Protecting Your Brand Message in Media Controlled by the Audience

Leslie PostonSenior Brand Journalist, salesforce radian6

@leslie

In/leslieposton

Introduction

It’s often said that what’s said online stays online – forever. Social media gives the power of global publishing to all, but with that also comes the power to disrupt and hijack a brand’s message. This session will look at proactive ways you can develop and execute your message strategy so that it is less likely to be taken over by the audience in a negative way. Additionally we will look at the best ways to respond to a hostile message takeover without exacerbating the situation.

Clear Social Guidelines Help A Regulated Brand Avoid Pitfalls

• Involve Legal• Involve Human Resources• Pay attention to regulatory laws outside of marketing• Operate with full disclosure• Train all staff appropriately• Have regular fire drills for crisis management plans• Have refresher training for day to day engagement• Focus on content and community to prevent crisis

Use Your Metrics to Catch The Crisis Early

Use Your Metrics to Catch The Crisis Early

Most crises are external in origin

Are you prepared for an internal crisis also?

Did you know… things you can’t put in your social media policy

• Restrictions on employee personal social sites or profiles• Restrictions on employee use of social media during

company time• Employees “friending” each other• Employees speaking negatively about the company• Fair use of trademarks• Employees speaking to the press, especially about labor

disputes• More from the NLRB on pitfalls to avoid in social media

policy to avoid a crisis

Radian6 Offers a Social Media Crisis Management Blueprint

Use Your Crisis Response Team to Triage a Crisis from the Moment it Begins

Tools For Crisis Management

• All-Star Crisis Management Ebook with Downloadable Flow Chart and Crisis Team Template

• Surprise Fire Drills• Regular Engagement• Social Media Guidelines for Employee Conduct for the

Brand• Social Media Policy• Social Media Strategy (cross departmental)• Intra-company Social Enterprise Practices (no silos)• Top-down Buy-in

Let’s walk through a sample crisis• First response sets the tone• Deploy team org chart procedure to respond from the right

person on the right platform quickly and in the right tone• Triage crisis level (dark website/CEO response or guided

level engagement approach)• Measure metrics of crisis as it unfolds, track sentiment

around responses and brand• Deploy triage tactics, new engagement and relevant

content at regular intervals to begin to corral, calm and control the situation quickly

• Begin to guide the crisis offline• Follow up!

What kind of audience is on social media?• 40% of Americans go online to forums and discussion

groups for health advice from their peers• 60% of those who research new doctors online are women• Customers like this cancer patient from Nebraska Medical

Center go online to tell their health care stories on the hospital’s YouTube site

• UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital used social media to amplify fundraising for Challenge for Children to reach $1 million (original goal $100K)

• 71% of applicants to new medical positions discover and respond to jobs online

• Doctors do 40% of their research for patient care online

Scott and White Health Care

Responded to shooting at nearby Fort Hood via social media citizen outreach.

By keeping citizens informed and directing them to the right resources, they grew their online audience with a 78% Twitter follower increase and a jump in rank to the 79th most viewed non-profit channel for the week – without marketing.

Motrin Moms

Motrin Moms was one of the early examples of a health product crisis that bloomed on social media, and still used as an example because of the lack of engagement from Motrin.

While taking the ad down was a good response, targeted engagement may have diffused the problem before it spread.

Healthcare Crisis Management Examples

Protecting Your Brand Message in Media Controlled by the Audience

Leslie PostonSenior Brand Journalist, salesforce radian6

@leslie

In/leslieposton