In March 2021, the Cinnamon Toast Chump story made its way to Twitter. Haven’t heard of it? Well, you should definitely check it out for yourself and take note of the…interesting way it was handled by the corporation. Let’s just say it didn’t pan out very well. But with every poorly handled situation comes a learning lesson for the rest of us. So here are our tips on how to handle social media conflict — should it ever occur in your business.
Know when to intervene
Sometimes you can let conflict go for a bit before intervening. This is best when a situation hasn’t occurred before and you’re not sure how it could pan out. The last thing you want to do is react quickly and add some gasoline to the fire. As the conflict progresses weigh out the pros and cons of intervening.
If at this time you think that the way the conversation is panning out doesn’t align with company views, morals and values, then diffuse the situation.
Know your rules of engagement
- Be aware of negative posts. Do not delete or ignore a post. The good ‘ole line of “once it’s posted it’s out there forever” is true. By the time you’ve deleted it, it’s been screenshot and shared on multiple platforms. It’s best to address this once you know your appropriate response.
- Apologize. Not only should you apologize, but do it quickly and sincerely. Make sure you post the apology directly to the source it came from.
- Offer a solution. Now, we understand not every problem can be directly and immediately solved, but you do have the opportunity to explain the next steps to resolve the conflict. We recommend moving this conversation to private DMs of the person who started the conflict.
- Address the original comment when the conflict is resolved. This prevents any further conflict from stirring after it’s resolved. It’s also a good way to cover your bases while addressing social media conflicts.
- Monitor your channels. This should be happening continuously as you continue to build your social media channels. (Have you followed Flipeleven on our social media channels?) This can help you discover any conflict before it spirals out of control (*cough* *cough* Cinnamon Toast Crunch situation) as well as keep tabs on any resolved conflicts.
Every business has its own go-to methods for handling social media conflicts, but this is what has worked for us! We hope you never have a scuffle to the degree of the Cinnamon Toast Crunch scenario, but these tips will definitely help you mitigate that risk.
Need assistance with your social media marketing strategy or want to refresh your existing content? Let’s connect.
