Managing crisis in the

digital age

Presented by @matthewgain

THEY DON’T MAKE EM LIKE THEY USED TO

The old adage was that the first you would hear about a

crisis was when the media contacted you for comment.

By the time that happens today, potentially hundreds of

thousands of people are already aware of your issue

and sharing it amongst their friends.

Managing a crisis in the digital age requires rigorous

preparation, constant monitoring and a team that is well

prepared to ride the digital storm, converse naturally

and constantly whilst staying true to the golden rules of

crisis management.

Community

Managers on

staff

Community

Managers

through

partnership

DIGITAL CRISIS MANAGEMENT IS TRADITIONAL CRISIS

MANAGEMENT

Issue vs Crisis

Does the issue affect business as

usual, either now or in the future

Communication is part of the solution,

but it isn’t the solution

Identify the source of the crisis and fix

it

Remember the goal Restore business as

usual

SOCIAL MEDIA HAS CHANGED THE GAME

• 140 news cycle

• The speed from crisis to mass awareness reduced

• Citizen publishers

• Isolated issues now have the potential to gather

momentum and bubble up into mainstream media

• Influencers use social

• Even if you, your friends or your customers don’t

use social media

IT IS NOT GOING TO RETURN TO THE GOOD OLD DAYS

Community

Managers on

staff

Community

Managers

through

partnership

PREPARING FOR CRISIS COMMUNICATION

PREPARE TO FAIL

IT WILL HAPPEN

LISTEN CONSTANTLY

PREPARE TO RESPOND QUICKLY

REMEMBER ONLINE

VISIBILITY

TRAIN STAFF AND

PRACTICE

PREPARE TO FAIL

• Spend time with your leadership team to identify all

potential future crisis

• Prepare Q&As and reactive statements suitable for

media, social media and even Twitter

• Identify all potential touch points and train them all

• Get senior level buy in – VERY IMPORTANT

PREPARE TO FAIL: BUILD RELATIONSHIPS

• Once a crisis starts it is too late to look for friends

• Identify and partner with relevant partners and

develop relationships of mutual value

• Potential partners:

• Industry bodies

• Charities

• Government/ law enforcement

• Key opinion leaders – eg online influencers

academics/commentators

LISTEN CONSTANTLY

• Listen constantly for early

warning signs

• Free and paid tools help

monitor the landscape:

• Radian 6, Google alerts,

Twitter Search

• Identify online influencers

• Integrate into customer

service

• Shape messaging from

online conversations

PREPARE TO RESPOND QUICKLY

• Acknowledge issues quickly

and provide rapid updates

• Review all other proactive

business as usual comms

• Update constantly across all

communication channels, to

staff and stakeholders

• Prioritise respondents and

close discussions in one

conversation

ONLINE VISIBILITY: OWN THE FACTS AND THE DESTINATION

• Nobody is better positioned to own the facts about a

crisis than those in the middle of it. Owning the

location for facts about the crisis is crucial to ensure

the right information is getting out.

• This site could be:

• Your website/blog

• A specially designed dark site

• A dedicated community site where people

involved in the crisis can come together

• All communication should direct here

ONLINE VISIBILITY: SEARCH IS KING

• Search is the first destination for people seeking

information. Owning the top results for keywords

related to your search is crucial.

• A program of search engine marketing is the quickest

and most effective way to ensure your destination is

at the top of the results

• Other considerations:

• Social embassies rate well in search engines

• Ensure your existing web properties clearly point to

your crisis destination

Community

Managers on

staff

Community

Managers

through

partnership

USE SEM TO OWN THE CONVERSATION

TRAIN STAFF AND PRACTISE

• In a Web 3.0 environment everyone is a spokesperson.

Train widely about online engagement:

• Transparency is key – no astroturfing or

anonymous posts

• Engage in conversations do not delete material

• Be nice

• Practise crisis procedures with key team members

• Ensure community managers are briefed and

involved in any response

Community

Managers on

staff

Community

Managers

through

partnership

SUMMARY

PREPARE TO FAIL

IT WILL HAPPEN

LISTEN CONSTANTLY

PREPARE TO RESPOND QUICKLY

REMEMBER ONLINE

VISIBILITY

TRAIN STAFF AND

PRACTICE

Get in contact

Matthew Gain

Email –

matthewgain@hotmail.com

Phone – +61 434 481 133

Twitter – @matthewgain