@socialsimulator

Managing hostility and crises online

This morning

09:00 Best practice crisis communications 09:45 Crisis simulation: part 1 10:30 Break 10:45 Crisis simulation: part 2 11:30 Key takeaways for digital communication in a crisis 12:00 Finish

Simulations and exercises to get teams ‘match fit’

Social media ‘telescopes’ audiences together in a crisis

It exposes rogue employees…

http://twitter.com/davethroupEA

…and helps credible influencers to tell their story

What is crisis management?

Crisis Management Crisis

Communication

Incident Response

Emergency Response

Business Continuity

“making, implementing and communicating strategic decisions under exceptional circumstances of intense scrutiny, acute pressure and high organisational risk”

•  Strategic •  Reputation •  Long-term

•  Tactical •  Function •  Immediate

Where do crises come from?

Incident Issue

Internal

External

SAFETY

SECURITY POLICY

PERFORMANCE

Human error

Operational failure

Process failure

Collision Employee misconduct

Corporate malpractice

Industrial unrest

Data leak

Contamination

Whistle-blowing

NGO campaign

Consumer boycott Regulatory

intervention

Civil unrest

Perception shift Terror

attack

Cyber attack

Pollution

Pricing

NGO attack

Natural disaster

Customer service

System failure

Bad news travels faster

The staff error

The misjudged humour

The accident The customer

protest

The angry comment

The environmental campaign

Interactive channels take thoughtful management

The discussion moves quickly: how are you tracking it?

What’s different? What’s the same?

Same Different

•  Clear roles and responsibilities still matter

•  Objectives and strategy underpin and guide tactical delivery

•  Media reaches a lot of people

•  People want clear, straightforward information

•  Speed & depth

•  Media is just one audience for your messages

•  Driven by trust in people, not just organisations

•  The tools to investigate, speculate and mobilise are commonplace

Ingredients of a good response to hostility or crisis online

1.  Have the right channels to listen & respond

2.  Establish credibility

3.  Respond quickly

4.  Counter misinformation

5.  Draw on your supporters

6.  Plan how you’ll sustain your efforts

Tip 1: Use the right channels to respond

Tip 2: Establish credibility

Tip 3: Respond quickly

h"p://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-­‐news/manchester-­‐dogs-­‐home-­‐social-­‐media-­‐campaign-­‐takes-­‐off-­‐as-­‐owners-­‐post-­‐dog-­‐selfies-­‐9728372.html  

Tip 4: Counter misinformation

Tip 5: Draw on your supporters

Tip 6: Plan how you’ll sustain your effort

Putting it into practice…

https://jboye.crisis90.com

Key  takeaways:  How  to  stay  ahead  of  a  crisis  online  

Three tasks for digital communication

Listening Publishing Engaging

Theory meets painful reality

•  Who has sign off on social media channels in a crisis?

•  How do tone of voice and messaging change?

•  Can you resource social for a 24/7 crisis over several days?

Evaluation Resolution Maintenance Initial event Pre-crisis

Assess your ‘digital vulnerability’

1.  Search engine rankings for important keywords

2.  Website structure & resilience: how easy is information to find, and what volume of interest can the site handle?

3.  Social media channels (access, influence & process)

4.  Monitoring tools (access, keywords & process)

5.  Key staff online

Inspired by: melissaagnescrisismanagement.com

Things aren’t always what they seem: verify & monitor

http://arcticready.com/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMUFci_V4mU

Understand how people react in a crisis

Recovery, normalisation, humour, acceptance

Alerting, situational awareness

Emotional response, anger, empathy

Investigation, understanding, research, accountability

Who do we trust?

http://helpful.im/1q5gBR3

Social media looks to leaders who show their human side

Keep talking to your customers

Summary

1.  Social media rewards fast, human responses in line with your organisation’s personality

2.  Become a credible, transparent source of information, showing empathy

when people are shocked; competence when they want answers 3.   Avert problems: set rules for your channels, manage expectations,

monitor actively, build relationships 4.   Integrate social media response into your crisis planning: including

resourcing and approvals, and where customer service meets corporate news

Stay calm and peaceful!

Follow what’s going on social media crisis communication: Twitter: @socialsimulator Web: socialsimulator.com

Chris Malpass @chrissocialsim

Steph Gray @lesteph