Reputation crisis management for beginners

The crises in social networks are publications of massive scope, that is replicated by several users in diverse platforms and whose content directly affects the image and the reputation of the mark or the product commercialized. It can happen to any person, and especially to any company with a presence on social networks. Someone writes a derogatory message that can read thousands of people, the rumor spreads and is difficult to slow.

With regard to crises in socialmedia, they are often very easy to solve with a correct conversation with the client who is the focus of the crisis, it is only necessary to use the correct words, that is why those who handle the crisis company accounts should have some knowledge of relational marketing and how consumer psychology acts in a situation of dissatisfaction; if the staff is not trained and still has the belief that brand management in social networks is simply sitting down to play on facebook inevitably the reputation of the brand is going to fall by the floors; This is why it is admirable that more and more people are studying social network management since this field is as important as a managerial position.

Some crises if complex, and in that case, we can not require the person who manages the brand to solve a problem of the company, for it is necessary an official pronouncement of the high positions of the company to prevent further growth in the company. problem, you must recognize the error, apologize for it and above all avoid putting the blame on others and take charge of the matter to solve it as quickly as possible.

On the one hand we have clients who complain directly to the company, we owe them a lot, because generally these customers feel that their problems are heard and solved and buy back in more quantity to the company.
Then come the customers who complain publicly at the slightest dissatisfaction by removing any detail that might have escaped the company and emphasizing it to generate a horde of mockery among all the followers.

In these cases it is most advisable to verify the veracity of the situation exposed by the client, a classic example would be finding a hair in the food;

Many times this situation takes proportions that companies do not realize and do not measure, they think that only one customer has no power to overthrow the entire structure of the company, however, that client owns a cell phone with an internet connection, and the same is on several social platforms sharing content with several hundred other friends and these in turn with others, so what happens? The company destroys your reputation in a matter of minutes by not paying attention to what your customers are saying about it.

The worst cases of socialmedia crisis are generated by the TROLL, people who only intend to damage the image of any company, person or brand at any cost, and also have a lot of free time to do it and follow up on their actions. discredit.

The Troll also possess a high knowledge of socialmedia usually know how to enter the conversation stealthily so as not to be detected until they drop the bomb and share it on all platforms in order to viralize the content in a matter of minutes by the other users unsuspecting people who believe he is just an innocent scammed customer.

What should companies consider to avoid reputational crises in social networks?

Unfortunately this question does not have a correct answer because the crises will always be presented at some point for companies, the best they can do the same is to hire an agency that is responsible for creating all the platforms in social networks that it requires according its activity, but for what?

It is a fact that in our country the use of social networks in a professional way is still in its infancy, many continue to use the platforms as if they belonged to them and the thing to know is that this is not true, the rules of the game constantly change , the permits, the prohibitions that the platforms put, all of them raped daily by both people and companies that do not spend their time reading what can and can not be done on such platforms.

A company that does not have a presence on the web is not a company that is free of any crisis, but on the contrary, it is the most risky is to suffer all the excesses that can imagine without even knowing and acting.

A simple complaint about the bad service of a local that does not have presence in facebook can untie the closure of the same one; it is for that reason that today like or do not like the company is obliged to have presence to be able to act in case of crisis, and that we are not touching the benefits that brings this.

Follow-up on the crises of crises

First and foremost, in the face of a crisis situation, we must identify the foci and subjects that generate this event and carry out an exhaustive follow-up to see to what extent it has influence over other users on the web. Once identified the focus of the crisis is a matter of taking action in the matter, this is where the crisis management team enters monitoring the accounts of clients and Trolls.

How to deal with negative messages?

The most important point of the note is this question, how many times have we not seen cases where brands start to discuss with their customers and even take them personally?

That is the most serious mistake that usually happens by giving all the power of our brands to people without previous training, in addition to the opposite pole of trying to manage the platforms without even understanding the dynamics of each one of them.
Many will say, that what so much sit to hang out in the computer? As we have already mentioned, social network management is as important as a managerial charge, and besides it is not free as you think, it can have high costs if you want to enter big and be an icon on each platform.

There will always be people who do not agree with the brand and will look for some excuse to let you know, which is why you should control this type of people who want to draw attention in the following way.

• Do not delete the negative messages: If this is done, an even greater reaction could be generated, and if your customers are dissatisfied with your service, they will become so with your attitude, you must demonstrate with a firm response that you will not give in to the attempt of discredit and to make notice to your other followers that you are a firm company that is to the orders of serious consultations.
• The speed is the King: The response time should not exceed 10 minutes, especially for those whose complaint and anger is evident, for this the crisis manual must be at hand at all times and thus know how to respond to such situations.
• Clarity: Do not confuse users with ironic phrases, promotions of many steps, ambiguous answers and other issues that are given for double interpretation, in social networks should be clear and concise always. Above all, not taking the customer’s anger against the brand personally, that mistake is frequent.
  It is advisable to use images to explain the promotions and new ads of the brand, nowadays few have time to read, the visual is what prevails.
• Admit when we are wrong: Situations in which the company or the brand manager screw up so to speak happen more often than it should, however this should not be a reason to alter, an honest apology and without blame anyone and above all fast relieves any type of tension and it dispels to the possible Trolls that live the slope of the errors of the others
  As we can observe, the brand manager was a person without training who did not understand the dynamics of the platform and that unfortunately has ruined all the reputation of the mark in minutes.

Gaining a reputation takes a lot of time, effort and money. We should not let the brands be represented by people without training, it is very expensive to discredit and even ruin companies.