From earthquakes and hurricanes to domestic disturbance, no part of the country is immune to disaster, natural or otherwise. When trouble strikes, people turn to turn to social media for information and comfort. In fact, Facebook even rolled out a tool designed to help people check in with each other during a large-scale crisis. It’s important for brands to create strategies for social engagement during disasters before they’re needed so you can put your best foot forward during times of heightened emotions and fear.

1. 5-Step Plan for Managing
Your Social Accounts
During a Disaster!

2. From earthquakes and hurricanes to domestic
disturbance, no part of the country is immune to
disaster, natural or otherwise. When trouble strikes,
people turn to turn to social media for information
and comfort. In fact, Facebook even rolled out a tool
designed to help people check in with each other
during a large-scale crisis.
It’s important for brands to create strategies for
social engagement during disasters before they’re
needed so you can put your best foot forward
during times of heightened emotions and fear.
Here’s a five-step plan to ensure your brand’s social
media activity helps, not hinders people during a crisis.
Photo Credit: Facebook Newsroom

3. Turn off all scheduled content queued up in your social media management
platform. You’ll want to go through each post individually to make sure
there’s nothing that seems callous or insensitive in light of breaking events.
Back in 2012, a national publication for gun enthusiasts ran a pre-scheduled
tweet meant to be friendly and engaging. Asking followers, “Good morning,
shooters. Happy Friday! Weekend plans?” was particularly ill-timed as it
happened to coincide with breaking news of a mass shooting in Colorado.

4. Think about keeping mum until the crisis is over. Depending on the nature
and scale of the disaster, unnecessary posts may do nothing more than
increase the signal to noise ration and frustrate people looking for answers
and information.
During the recent terrorist attacks in Paris, many companies tweeted words
of support using the #Paris hashtag. As a result, the hashtag stream was
flooded with Tweets that brought no real value to the conversation. A better
option is to change your social media avatars to the reflect your support or,
write a message on your Facebook wall, or post a relevant image on
Instagram.

5. Don’t even think about using hashtags
created for the disaster to promote
your product or business.

6. Be careful what you re-share on social media. When a hashtag emerged
during the Paris attacks aimed at connecting Parisians at ground zero with
area residents offering shelter, loads of well-intentioned people and brands
retweeted the message.
The problem?
The hashtag stream got so bogged down with
retweets from people in other countries, the
people needing and offering help had difficulty
finding each other.

7. Figure out how and when to help. If your brand is in a position to offer
immediate assistance to victims, social media is a great way to get the word
out. If, on the other hand, you’re sending money to a national disaster relief
agency or hosting a fundraiser at company headquarters, considering
quietly writing a blog post or issuing a press release instead to curb the
illusion you’re actions are designed to capitalize on the news of the day.
There will be plenty of time to share your announcement more broadly once
the crisis has passed.

8. If you’re in the path of an oncoming disaster like a hurricane or major
snowstorm, outsource your social media to someone you can trust. You
don’t want to struggle with Instagram or Facebook posts during a long-term
power outage or in between snow-shoveling sessions.