It's normal now for the time between an incident hitting and 'first tweet' to be just 30 seconds. Armed with that knowledge, what can be put in place before that incident happens to help reassure and ensure business continuity?
“We don’t have an official company policy. We know being social is quite popular, especially with some of our younger staff.”
“I don’t really place that much importance on social media. I use twitter to market our products. Sometimes I promote our voluntary work with local communities.”
“We don’t really bother with it. We created a Twitter account because it’s the in- thing to do. Most of our customers communicate with us via our website which has a range of interactive services.”
“We don’t use social media at all, it’s not a priority, besides, there’s less chance of us being criticised if we’re not online.”
“Our business is very active on social media. We have our own Facebook and twitter accounts, and we regularly engage in conversations directly with our customers.”
If any of the above statements apply to you, then your business continuity plan needs to be ready. Ready for what exactly? Well, it’s really quite simple. Whether or not your company has developed an approach to social media or chooses to leave all this social stuff to others, like generation Y (those born between 1981–2000), I’m afraid there really is no escape.
In 2013, almost every large company has a digital footprint. Oh, and don’t go thinking that just because you didn’t create it that it doesn’t exist. There are plenty of people (especially unhappy customers) who love telling the world about their customer experience. CRM systems? Forget it; the days of managing your customers on your terms are well and truly over. Welcome to the new world of transparency and interaction and it’s all in the open! This is the era of real-time online journalism. It’s the era of speed (no, not the stimulant, although I guarantee you will need to be awake, alert and full of energy).
So what does all this mean for business continuity? Companies seek to influence their customers and preserve their online reputation, so how a company behaves online during a crisis is critical, and it can damage your brand if you get it wrong.
During the birth of HRH Prince George, it was Twitter that first broke the news of his mother’s admission to hospital. Companies began to capitalise on the birth, not within hours, but within seconds. According to Twitter, there were more than 25,300 tweets per minute following the birth, and the #Royalbaby hashtag had been used more than 900,000 times. Coca-Cola, Oreo, Domino’s Pizza and Starbucks were some of the first off the starting blocks.
At 11.27am on 6th July 2013, Asiana flight OZ214 crash landed at San Francisco International Airport. At 11.28am, the first photo taken by a passenger boarding another flight was posted on twitter, within 30 seconds. The emergency slides were not deployed until 11.30am.
So what can we learn from this tragic incident? Firstly, that speed is essential and the growing expectation is that your company will respond swiftly and in a timely manner. Failure to do so may be interpreted, unfairly perhaps, as you being unprepared, or worse: it could look like you’re adopting an overly casual attitude when many of your customers will be seeking answers or reassurance. Your slower reaction might also be viewed as symptomatic of your competence to fly planes. Fail to communicate effectively and you risk losing the trust and confidence of your customers, or worse: your company’s reputation takes a nose dive.
When Hurricane Sandy hit the US last year, social media played an important role in keeping people informed of events and key agencies were broadcasting important messages. Critics point out the downside of the misinformation that can circulate around the web after a crisis, whereas others like Matthew Ingram argue that Twitter can also “act as a self- cleaning oven for news” On balance, I think social media offers more than it may distort or fabricate, but verification of information plays an important part in your overall strategy, and remember it’s real time. When David Eun tweeted “Most everyone seems fine,” he wasn’t to know the extent of the injuries, or that two people were dead.
Remarkably, passengers escaping from the aircraft also tweeted, one being re-tweeted over 32,000 times. The first photo from a passenger was posted on Facebook at 11.45am.
Boeing issued a statement via Twitter at 1.20pm. At 2.04pm, the fire department spoke to the press. At 3pm, the National Transportation Safety Board held a press conference and kept updating Twitter.
At 3.39pm, almost four hours since the first pictures appeared on Facebook, Asiana Airlines made a statement.
It was, however, another four hours later at 8.43pm before Asiana’s first press release: nine hours in total after the crash.
