Inappropriate behavior from a high-level executive at your brokerage, captured on video; a dissatisfied client who airs complaints online; a post you publish that someone interprets as racist or sexist—Each of these scenarios can lead to a social media crisis.
David Oates, founder and principal, PR Security Service, a crisis management firm based in San Diego, defines a social media crisis as “any posting or any activity on social media that takes an organization away from normal operations.” In the world of commercial real estate, if such crises are addressed quickly and effectively, brokers and their companies can mitigate the damage to their reputations. Delays and misguided responses, on the other hand, can cause irreparable damage. That’s why it is essential for brokers to familiarize themselves with the best practices for managing—and preventing—a social media crisis.
To learn about these best practices, SIOR Report spoke further with Oates as well as Petia Abdur-Razzaaq, CEO and founder of The Stylista Group, a digital marketing agency based in New York City. Here’s what they advise:
RESPOND PROMPTLY AND APPROPRIATELY
“The minute the backlash happens, you should respond,” says Abdur-Razzaaq, who notes that the longer it takes for companies to figure out what to say, the greater the chance that the crisis will intensify.
Oates shares two cardinal rules about crafting a response: empathy and action. Empathy, he stresses, doesn’t necessarily mean admitting culpability. It simply involves acknowledging that someone is upset. “If you come back with a counterpoint debate right away, you’ll only exacerbate the animosity,” he warns. Although demonstrations of empathy will not necessarily change the mind of the individual who posted the harmful claim or comment, it will defuse the situation. As Oates explains, “You’re telegraphing to everyone else who sees that post that you care.”
Regarding action, responses should indicate what a person or organization plans to do about the complaint, whether or not it has merit. For example, the response could say something like: “We’re sorry that you feel this way, and we are looking into this matter. Please call us so we can learn more details about your experience and make things right.”
If you or your company did make a mistake, apologize. “Own it, and own it right away,” suggests Oates, who points out that most people understand that everybody has a bad day. In his opinion, posts appropriate for this situation might read: “Yeah, we screwed up. We’re sorry and we will fix this.” Such posts make people feel like they’ve been heard and empowered, says Oates. He and Abdur-Razzaaq also observe that many customers will give you a second chance if you admit culpability and apologize. Indeed, a recent survey by Sprout Social, a provider of social media software, found that 89% of people say a business can regain their trust if it admits to a mistake and offers transparency in the way it will rectify it.
When a situation arises that is truly unexpected, time is of the essence.
A textbook example of an effective response to a crisis comes courtesy of the business messaging app Slack, which experienced a major outage in 2022. Abdur-Razzaaq recalls, “People were on social media asking what was going on and complaining that they couldn’t do their work. Slack responded almost immediately and apologized. After that Slack kept giving updates until the app was up and running again. It was a great way to handle the situation.”
PREVENTION
The element of surprise makes it difficult to develop quick responses to social media crises. To minimize the potential for a surprise, practice what Abdur-Razzaaq terms “social listening.” Social listening involves frequent searches of social media to find out what people are saying about you or your company. You can accomplish this through Google Alerts or dashboards from Hootsuite or Sprout Social, among others, many of which are free or low-cost. Oates advocates the same approach. “Don’t be the last one to know somebody’s talking about you,” he urges his clients.
Another way to prepare is to have a crisis plan in place that covers a variety of “what if” scenarios. Oates advises participation in scenario training by everyone whose day-to-day work and responsibilities would be affected, along with the social media team. Together they can identify potential scenarios and decide on appropriate responses. The resulting crisis plan effectively becomes a guidebook for the people who are on the frontlines of the response.
But even the most comprehensive crisis plan can’t cover all possibilities. When a situation arises that is truly unexpected, time is of the essence. Oates recommends, therefore, that the frontline responders (probably members of the social media team) are empowered to use their best judgment in responding, rather than asking for approval from management or legal teams. For instance, a frontline worker might have leeway to offer a refund, partial refund, or a discount on future services to a dissatisfied client.
After an unexpected crisis is resolved, don’t push it out of mind. Instead, analyze the response, determine whether it was appropriate, and add the scenario to the crisis plan. Every crisis is a learning experience, unpleasant though the experience may be.
DON'T CREATE THE CRISIS
Abdur-Razzaaq remembers a crisis Burger King UK instigated through its own social media post. On International Women’s Day in 2021, the company tweeted “Women belong in the kitchen.” The tweet was well intentioned; its purpose was to highlight the lack of female chefs, as the company explained in subsequent tweets. But the backlash to the original tweet was immediate. Had the person or persons who drafted the tweet run it past others, it’s likely that someone would have suggested an alternative that would get the point across without being incendiary. “Take a step back before your post anything,” says Abdur-Razzaaq. “Run your post past someone else, especially if you’re under stress.”
CONCLUSION
By responding to negative social media posts promptly and with empathy and action, brokers can avert or mitigate damage from crises. They can also prevent many crises through scenario training. But if you err in response or prevention of a crisis, it’s still “fixable,” says Oates. “It’s just going to take a lot more time and cost you a whole lot more money.”