5 Tips for Using Company Twitter during Crises
To succeed, it is essential for companies to be able to effectively leverage social media platforms during crises. When your company is hit with bad news, people will likely comment and ask questions about what happened. This is why it is important to make sure that your organization stays engaged in the conversation keeping speculation and rumors at bay.
However, utilizing Twitter as one of your crisis communications tools requires a careful and well-calibrated approach. One wrong tweet can spiral out of control, spreading globally in a matter of minutes and exposing the brand to additional criticism.
Here are 5 tips that will help your company be more effective in using Twitter during PR crises:
1. Assign roles.
Make sure you pre-assign a specific person to be responsible for your company’s Twitter communication.
2. Create a hashtag for your crisis.
Upon starting your Twitter crisis response, create a hashtag that would accompany all of the tweets pertaining to the particular crisis. Make sure that your hashtag is simple and intuitive. This will allow others to easily find and share your updates.
3. Engage the public.
Don’t just passively post updates regarding your crisis response actions. Make sure to respond to incoming questions and refer people to your company website or hotline for additional information. Reach out to reporters and key influencers in your industry and make sure that they are aware of what is being done.
4. Avoid dry statements.
When responding to people’s questions or comments, don’t hide behind dry corporate statements. Such statements could come across as indifferent or detached from the problems of your stakeholders. Instead, use a conversational tone — be honest, open, and compassionate.
5. Monitor your Twitter presence.
Monitoring your social media mentions is always a good idea. However, it is especially important during PR crises. Keeping an eye on your Twitter mentions will provide crucial information about both negative and positive things people are saying about your company and enable you to better control the general conversation.
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