If you’re routinely engaging with large audiences across a variety of social media platforms, it’s inevitable that once in a while you might make a bit of a faux pas. It might be using the wrong photo in the wrong post, including incorrect information in a feature or scheduling something that gets posted on the wrong day. Whatever it is, follow our damage control steps below to minimise the social media casualties and learn something positive from the mistake.

1) Don’t Panic!

It’s easy to jump to psychological panic stations when you realise you’ve messed up. Remember that social media is a subjective environment and there’s always a chance something could be taken the wrong way. Take a moment to actually make sure you have made the mistake – sometimes an aggressive comment or complaint can make you instinctively admit fault where there isn’t any. If something really has gone wrong on your part, just take a minute to calm yourself before you start rationally repairing the damage.

2) Assess The Damage

How many people have noticed or been upset by your mistake? Is it one person, or have others joined in too? Work out what the damage is by looking at what is being impacted by the error: is it your business reputation, your brand voice, or the customer’s trust in you? Knowing what aspect you need to focus on will help you work out the best thing to do next.

3) Decide Which Course of Action To Take

Normally, removing the post that contains the mistake is the best immediate action, but it’s better to acknowledge the mistake nonetheless. If people are voicing their complaints on the post and then the post is deleted, it might seem as though you’re trying to conveniently silence them and cover up your error. Follow up the post removal with a quick apology post, acknowledging the mistake and reassuring any uncertainties. Judge each case individually – would it be better to throw some light humour into the situation, or is a tone of sincerity more helpful?

Always try to resist passing the blame onto something like a poor Internet connection or a keyboard typo. People can often detect a phoney excuse, and it will make your brand seem less trustworthy.

4) Individual Customer Follow-Up – If Necessary

Sometimes, followers or customers may need a bit of individual attention if they have been particularly upset by your mistake. It’s better to take this interaction through direct messaging, email or even via phone. Reassure them about their concerns, apologise again, and ask them what kind of content they would like to see more or less of on your sites. Not only will this help to further diffuse the situation, but it also boosts a long-term confidence in the person that your brand genuinely cares about their opinion and experience.

5) Consider Adjusting Future Strategy

Is there something you can do to avoid these kinds of mistakes in the future? Maybe it means having a second or third person checking over content before it’s posted, changing the sources of your information or having more succinct brand guidelines when it comes to creating content for your business’s online media. Whatever it is, frame your new strategies in a positive way – they’re a useful device for helping you to make fewer mistakes in future.

6) Don’t Let It Ruin Your Day

It’s easy to let the negativity from this type of incident seep into everything else you do, but try to keep it at bay: behind every strong social media campaign are human beings and so this kind of mistake can happen to everyone. You’ve still got a great business to run, and making a mistake doesn’t mean you’re any less capable of doing a great job overall. Back to business, everyone.

By Olivia Rose French

Olivia is an expert writer, blogging specialist and Copywriter at Shake Social.

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