{"id":13644,"date":"2018-01-08T19:55:06","date_gmt":"2018-01-08T18:55:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mention.com\/blog\/?p=13644\/"},"modified":"2025-01-15T16:03:11","modified_gmt":"2025-01-15T16:03:11","slug":"online-crisis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mention.com\/en\/blog\/online-crisis\/","title":{"rendered":"6 Ways Your Company Can Avoid an Online Crisis"},"content":{"rendered":"

A social media crisis can sneak up on you, without any warning.<\/em>
\nBetween 2012 and 2013, 70 percent of European communications professionals experienced one or more online crises, according to a\u00a0study published in the Public Relations Review<\/a>.
\nThere are signs though, that clue you in if you\u2019re about to\u00a0face an online crisis. <\/a>This includes\u00a0if you’ve been experiencing high volumes of negative brand mentions, or if you\u2019re dealing regularly with team members who post insensitively on social media. However, sometimes the signs of impending doom are more like a gentle tap on the shoulder than a punch across your face \u2013 other times they can come out of nowhere.
\nFor instance, you might post something on Facebook you had no idea would cause an online crisis – only to find yourself slap-bang in the middle of one.
\n\"online-crisis-nivea\"
\nGerman skincare brand Nivea<\/a>\u00a0is a prime example of this. Recently, the company had to pull one of its deodorant adverts that had been published on Facebook for their Middle Eastern market. The advert declared \u201cWhite is purity.\u201d Although it was supposed to promote the company\u2019s deodorant that promises no stains on black or white clothing, the ad was seen as racist by the public and they faced major backlash from many social media users.
\nNivea eventually apologised for the mishap, claiming that they hadn\u2019t intended for the message to be misleading. By that time it, it was too late.
\nThis type of brand crisis could have been avoided with the proper planning. Fortunately for you, we’ll be discussing 6 precautions you can take against having an online crisis.<\/p>\n

1. Develop an online crisis strategy<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The above example shows how important it is to check everything that your company publishes on social media. Nivea\u2019s apology was a way to rectify the situation and try to understand what its customers were thinking, and it highlights one of the most important things you should do for your company: have a social media crisis management document to help you navigate disasters that can crop up despite your best intentions.<\/strong><\/a>
\nIn this document, you and your team need to include examples of events that could impact your business negatively, along with detailed information about them. For instance, who will be the most negatively affected by that specific crisis, who should respond to the crisis, and how should they respond?
\nRemember the Volkswagen emissions social media disaster of 2015? That\u2019s a clear example of how not to respond to dissatisfaction as it can lead to a crisis.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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@VW<\/a> what will you do to support your sales staff? I have been with VW since 2006 and last year over 50% of my new car sales were TDI!<\/p>\n

— Chris Kelly (@ckallday71) September 24, 2015<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n