When It Hits the Fan

Every week, someone on my content strategy team turns to the rest of us and says, "Is Mercury in retrograde?" The world of social media and content marketing isn't for the faint of heart. Things are always changing, and it's up to us to figure out how and why (whee!). And then, of course, there's the added element of PEOPLE, in all their wild, weird, unsupervised-on-the-internet glory. And we're supposed to make money off it! I'm here to help – or at least commiserate. That's what this is: make it make sense.

In the wake of hurricanes Helene and Milton, everyone suddenly becoming obsessed with what was in the rug, and the New York State Police accidentally posting a gruesome image to their Facebook, I've been thinking a lot about using social media for PR and crisis communications. It's interesting to look at how the ubiquity of social has changed those disciplines – as well as those entities mutualistically related to them (local governments, law enforcement, etc.).

I devoted full chapters to PR and crisis comms on social media in my book, Social Media Strategy for Everyone, because I truly believe a) it's an underrated and misunderstood aspect of the discipline and b) it's important. It's really, really important. Don't believe me? Skip down to the next section for an interview with two former journalists turned PR/Comms professionals.

Social, comms, and PR can't work in isolation – at least, not if they want to work. They need to be holding hands, creating their own little polycule, where they all have their own duties and divisions but they all work together in multiple instances. That's going to look different for every organization. Here's an example of what that could look like in practice:

In my book, I break best practices down by the kind of crisis, because your response on social media can and should be very different depending on the situation.

• Crisis is not the brand/organization's fault (ex: natural disaster)

Organizations and brands are increasingly using social to share important and timely information for their audience. Which is great! Also, not. Great because you're reaching people where they are; not great because you're at the mercy of an algorithm that can really mess up your messaging.

Keeping that in mind, your best move is to pick your most-used platform (one or two at the most), plus a specific spot on your website – whether its your blog, a newsroom, or a quickly put up landing page. That is where you will put your official statements. Nowhere else. Just there. If possible, pin to the top of your social profile.

Here's the important part: when you have updates, you are going to add them to the same post (if possible) with a time stamp. This is crucial. The algorithm doing it's algorithm thing means that the initial statement will probably get the most traction, and thus be served out the most. You don't want important updates to get lost/underserved because the algorithm is algorithm-ing on the first statement.

Hot tip: the comments on that post are a great place to build community and provide outstanding customer care. However, be aware that anything you put on social is an "official statement" for many journalists (see below). If you reply to a comment with a few more details than what's in the official post, know that it can and will end up in the media, attributed as a brand statement.

• Crisis is the brand/organization's fault (ex: apology needed)

The New York State Police experienced this with their recent oopsie on Facebook. When my resident New Yorker, Megan Ciampo, told me about the post, I really debated on what I would advise them to do. If you post an apology on your timeline, you get aura points for transparency and humility - but you will probably have to deal with a lot of vitriol in the comments. And then, of course, there's the question of whether you leave the post up forever, or try to quietly delete it after some time and hope no one notices. Another option – masterfully executed by Adam Levine's PR team in the wake of cheating accusations a few years ago – is to use a Stories placement for an apology. That way it's there, but it's not there forever.

So which placement do you choose? That really depends on your audience, the optics, and how long you can stand for it to live on your account. For their part, the New York State Police did post an apology, which surprised me – but comments were largely supportive. As Megan commented, "People in New York love the police," so they knew their audience and made the right move.

• Crisis is a leader's fault

This is a sticky situation for social/comms/PR pros, especially if the leader in question doesn't feel that their rogue post or statement was ill advised. In that case, I really can't put it better than Tameka Bazile did in her recent post. In the case where you have to walk the line between your own feelings and your job, you need to lean on analytics (what has the impact to the brand been, in hard numbers?) and documentation (what is our brand voice and social strategy?).

Essential reading/watching: Creating content from Hurricanes Helene and Milton, What's in the Rug on TikTok, How East Fork Is Using Social Media in the Aftermath of Helene (from Link in Bio newsletter by Rachel Karten)

I have the privilege of knowing many talented people who live the intersection of PR, communications, and journalism every day. For this edition, I interviewed two experts for their perspective: Bridget Bennett , associate editor at MarketBeat with over a decade in broadcast journalism, and Denise DePaolo , PR and marketing director at the Great Plains Zoo and a former broadcast news producer.

