How do you use social media to communicate effectively during a crisis?

Social media can be a powerful tool for communicating with your audience, especially during a crisis. But it can also backfire if you don't use it wisely and strategically. Here are some tips on how to use social media to communicate effectively during a crisis.

1 Assess the situation

Before you post anything on social media, you need to assess the situation and understand the impact, the cause, and the response of the crisis. You also need to identify your stakeholders, such as customers, employees, partners, media, and regulators, and prioritize their needs and expectations. This will help you craft a clear and consistent message that addresses the main concerns and questions of your audience.

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Claire Turner

Social Media and Digital Strategist
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It's really important that social media is part of a wider communications plan. Identify key stakeholders, prioritise them, and plan to communicate with them on the most appropriate channel. This might or might not be social media. Messaging should be consistent across all communication channels. It's also really important to utilise partners, employee advocates and others who can help you to reach key audiences via their own social media accounts. Tag other accounts and share useful content with partners to help maximise reach and engagement. Effective social media monitoring is also really important during a crisis for information gathering, countering misinformation, and assessing audience sentiment.

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Samantha Smith

Copywriter
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Prioritizing the needs and expectations isn't quite correct. You need to understand the impact, find out what is in your power to do (don't overpromise) and speak to that. You have to find a balance between addressing the issue and protecting your business.

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2 Be transparent and empathetic

One of the worst things you can do on social media during a crisis is to ignore it, deny it, or lie about it. This will only damage your reputation and trust. Instead, you need to be transparent and empathetic, and acknowledge the problem and its consequences. You also need to express your sympathy and compassion for those affected, and show your commitment and responsibility to resolve the issue. Avoid using jargon, sarcasm, or humor, as they can be perceived as insensitive or inappropriate.

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Roeshawn Hunter

Creative & Marketing Operations | Campaign & Project Support | Collaborating with Brand, PR & Strategy Teams
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You should also take accountability for the issue. It is important that you not only show responsibility to resolve the problem but that you own up to the fact that a mistake was made.

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3 Provide updates and solutions

Your audience will want to know what you are doing to address the crisis and what they can do to help or protect themselves. You need to provide regular updates and solutions on social media, and direct them to other sources of information, such as your website, blog, or email. You also need to monitor the feedback and reactions of your audience, and respond to their questions, comments, or complaints in a timely and respectful manner. If you don't have all the answers, be honest and say so, and promise to follow up as soon as possible.

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Roeshawn Hunter

Creative & Marketing Operations | Campaign & Project Support | Collaborating with Brand, PR & Strategy Teams
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These solutions should also be insightful and authentic. The public can see through “band aid” solutions or lack of accountability.

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4 Adapt to the changing environment

A crisis can evolve rapidly and unpredictably, and so should your social media strategy. You need to adapt to the changing environment and adjust your tone, frequency, and content of your posts accordingly. You also need to review your scheduled or planned posts, and pause or modify them if they are irrelevant, insensitive, or conflicting with the current situation. You don't want to appear out of touch or insensitive to your audience.

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Samantha Smith

Copywriter
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I'm not sure changing the tone is appropriate. If you address the situation correctly in the beginning, it's more about being consistent than changing the tone.

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5 Collaborate with other channels

Social media is not the only channel you can use to communicate during a crisis. You also need to collaborate with other channels, such as email, phone, chat, or press releases, and ensure that your message is consistent and coherent across all platforms. You also need to coordinate with your internal teams, such as PR, customer service, legal, or HR, and align your goals and actions. This will help you avoid confusion, contradiction, or duplication of your communication.

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Philippa B.

Strategic Engagement, Communication & Marketing | Online Engagement Specialist
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This is key. During a bushfire major crisis, I was responsible for social media for a local government. One key partners was the state bush fire service. Our state govt hands over crisis management to them in these situations, so they are considered a ‘trusted partner’. Many of our residents followe on Facebook, which the bush fire service updated with a video once a day. But they were also giving crisis announcements in real time on Twitter. I shared their tweets onto facebook for our community so they were getting accurate information as it happened . It helped to stop panic, stop the phone calls to our switchboard (about evacuation orders), and also built trust that we would continue to provide information throughout the crisis .

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6 Learn from the experience

After the crisis is over, you need to evaluate your social media performance and learn from the experience. You need to analyze the data and feedback from your audience, and identify what worked well and what didn't. You also need to document the lessons learned and best practices, and update your social media policy and plan accordingly. This will help you prepare for future crises and improve your communication skills.

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7 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?

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Sara Fleyfel

Social Media Marketing Expert | Director of Little Media Agency
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Using third party tools such as Brandwatch or Determ will help you stay on top of social media mentions especially during crisis.

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How do you use social media to communicate effectively during a crisis?

1

2

3

4

5

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1 Assess the situation

2 Be transparent and empathetic

3 Provide updates and solutions

4 Adapt to the changing environment

5 Collaborate with other channels

6 Learn from the experience

7 Here’s what else to consider

Social Media Marketing

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How do you use social media to communicate effectively during a crisis?

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

1 Assess the situation

2 Be transparent and empathetic

3 Provide updates and solutions

4 Adapt to the changing environment

5 Collaborate with other channels

6 Learn from the experience

7 Here’s what else to consider

Social Media Marketing

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