During an Emergency or Crisis, Use Your Network for Reach and Your Website for Credibility

From Social Media Today: 

Crisis Communications in the Network Age

Crisis management is just part of the reputation and community management we execute on a regular basis.

Emergency preparedness has been on our minds lately with the 2013 Hurricane Season already experiencing its third named storm.

Click here to learn how to prepare your office and data for an emergency such as a hurricane from Total Network Technologies.

It's important not only to prepare internally, but also to prepare your staff for any external questions and customer service.

Here's what we suggest you do:

1. Let your clients know how they can get in touch with you in case of an emergency BEFORE they need that information.
2. Inform your clients as to where they can find your company updates.
3. Social media sites can be hacked very easily. For your company updates, make the home for your updates be your website. This lends credibility. Plan to use your social media networks to reach your customers and fans and spread your message.
4. The space on your website for emergency updates should be easily accessible and user-friendly.
5. Make sure all of your employees know answers to common customer service questions and know where to direct customers if they receive a more complex question.
• During recent events and emergencies, Facebook, Twitter, and other social networking sites have proven to be the place where people go first for updates. In the event of a company emergency, it is important that your all employees can monitor complaints and stay informed and knowledgeable to contain the possibility of chaos. You want your company to be a source of peace of mind and factual, relevant information. Employee preparation will make this happen.
6. Make sure your employees know where your emergency updates will be posted and who will be posting them.
7. Put someone in charge of going through your social media account to halt and/or reschedule ALL of your scheduled posts. If you have clients or sponsors whose scheduled posts or releases were scheduled during the emergency period, that person needs to alert your clients about the change and inform them of the rescheduled deployment date and time.

There are many more things you can do that best fit your business model, industry, and community culture.

Calzone can help you create your community management plan. Call us at 337-235-2924 ext. 0.