IMPACT OF SOCIAL MEDIA IN MANAGING BRAND REPUTATION IN CRISES
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the study
T Social media crises are a reality and a risk that we all face today. We’re all vulnerable to online attacks that threaten having a lasting and damaging impact on our brand’s reputation, both online and offline, and bottom-line.
Managing your online risk requires more than just social monitoring of your brand. It requires a plan against them.A social media crisis is an online situation that has the risks of having, a negative and long-term impact on your business or organization’s reputation and/or bottom-line.Social media crises usually involve strong, negative emotions that are relatable and can
easily:
· Outweigh common sense
· Get clients, fans, staff, stakeholders and others riled up
· Provoke viral behavior
Social media crises risk going viral very quickly, in a very short period of time, they risk being highly unpredictable and, often, unforeseeable. When not responded to promptly and in a proper manner, social media crises risk having a damaging and lasting negative impact on your brand’s reputation and bottom-line.A social media issue is a lesser situation than a social media crisis – though one that still needs to be addressed and resolved in a prompt and proper fashion.
Social media issues are negative and potentially viral situations taking place online about your brand, but they do not threaten any severe long-term negative impacts on your brand’s reputation or bottom-line Some examples of social media issues include, but are not limited to:
Ø Negative comments or discussions being posted about your brand online
Ø Unacceptable comments being posted to your channels
Ø Negative customer service issues
Ø Negative pressIf not responded to in a prompt and proper manner, social media issues risk escalating into more severe social media crises.
However, when responded to quickly and properly, social media issues define a unique and positive PR opportunity for your brand. The best way to prepare your brand for both a social media crisis and a social media
issue is to: Assess and understand the risk that social media and the online world present to your business or organization. This is typically done with a
vulnerability audit or risk assessment. Take the necessary steps to prevent the preventable risk. Develop a social media crisis management plan to protect and prepare your company against the unpreventable risk.
Train your entire team to be able to efficiently detect, respond and resolve
a social media crisis and a social media issue.
No company or organization is immune to a social media crisis – or issue for that matter. A social media crisis can come from anywhere, when you least expect it. It could be the launch of a new campaign, a technical malfunction that leaves clients upset, an angry employee who posts an unwanted video online, or a thousand other scenarios. The best that any brand can do is to be able and prepared to detect the warning signs of a social media crisis as soon as they begin to show themselves. To communicate effectively and in real-time with your market and your staff through the crisis. To resolve the situation in the least amount of time and with the least amount of repercussions to your brand for the long-term In life, and in business, reputation is everything. That said, reputation is very fragile and it only takes one mistake to cause irreparable damage to your company’s image. This is especially true in the digital world where radical transparency and high customer expectations reign supreme. Ignoring strong public digital voices isn’t an option any more. Companies have to learn to not only communicate effectively in the social media age, but to truly listen to the social chatter and respond in the way that align with both brand and customer expectations.
