Warren Buffett once said, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.” Five minutes might be generous in the digital age. For better or worse, ideas take on a life of their own online and spread like wildfire. Sometimes, that’s wonderful, like when one of your favorite posts goes viral. Other times, it’s going to hurt. However, having a digital crisis management plan will help you cope with the issue at hand and recover from it faster. In this guide, I’ll show you how to plan ahead so your brand is ready to respond quickly and confidently in a digital crisis.
What is a Digital Crisis?
It can be considered a digital crisis anytime something happens online that can severely damage your reputation. I’ll give a few real-world examples.
- A well-known restaurant in the U.K. changed shipping companies, and the new company failed to deliver, resulting in massive shortages of customer favorites and hundreds of restaurants shutting down. Social media and news outlets lit up with negative sentiment. Even local police departments felt compelled to make posts about how the issue was not a police matter.
- A news outlet with hundreds of thousands of Twitter followers had to lay off a significant number of employees. The company failed to revoke access to one of its social media posters, who subsequently began uploading obscure GIFs to the feed.
- An entertainment company with more than 100,000 followers had to perform layoffs. It, too, forgot to deactivate the company’s social media poster, who subsequently began giving the play-by-play from HR. Among the posts: “Just heard our Marketing Director (he’s staying, folks) ask ‘How do I shut down Twitter?’”
- A dental office received a bad review on Yelp. The office manager responded with a scathing message that included details about the patient’s care. As a result, the practice was fined $10,000 for violating privacy guidelines and subsequently shut down.
- A hotel security guard called the police about a suspicious person loitering in the lobby. The person reported happened to be staying at the hotel and was just using his phone. When the net caught word that the guest was black, the news spread like wildfire. The hotel failed to acknowledge the issue online and didn’t think to pause its pre-scheduled social media posts. The situation worsened as “happy holidays” messages started rolling out.
These are extreme examples, but the reality is that situations like this can happen to any business. It doesn’t matter whether you operate ethically or do your very best. Something at some point will happen that has the potential to damage your reputation and your company.
Understanding Crisis Management in the Digital Age
Digital crisis management is the strategic process of navigating and mitigating incidents that pose a threat to your brand’s reputation, both online and in-person. These incidents, whether they stem from internal errors, external threats, or unforeseen challenges, can rapidly escalate, especially in the age of social media where news can go viral in real-time. An effective crisis management plan is essential, ensuring that your organization is prepared to respond swiftly and effectively to minimize damage.
Why You Need a Crisis Management Plan and Action Strategy
Because things happen quickly online, companies should develop a digital crisis management plan before an incident occurs so that the team can respond quickly and resolve the problem before it expands. It’s no different than business continuity planning. For example, you should have a strategy in place to help your team address issues if inclement weather shuts down or limits your customer support line, your power goes out, or a pandemic forces your team to start working remotely. You should understand the different types of threats your business faces online and be prepared to address them the instant they arise too.
What Happens When a Crisis Hits Without a Plan?
When a crisis occurs and there’s no crisis management plan in place, the fallout can be swift and severe. Without an action plan, marketing teams often scramble, leading to inconsistent messaging, delayed responses, and a lack of timely communication—all of which further erode consumer trust.
In the event of a crisis—whether it’s a data breach, natural disaster, or a PR crisis triggered on social channels—the absence of a crisis strategy magnifies the impact of the crisis. Teams are left to guess how to respond to a crisis, which may result in poor choices that damage the company’s reputation and trigger legal issues.
A solid crisis management process helps ensure that stakeholders and the public are informed appropriately. But when there’s no system to coordinate a response to a crisis, internal confusion often becomes visible to customers and the media, causing even more negative impact. In some crisis scenarios, the lack of planning can damage the company long-term, both in terms of operations and reputation.
A documented crisis plan—even a basic one—can make the difference between a quick recovery and becoming a textbook example of self-inflicted crisis. Every organization must take proactive steps to identify potential crises, assign roles, and prepare for escalation. Doing so not only helps manage the situation but can also help rebuild consumer confidence in the post-crisis phase.
Quick Reference: Digital Crisis Toolkit
A condensed list of the core tools and processes every organization should have to manage digital crises effectively:
- A written crisis response plan with clear escalation protocols
- A designated crisis response team (including representatives from PR, legal, HR, and marketing)
- A secure password and access management system for fast revocation of access
- Social listening tools to monitor brand mentions and sentiment in real-time
- Pre-approved external messaging templates for fast and consistent responses
- Comprehensive social media policies for employees, brand representatives, and the public
- Scheduled crisis simulation drills to test team preparedness
- A post-crisis review process to refine and improve the plan
Effective Crisis Management: Tips to Mitigate Digital Risk
Being prepared is everything when a digital crisis arises. Below, we’ll explore how to prevent issues, spot trouble before it expands, and calm things down if an issue has already taken hold.
Start documenting your digital crisis management strategy now.
You should have a written policy that explains how to handle various situations before they happen.
Hire experienced community managers.
An experienced community manager will evaluate their own posts ahead of time to ensure they align with company brand standards and voice. They’ll also be more aware of how their words can be taken and will avoid making posts that can set people off or inflame situations.
Analyze potential risks.
