. Get the facts before you speak. Nothing should be released that hasn’t
been checked and approved.
● Communicate internally. Communicating internally is a crucial part of crisis management response.
This keeps everyone on the same page and helps to prevent misinformation and the spread of
rumors. Everyone in the organization should know exactly what they should (or should not) say
about the crisis on social media.
2. ● Evaluate. In the moment, a social media crisis can feel like the end of the business world. Once you
have had time to draw breath, evaluate what happened.
● Key questions to ask after the issue has been resolved:
1. What caused the problem?
2. How could you stop it from happening again?
3. How well did you react?
● Learn from the experience. Once you make it through your first social media crisis, take the time to
debrief and examine what happened. Keep a detailed record of everything that was done, and how
well it worked. This is a good time to get the whole company together to talk about the experience
you’ve all been through, and share knowledge and experiences from different teams.
○ What could you do better next time? (Always assume there will be a next time.)