Moving away from the more extreme cases for a moment, consider the impact the misuse of social media can have on your brand, including the mischief makers who set out to disrupt your business. Customers and even employees are capable of damaging your reputation, as in the case of the “Dirty Domino’s Pizza”, when several employees deliberately contaminated the food and posted a video of their antics on YouTube.
The restaurant was closed temporarily, pending inspection by the public health authorities, resulting in quantities of food and packaging being destroyed.
Last year, telecommunications giant O2 suffered a 24 network outage but were successful in helping to mitigate a PR disaster, partly by taking to Twitter. As a result, they received a lot of praise. This link is to a great post on how they handled the crisis.
By contrast, only last week, Sony experienced problems during a software update to their DVD recorders. Thousands of people tried repairing or retuning their machines because they’d lost access to Freeview channels. The BBC reported one customer stating “Sony’s Twitter feed and own technical support website are in meltdown with angry customers, and Sony themselves are conspicuous by their absence.”
When customers are flooding you with concerns, it doesn’t seem appropriate to carry on with business as usual. Call a business continuity incident and have done with it! Social media is active 24/7 so you might need to consider contingency arrangements for responding when the office is closed. Also be mindful that pre-scheduled tweets might be highly inappropriate if they continue during a crisis or an unrelated disaster elsewhere.
The restaurant was closed temporarily, pending inspection by the public health authorities, resulting in quantities of food and packaging being destroyed.
Only last month, Tesco announced that profits had been worse than expected in the UK. How much of this is directly attributable to the horse meat scandal is less clear, but Tesco were very active on Twitter and even responded with puns, although their security guard seemed to be having a more difficult time with a horse roaming the isles shouting for its mother. The video was posted to YouTube and can still be viewed, but the overwhelming response from customers was that they appreciated the communication.
The Sony case illustrates the increasing expectations of customers who want to interact with companies in the easiest and quickest way possible. Earlier this year, the Fire Service in Oxford received a report of a fire –by email. Customers can be very unforgiving if you’re slow, or fail to engage.
Having a social media strategy is important. On the brink of a developing crisis, Sony tweets a response to James Neal at 15.35. At 16.00, Sony then tweets a message about the Isle of Man TT race (?).
What can you do?
Review your social media strategy (this isn’t a written document by the way). Simply plan for how you will respond via social media in the event of a business continuity incident. Be mindful that people will be searching your normal social media channels for updates, and within the hour.
Speed is critical, but try to validate what you’re hearing. Remember that social media absence may be viewed as disinterest, could damage your reputation or suggest that your company is reluctant to be open and transparent. Basically, you cannot be trusted.
Suspend normal social media activity during a crisis as routine business, and especially marketing, might be seen as insensitive.
Protect your business and take preventative action from the risk of rogue employees by implementing a social media policy.
Use social media platforms to engage and have conversations with people. Be personable but be very cautious if choosing to lighten the mood with a few puns. “It’s sleepy time and we’re off to hit the hay” didn’t do Tesco many favours.
Accept that you can’t control your company’s digital footprint. People will comment about your service and your response to a crisis whether you like it or not. The good news is that and all this feedback is essentially free! There are various analytical tools on the market if you want to monitor and review what people are saying about you.
Ensure you have arrangements for updating social media away from the office. You will need to be able to access and update your website too so you should have template web pages set up and ready to populate with information in the event of a crisis.
Finally, brief your employees so they know what to do if someone is taking pictures or filming from a smartphone. They can easily come across as defensive if they’re seen to challenge people, especially in a public place.
Still not convinced social media is that important? Well, here’s a few statistics to reflect on. Velocitydigital.co.uk report that the fastest growing demographic on Twitter is the 55-64 year old age bracket. 189 million users of Facebook are only using mobile devices and 25% of smartphone owners aged 18–44 say they can’t recall the last time their smartphone wasn’t next to them. Social media has now replaced pornography as the number one activity on the web. Business continuity frequently involves crisis communications, but are you ready to cope with the inevitable disruption caused by social media?
Steve Finegan is Head of Business Effectiveness & Communications at Northwards Housing in Manchester.
Image via Flickr Creative Commons
