Social media has become an integral part of our lives. At Just Creative Media, we know this better than anyone. We use it to connect with friends, share our thoughts, and promote our clients’ businesses.
However, with great power comes great responsibility.
For a company like Just Creative Media, social media can quickly turn into a crisis if not managed properly. That’s why it’s crucial for us and for our clients to have a solid social media crisis management plan in place. This plan isn’t just for viral PR nightmares; it’s for any unexpected event that threatens a brand’s digital presence.
A social media crisis is an event or incident that attracts a significant amount of negative attention on social media platforms. It can be sparked by customer complaints, negative reviews, scandalous revelations, or even a simple misstep by a company. When a social media crisis occurs, it can spread like wildfire, thanks to the power and reach of platforms we use every day.
What might have started as a small issue can quickly escalate into a full-blown crisis if not addressed swiftly and appropriately, emphasizing the critical importance of a well-prepared social media response strategy.
The impact of a social media crisis on a business can be far-reaching. It can damage a company’s reputation, erode customer trust, and lead to a decline in sales. In some cases, it can even result in legal issues and financial losses.
In our hyper-connected world, a single tweet or post can reach millions of people within seconds, making it imperative for a company like Just Creative Media to have a robust crisis management plan in place.
7 months, 4 days, our client’s Facebook crisis and the power of persistence
At Just Creative Media, we recently faced a different kind of crisis one that involved battling a faceless algorithm with no clear answers. One of our clients, a brand we’d meticulously grown online, had its Facebook page deactivated for an unknown reason. This wasn’t a PR firestorm; it was a digital disappearing act. And for 7 months and 4 days, it felt like our client’s brand had vanished from one of its most important platforms.
A typical social media crisis starts with a negative comment or a viral misstep. You can respond, apologize, and take control of the narrative. But what happens when the crisis is silent? When does he platform itself pull the plug without a clear explanation? This is the new reality of social media risk. For our client, the page was deactivated for “unspecified reasons,” with automated messages suggesting they had violated Community Standards. We knew this was impossible.
We submitted multiple appeals, each one feeling like a message in a bottle to a distant, automated sea. We provided all the required information, detailed our history with the page, and patiently waited.
During this long, frustrating period, our team didn’t sit still. Our crisis management plan, which usually focuses on reputation control, pivoted to an endurance strategy. We focused on three key areas:
- Communication with the Client: The first step was constant, transparent communication with our client. We provided weekly updates, even when there was no news to report, to manage their expectations and show that we were still fighting for them.
- Maintaining a Presence on Other Platforms: While the Facebook page was down, we doubled down on all other social channels to ensure continued engagement and business continuity.
- Persistence with the Platform: We kept meticulous records of every appeal submission, every case number, and every piece of communication. Our persistence paid off, as we were finally able to get our case reviewed by a human an invaluable step that our documentation helped facilitate.
Finally, after 7 months and 4 days, we received the email we had been hoping for. Facebook’s internal team found that the page had not violated any community guidelines, and it was officially reinstated. We were relieved, but we were also changed by the experience.
This crisis was not about a misstep in our creative work. It was about a systemic, automated failure that could happen to anyone. The experience taught us that a social media crisis management plan must go beyond content. It must include a strategy for battling bureaucracy, ensuring business continuity across all channels, and maintaining unwavering communication.
We are incredibly grateful to our client for their trust and patience throughout this journey. It was a stressful time, but it proved the strength of our partnership and the power of persistence in the face of the unknown. And for every business out there, this is a clear reminder: you don’t own your social media pages, so you must be prepared for anything.
