The Importance of Social Media Community Management During a Crisis
The importance of social media community management during a crisis is extremely essential. Your community is your audience, and through social media, we have the immense opportunity to deliver content that is beneficial to your audience. However, if you find your brand lacking managerial attributes in a time of need, you may want to consider contacting a community management agency, such as Bright Age to get the support your brand needs during a crisis.
Social media community management is all about how your brand engages with the community in an online space. In other words, it is how your brand seizes the day. Your community may be specialized to one location, but it is essential to reach new users through Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, and any other social media networks your company may use.
Whether it is a PR problem, a catastrophe in advertising that needs to be fixed, or even a natural disaster causing your company to take things remote, one of the most important things to consider in a crisis is making sure your social media is alive online. Many people tune into social media as their main source of news. It may be through a Tweet, or an Instagram or Snapchat story, getting your words of wisdom out there for your community to see is essential in maintaining your brand’s online personality. It is also important to prioritize what and who you are engaging with. Since 2014, customer complaints on social media have increased eight times, so make sure you are especially supportive to those who have a problem that your brand can help solve.
Monitoring what is relevant to your brand is one of the key aspects of community management. Keeping relevant discussions alive will ensure to the community that you care about them and how they feel about your brand. This will help you analyze how the public perceives your brand, and how you can enhance it. During a crisis, you want to be the brand that the public turns to for reliable, convenient information. While this may be overwhelming, especially in a time of a predicament, a community management agency will take care of social listening for your brand, which in return will eliminate stress.
It is true, that every comment you post on social media leaves a digital footprint. The more positivity you and the community create for your brand through networks, the stronger your brand will be. Handling community management during a crisis is extremely hard to do when you really must be careful what type of content you are engaging with through social media. Of course, it may seem like the easier option to have an automated bot system run your likes and comments system, but this will only do harm in the long run. That is why Bright Age is fully equipped with social media marketing specialists who only use their creativity to engage with the community online, no bots necessary.
A tip to help you when dealing with a hardship in an online space is to directly encourage happy customers. It is easy to engage with people who are happy about your brand. Inspire them to share your photo or post. This is a way you can use a branded hashtag.
Lastly, it is important to set goals for your company if similar problems reoccur. Set roles for each person involved in your company and create a space where your community feels secure in knowing their questions will be answered, and their voice will be heard. Communicating internally is essential in crisis management, so making sure the team that holds your brand together is heard as well.
Crises can happen at any growing company, but what you learn from them is what is going to improve your brand. A reliable social media community management strategy is essential to have during these times of distress. Let Bright Age, a thriving community management agency, help in creating an engaging space for the public. Our specialized team of marketing professionals will be sure to help relieve the stress of any disaster you may encounter.
