As many of you know, an EF3 tornado tore a path of destruction through portions of north St. Louis county, including a direct hit on the Lambert St. Louis International Airport. Through all the breaking news on social media channels, I noticed one TV news station, KMOV, that truly understood how to use social media, in this case Facebook, in a breaking news situation. Within minutes of the tornado touching down, their Facebook page, which at the time had more than 39,000 “likes,” turned into a hub for information- both from KMOV news staff and the community.
Know where your audience is online. Make that your top priority.
Tornadoes and severe weather aren’t uncommon in the Midwest. Most TV stations do a pretty good job of updating their websites and on-air broadcasts when bad weather hits. But, KMOV clearly knew the vast majority of their “audience” was active on Facebook. They made that their priority. Instead of just reading off tweets and Facebook updates on-air, which is where most news stations stop, they went and step further and joined the conversation. They answered viewers’ questions in real-time and also asked questions to get more information about the latest conditions and damage reports.
Never underestimate the power of real-time response 
Whether you are a brand dealing with a crisis or a TV news station covering a tornado outbreak, the power of real-time monitoring and response is huge. It can separate you from your competitors. In KMOV’s case, they gained about 2,000 likes in about 24 hours and significantly out-covered the other St. Louis news outlets. They also received tons of praise from their community, who openly thanked them on their Facebook page for their up-to-minute coverage.
The power of an online community
Probably, the most profound, long-standing effect is the fact that KMOV has built a true online community via their Facebook page. The community did most of the work during the storm- with fans updating their photos, providing neighborhood updates, downed power lines, funnel cloud spottings, which left KMOV to crowdsource the best information and respond to viewers’ questions.
Looking to help?
If you are interested in donating money to help the St. Louis recovery efforts, Justin Goldsborough created a CauseVox campaign to raise money. All proceeds go to St. Louis Red Cross.
