What can Miss America teach you?
This past week, social media made the news in a not so pretty way. Miss America was crowned in Atlantic City, and for the first time in the pageant’s history, the winner was of Indian decent. Viewers took to Twitter, Facebook and various sites to express their outrage. While the “scandal” was completely unwarranted, it has brought the Miss America organization and the new Miss America, Nina Davuluri, under a whole new lens as the world waited to see how they would each handle the negativity that flooded their social media pages while remaining true to the missions of their organization. In this blog post, we will introduce a handful of things that small business owners can learn from Miss America and can use if and when crisis hits and negativity or complaints inundate social media.
They are:
Expect the Unexpected: Sometimes you have no idea when a crisis is going to hit and you may have a little warning, but regardless, you need to develop a general plan for handling negativity as it arises from your fans and followers. When a crisis hits, expect social media activity both negative, and perhaps positive, to increase. Having a plan for managing the comments is essential for surviving. Be sure to create a posting policy and remove only comments and activity that directly violate a clause within that policy. Miss America expected some backlash when Davuluri was crowned, and their plan to allow appropriate activity and free speech allowed more followers to become of aware of the organization and its purpose in a positive way.
Acknowledge the Negativity: It is no secret that people have been changing negative situations into positive ones for years, and the Miss America organization is no exception here. It could have very well ignored the increasingly shocking comments that were overloading fans and followers on social media, but instead, the organization acknowledged the activity and allowed public statements to be made on their behalf by Davuluri. Understandably, not every negative comment is going to be addressed on CNN, but a small business owner can keep this idea in mind when seeing a disappointed customer or hearing of a poor experience someone had with their business or brand via social media. Consider reaching out to an individual or group of people in response to the issue, and make quite sure that your demographic understands your stance and sees your involvement in maintaining balance.
Develop a Cohesive Message and Stick with It: If your organization or business has multiple employees or team members, be sure to create an organization-wide stance and message on whatever the issue may be and stick with it. This cohesiveness will let others know that, while you acknowledge their feelings and opinions, you have a concrete message of your own that you will stand firmly upon. Be sure to share this message company-wide to ensure continuity. The Miss America organization handled this aspect of the crisis beautifully by highlighting only positives and standing behind the image of Miss America as a strong, classy, talented and educated role model.
Managing your social media when negative comments abound can be tricky, but not to worry, we can help. If you or anyone you know is looking to expand your small business social media proficiency, we urge you to contact us, today!
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*Photo Credit: Hollywood_PR