When it comes to public relations, crisis management has always been essential for businesses large and small. But in today’s world, where social media can make a small-town misunderstanding into a international PR nightmare overnight, your strategies for crisis management have to change just as fast, if not faster. If you intend to stay ahead of the public relations game online, your first step is to establish a firm presence on Twitter.

Getting A Handle On Crisis Management

You may already have a few general Twitter handles in use, but your PR department needs to have a handle devoted solely to the purpose of addressing crisis situations. Not only does this serve you in terms of keeping marketing tweets separate of crisis management tweets, but it gives your audience an easier means of zeroing in on the information they need.

Meeting The Challenge

Perhaps one of the greatest challenges of managing a crisis via Twitter is the character limits of posting a tweet. Whereas other social media platforms may allow for a more elaborate message, Twitter forces you to be concise. With only 140 characters to work with, you have to be conscious of your word choice and the impact it will have on your followers.

Making A Real Connection

Another social media platform that can be combined with your Twitter strategy is YouTube. When a PR issue arises, simply create a video addressing it, upload it to YouTube, and then spread the word via Twitter. Not only does this put a real face on your brand, but it allows you to connect to your audience in a sincere, emotional manner, which isn’t always possible through text communications.

Sponsoring Tweets

Another tool that Twitter puts at your fingertips comes in the form of sponsored tweets. In a crisis situation, paying to keep your tweets at the top of the searches only makes sense. Plus, you can actually adjust your advertising campaign so that it targets your specific audience. Targeted crisis management has never been easier.

Staying Ahead Of The Conversation

The advantage of a social media platform like Twitter is that it gives you immediate access to the public and allows you to engage in real-time conversation, two key factors in influencing brand-related conversation and preventing small issues from snowballing into crisis situations.

To stay ahead of the conversation, you need dedicated representatives monitoring online conversations about your brand. Not only does monitoring customer feedback online allow you to address complaints in a timely fashion, but it gives you a broader perspective regarding the needs of your customers, and it gives you the opportunity to react accordingly.

For more on crisis management, contact Social Strategy1 today.