Crisis management in the face of social media requires a masterful and agile skillset.  Today’s crises (and their responses) play out in real-time, as do breaking news and opinion about the situation at hand.  Add to that the viral nature of social networks and the ability for a story to get around the world in mere minutes, and you’ve got a virtual powder keg of bad publicity threatening to explode in the hands of the organization at the center of the crisis.  Gone are the days when you can bury a story or get by with a simple “no comment.”  How your company reacts (or doesn’t) to a bad situation can sometimes make or break its future.

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In the wake of the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan, its people, landscape and communities have been devastated beyond recognition. Many companies have also been severely affected, according to Bloomberg Businessweek. With this tragedy at the forefront of people’s minds, companies around the world are revisiting their own crisis plan and how it would be executed if the time comes. Communication is an extremely important aspect of any crisis plan, particularly with the advent of social media as a vehicle to deliver real-time messages.  And, today, more and more companies are utilizing social media to address crises, both large and small. (more…)

During each weekly #smmeasure chat, we discuss questions and debate over  some of the best practices for measuring social media.  Because the medium is so new, no one has all the right answers yet.  We saw that last week when I took over for Nick Shin, Marketwire’s social media specialist.  We decided to look into the ideas of trust and reputation management via social media.  While the questions led to some lively debate, we came up with no definitive answers. I would highly recommend that you read through the entire transcript to see all the great ideas that were shared. Here’s some of the chat that went on:

#smmeasure chat #10 recap (more…)