Q: This is something you and I talked about briefly, Bridget, but I just want to confirm – in my experience, journalists will consider anything posted on social media by a brand as an official statement. Is that your experience, too?

Bridget: Yes, in my experience most news organizations will quote anything posted by a company on their social media channels. That includes replies to consumer comments on your social media channels as well.

For example, if an official Facebook account for an energy company responds to a consumer's public question about when their power might be restored, a reporter would very likely quote the information in that reply. i.e. "Xcel told customers on their Facebook page that power should be restored by Friday morning." That coverage could include a screen shot of the social post with the user's names and photos blurred out.?

Denise, does that affect your PR/social strategy?

Denise: Social media is the most important outlet for the zoo when it comes to sharing sensitive information – like an animal arrival or passing. Aside from our website, it’s the one place where we can be sure a statement or announcement can exist in its entirety with any context we deem relevant.

When I send out a press release or do a media interview, that information is filtered through other people who may not see every detail as necessary to include, which is to be expected. ???

Q: In your experience, how has social media influenced the speed at which news is delivered and consumed?

Bridget: Rather than waiting for official press release from authorities saying an accident occurred on this date and location, news organizations are frequently finding out about news as its happening from public comments or tagging on social media. Many police departments have also switched from emailing official press releases to posting official information and statements on their Twitter or Facebook feeds.?

Denise: Once we publish a post, we have to expect that it’s everywhere and anywhere instantly. That includes anything posted by our guests, recording their zoo experiences with their phones. ?

Q: How has the role of the journalist evolved with the rise of social media? What about the PR/Comms professional?

Bridget: Social media is one of the biggest tools for journalists to find news tips and leads for stories in their community. Local journalists who move into a new market will often join community Facebook groups, Reddit pages and follow local political leaders and companies on all social channels so they can find story ideas.?

Denise: Journalism has evolved from just your primary platform – a newspaper or broadcast – to include tertiary platforms that are inextricable components of contemporary storytelling. While you still have your primary piece for air or print, your story also exists on your website and social media. A journalist has to decide whether to share the guts of a story early on social media, or whether to use it as a tool to tease the story and hope the audience tunes in – or that they’ll consume it digitally later. [Note from Amanda: it's interesting that journalists are being asked to be ad hoc content strategists!]

As far as PR/Comms goes, social media gives a lot of power back to individuals and organizations to have a direct line to their most engaged audience – for better or worse.? ?

Q. Do you feel social media has altered the editorial process or standards of fact-checking and objectivity?

Bridget: Most large news organizations have social media policies that work to protect journalistic standards even with the instantaneous information found on social media. Many journalists use social posts for story ideas, but actively pursue the people behind the posts. I would frequently message someone to follow up on a post or a comment they made on social media. With the frequency of spam social accounts, journalists are far more reluctant to quote a general citizen's social post without connecting with the human behind the post first. Official company social accounts are viewed in a different light and are seen as a far more legitimate comment or statement from the company, simply because in most corporate cases, journalists don't need to verify that the company actually exists. (For official accounts for large companies anyway.)

Another important point: many news organizations have a policy that photos or video content posted on any social media channel cannot be aired on television without written permission from the person who posted the content. So while words and comments made on social media may be quoted without express permission, videos and photos are more of a legal liability for large news organizations to re-share without permission.

Denise: Social media allows a lot more points of view to enter the conversation. Because the algorithm feeds us what we want to see, the user is now responsible for checking their own biases when receiving information. We have to consider who is sharing the info, what biases they might have, and what they are citing for sources. These extra steps have created a kind of “sleuth culture” around establishing the credibility of content creators and the information they share.

Social media also allows anyone to call their feed “news.” While this type of guerilla journalism can be exciting, it can also be dangerous.?

Social media also allows anyone to call their feed “news.” While this type of guerilla journalism can be exciting, it can also be dangerous, since these content creators aren’t beholden to the same ethics journalists at more traditional news outlets are expected to uphold.?

