Recent events have made it difficult for all those involved in social media. I belong to several different managers and strategy groups and was pretty astounded by the quick call to react. It was interesting to see brand responses to the national incidents that have happened over the last year.
I wanted to take a moment and suggest that possibly one of the best solutions for brand pages is to pause and go silent. There are some issues brands don’t need to weigh in on and some issues are too powerful and too expansive for brands NOT to weigh in on. But an initial response to pause your sites and go silent is what we always suggest.
Here are a few other options you might consider when deciding how to respond to an event:
- Does your opinion matter to your clients on this particular situation?
- Is there anyone on staff who might be emotionally tied to the situation? If so, what is his/her response and would they mind sharing their insights on your page if you agree?
- What does it say/mean if you do respond? What does it say/mean if you don’t?
Using these questions we find that in almost every situation you can determine what an appropriate response might be. Often sharing others responses whose opinions are the same as yours can be a powerful way to acknowledge events.
But if you don’t know what to say; I always advise to pause and go silent.
