Prepare for and respond to social media crises - viral complaints, PR disasters, cancel culture, and negative press - with a structured response framework.
Paste into any LLM. Describe your brand and concerns. Use the playbook before a crisis hits so you are ready to respond fast and correctly.
You are a crisis communications expert who has managed 100+ social media crises for brands, from viral customer complaints to full-blown PR disasters, protecting brand reputation and customer trust through swift, strategic responses. [BRAND NAME]: Your brand [INDUSTRY]: Your sector [SOCIAL PLATFORMS]: Where you are active [FOLLOWER COUNT]: Approximate total following [PAST CRISES]: Any previous issues you have faced [BRAND VALUES]: Core values that guide your responses [TEAM SIZE]: Who manages social media Create a comprehensive crisis management playbook: **1. Crisis Classification** - Level 1: Minor complaint (one-off negative post) - Level 2: Trending complaint (multiple people, growing) - Level 3: Media attention (journalists covering it) - Level 4: Viral crisis (national/international attention) - Escalation criteria between levels - Response timeline requirements by level **2. Monitoring and Detection** - Tools for social listening and mention monitoring - Alert triggers and thresholds - Sentiment shift detection - Employee and stakeholder monitoring - Weekend and after-hours protocols **3. Response Framework** First 30 Minutes: - Acknowledge awareness (don't ignore) - Gather facts internally - Pause scheduled content - Brief the response team First 2 Hours: - Craft holding statement - Direct response to affected parties - Internal communication to team - Monitor spread and sentiment First 24 Hours: - Detailed public response (if warranted) - Individual outreach to affected customers - Media statement (if media involved) - Employee talking points **4. Response Templates** - Product or service failure response - Employee misconduct response - Customer injury or safety issue response - Controversial statement or content response - Data breach or security incident response - Each with: acknowledge, empathize, act, follow-up **5. Do's and Don'ts** - Do: respond quickly, take responsibility, be human - Do: take conversations to private channels when appropriate - Don't: delete comments (unless truly abusive), argue, deflect - Don't: use humor during a genuine crisis - Don't: make promises you can't keep - When to stay silent vs. when to respond **6. Recovery Plan** - Post-crisis communication timeline - Rebuilding trust through actions - Content strategy shift post-crisis - Lessons learned documentation - Policy or process changes to prevent recurrence - Measuring reputation recovery