Q: How has social media changed the relationship between journalists and their audiences?

Bridget: News audiences feel much safer contacting and connecting with journalists via social media with news tips, sharing interesting posts they might see in the local community or pointing out bad behavior from public figures or companies on social too. A news reporter will likely get tagged in posts multiple times a day and get many private messages on social each day as well with potential story ideas sent in by viewers. In the past sending mail or calling the newsroom were viewer's only way to connect with journalists.?

Denise: Journalists can have a much more direct relationship with viewers and online followers. It’s commonplace nowadays for people to DM news tips to journalists, where they would have called the tipline 10 years ago.

Q: How has audience feedback (comments, shares, likes) on social media influenced the types of stories that are covered? Denise, does it affect your PR/comms strategies?

Bridget: When deciding what news to cover each day, many news rooms are meeting to discuss what are people talking about today? What do people in our community care about today? Viral social posts are an easy way to see when a topic has gotten the community's attention. Those local viral posts are always worth a news story. Sometimes it's a news story to cover the misinformation that might be present in the viral post while other times it's diving into more of the story behind the viral post.?

Denise: Social media helps us quantify people’s interests through interactions. We take this into account when planning content. We can’t share everything any particular animal is up to, but if we know our audience loves watching giraffe hoof care, then we’ll prioritize adjacent content – like giraffes receiving novel enrichment or hoof care with other species.?

Q: In your experience, how has the relationship between PR professionals/corporate spokespeople and journalists changed with the rise of social media?

Bridget: Rather than connecting with journalists specifically to get out the information to the public, corporations and governments can get out a statement to a wide public audience on their own social platforms. This is really a shift from depending on news organizations to present relevant information to the public, to being able to communicate directly to a broad audience on their own.?

Denise: Social media allows for a lot more awareness. It’s common now for news outlets to pick up stories from our social media, even when we don’t send out a press release. I regularly get calls from journalists who saw a post on Facebook or Instagram.

Q: Bridget - How do journalists evaluate the credibility of company statements or announcements made via social media?

Bridget: This is just a matter of ensuring the account is officially connected to the company. If it is a verified account with plenty of other corporate posts to prove that long-time connection to the corporation, any statement made on that official account can be considered a public statement by the company. Again, personal accounts are more difficult to evaluate credibility simply because of the number of spam accounts out there.?

Q. What challenges do journalists face when responding to corporate PR efforts that unfold in real time on platforms like Twitter or Instagram?

Bridget: While many companies have switched to delivering all public information on their social pages, following multiple social channels for hundreds of companies and local government officials can mean a risk of journalists missing a post. It's why sending an official press release or even tagging a news organization in a post you want the general public to know about can be very helpful in ensuring your message does not get lost in the slew of social content journalists are combing through.?

Sending an official press release or even tagging a news organization in a post you want the general public to know about can be very helpful in ensuring your message does not get lost in the slew of social content journalists are combing through.?

Q: How has social media changed the way companies pitch stories to journalists or frame their narratives?

Denise: It’s important that PR professionals appreciate that social media is highly visual, so it’s important to include image and video assets whenever possible – or opportunities to gather them. Journalists are busy, so handing over a turnkey story increases the likelihood of seeing it picked up – and reduces the chances of out-of-date images or photos appearing alongside it.

Q: Bridget, have you experienced companies bypassing traditional media and delivering news directly via social media? What are your thoughts on this? Denise, have you/would you ever use this tactic?

Bridget: Yes, all of the time. Again, my biggest concern is that these messages are more likely to be missed if a news organization is not expressly notified. While this news statement might be of extreme importance to your organization, unless it has widespread public impact it may miss the notice of a busy newsroom following any and everything happening in the community.?

Denise: Yes – when it’s crucial that we share specific details, it’s invaluable to have a direct line to your most engaged audience. In sensitive situations, like the death of animal, social media will likely be the only place we proactively share that news. This ensures we are the one source of truth for messaging around those situations, and that media reporting on them will reference the post as their source, opening the door for their audience to read it for themselves.

Further reading: News Consumption Across Digital Platforms, Pew Research Center