If you travel more than twice a year, you are probably used to the same old flight safety announcements. You know the ones that say should an unexpected loss of cabin pressure occur, oxygen masks will deploy from the ceiling. Of course, you pray that you never have to use one, but I sure as hell wouldn’t get on a plane without them. It’s a critical disaster safety measure plan.
So, why do some many businesses not have their “O2 masks handy” should a crisis occur. The O2 mask, or crisis plan, is necessary for all businesses. This is especially true for those, who work in social media. The crisis plan should be as important as the overall initial strategy for your client or business.
Crises happen all the time. They will always happen when you least expect them to. That’s why they are called crises. The least you can do is prepare a game plan with possible scenarios and how you should handle it. Here’s the bottom line.
1. Be prepared before a crisis occurs.
I can’t stress this point enough. If you are prepared, you will be more confident if the need to implement it arises.
2. Integrate your social media crisis plan with the overall company business plan.
Instead of having two separate crisis plans, merge your social media crisis plan in with your overall business crisis plan. It does no good if the plans are so separate that you can’t reply and start repairing the damage in a timely manner.
3. Respond in a timely manner
Timing is everything in a crisis. Social media moves at an insanely fast pace. You don’t have the luxury of mulling over it and doing nothing for a month. Act as soon as possible and begin implementing your plan. Preferably, it should be the day it happens.
