Does your crisis response plan consider social media?

Every company, every organization, faces the public and community every minute of every day on social media. That is where many people will look to see how you respond to and handle adverse events – and where your customers and influencers of your customers will share their views and opinions.

Have you included in your crisis response plan how and when you will respond in social media?

Consider the lessons of Carnival Cruise Corp, described vividly in this article.

Does everybody who needs to act understand how to act? Can you afford to wait 6 days (as in the story) before addressing the issue?

How will you get the information to the right people, in a timely fashion, so they can respond appropriately? Don’t forget you need to notify and train everybody, from the board to the first-line employee and even your extended enterprise!

What will you do if somebody within your organization posts inaccurate of inappropriate comments?

What will you do if you are slammed with a volume of negative comments, even outright lies?

How will you monitor the effectiveness of your crisis response?