Your most likely digital crisis triggers may include:
- Negative reviews or public complaints about your products or services
- Disgruntled employees using your official channels to air grievances
- Controversial or misinterpreted content posted under your brand
- Security breaches or hacking of accounts
Every industry is different. Spend time brainstorming with leadership and frontline staff to identify additional risks specific to your business.
Limit access and secure accounts.
I previously spoke about the importance of utilizing a password management tool. This is one of the times when having one will prove invaluable. You can easily manage who has access to what and lock down all a person’s accounts at once.
Have a quick shutdown protocol.
In theory, cutting off user access with your password tool should be enough to boot someone off your brand’s channels if they’re using it for nefarious purposes. Make sure multiple company leaders can do this and prevent further postings.
Create clear social media policies.
Establish guidelines for internal teams, brand representatives, and public interactions:
- Outline what types of content employees can and cannot share
- Define who is authorized to respond on behalf of the brand
- Clarify escalation procedures when a customer complaint arises
- Train loyal employees not to respond emotionally or independently during a crisis
- Ensure those managing accounts understand brand tone, copyright, and community standards
- Share these policies with all staff and include them in onboarding
- Draft consumer-facing community guidelines that outline what will be removed (e.g., offensive language, personal info)
Set expectations about response times—HubSpot research shows that nearly 40% of consumers expect a response within one hour on social media. If your business can’t meet that, communicate it clearly in your policies and autoresponders.
Have a digital crisis response team.
A specialized response team is essential in digital crisis management, equipped with tools and technology to effectively mitigate crises. Your social media or community manager, skilled at addressing general issues, is supported by a plan that outlines escalation protocols when things need to be escalated to higher levels within the company. Depending on the size of your company, you may want to have PR, HR, legal, and marketing representatives, all assigned roles in your crisis response team.
Determine a ranking scale.
Your response plan should include guidelines for determining the magnitude of an issue. For example, if you use a rating scale of one to five, claims of harm or discrimination may automatically be rated a five. This would represent the highest magnitude and indicate your legal representative should step in and at least evaluate the response being given.
Other things may not be so severe and can be handled through a general “I’m sorry, let’s talk about this offline” response. There may be times your company needs to give a formal public response to something, too. Big brands have also used integrated approaches. For example, when Johnson & Johnson was facing public heat about talc, the company created a specialized landing page to address safety concerns, and their social media reps directed commenters to it.
Create a digital crisis communication plan.
You’ll also need to create a written plan that outlines who needs to be looped in at what points. Your communication plan should include:
- The roles and responsibilities of everyone on your digital crisis response team.
- Up-to-date contact information for everyone on the crisis response team and any stakeholders who need to be looped in.
- The approval process, if any, for social media posts.
- Pre-approved external messages, images, or information that the team can use to respond to issues swiftly.
- Links to all your social media policies; for general employees, those who post on behalf of your brand, and consumers.
Use social listening tools.
At a very basic level, you should be monitoring your brand’s social media accounts and responding to concerns promptly. Most social media tools will also look for brand mentions, which can help you catch issues even if the post isn’t directed at you. However, it’s better if you can invest in a social listening tool. These will monitor for mentions of your brand everywhere and can even gauge sentiment, so it’s easier for you to address issues long before they become a problem, and you can measure improvement over time.
Create and follow social media crisis management protocols.
Establish some simple guidelines for responding to people and ensure all posters stick to them. Some basic guidelines include:
- Don’t post when you’re mad or frustrated. Even if the person is not being kind, you must remain professional.
- Be transparent and honest. The right way to do this will vary depending on the circumstances and brand. The restaurant mentioned in the opening was KFC. Their response was to launch an “FCK” campaign, which not only diffused the situation but skyrocketed brand sentiment. When Starbucks came under fire for discrimination concerns, the brand shut down its stores for team training.
- Show people you care. Both KFC and Starbucks demonstrated that the companies understood they had a problem and were sympathetic to consumers. However, they went about resolving consumer concerns in very different ways.
Test and review your plan.
- Test your digital crisis management response plan repeatedly to ensure you’re ready in the event something should happen.
- If your company faces a digital crisis, bring the team together to discuss what happened after the dust settles. Find out what went well, what went wrong, and how you can do better next time.
How to Communicate a Crisis Effectively on Social Media
In the event of a crisis, your social channels become a critical lifeline. Whether it’s a cybersecurity breach, product recall, or PR misstep, timely and transparent messaging is essential to preserve brand reputation and manage public perception.
A strong crisis plan should include clear roles, messaging approval flows, and prepared responses. During a current crisis, pause automated social media marketing and address the issue directly. Acknowledge the negative event, clarify your response, and offer next steps—this level of customer communication helps keep customers and maintain consumer trust.
Top crisis management examples show that silence or a lack of transparency damages credibility. Proactive updates from senior management, combined with empathetic messaging, allow businesses to face a crisis and mitigate long-term impact. Social media plays a pivotal role in your overall crisis strategy, helping guide your audience while reinforcing confidence in your brand.
Improve Your Digital Marketing and Rebuild Trust
As a digital marketing consultant, I’m typically retained by companies that want to grow their online footprints and improve their online reputations. However, I also address many of the components outlined here as a part of that, such as password tools, monitoring, and protocols. If you have questions or want to scale your business through digital marketing, contact me for a complimentary consultation.
