How does one handle when sudden waves of negativity -- a crisis -- strikes their business online? Here are tips for handling real and unfactual crisis online.
Source: Edelman Eighty-nine percent of survey respondents say they think search engines are good or excellent sources for finding relevant information. - Rasmussen 90% of consumers online trust recommendations from people they know ; 70% trust opinions of unknown users . (Econsultancy, July 2009) ” 71% claim reviews from family members or friends exert a "great deal" or "fair amount" of influence. (Harris Interactive, June 2010)
One of the earliest examples of flash mob behavior revolved around the incorrect information posted about febreze in a community bulletin board about CompuServe. Incorrect information proliferated about the product creating numerous issues for the brand.
Chrysler’s F Bomb on Twitter created an over reaction while the American Red Cross handled its Gizzard beer tweet well.
Failure to engage intelligently and engage online voices in an empathatic manner turned a one day gaffe into a week long black eye and the eventual shake up of the executive team.