BulletProofBlog the blog on crisis communications

The top six social media tips to know before you leave the office.

When reputational problems strike your brand in today’s digital realm, moving quickly to own the online messaging landscape can make the difference between a short lived bump in the branding road and a crippling long-term crisis.
 
How can organizations guard their reputations and protect their bottom lines when online critics launch viral assaults? The key is to be first in the online race to be found. Brands looking to respond to online attacks can turn to a tool they are likely already using for proactive marketing – Google’s AdWords – to rapidly calm consumer anxiety and correct the record in times of crisis.

This week’s Six @ Six outlines key tactics available through Google AdWords that can help control the message and drive the crisis narrative. While each tactic can be deployed at a moment’s notice, they work best when prepared in advance as part of a comprehensive crisis communications plan:

1. Create specific landing webpages for your crisis response:

A central tenant of effective crisis response is to use your peace time wisely. Take the time now to anticipate your likely crisis scenarios and develop crisis microsites that can address public concern in real time when your next crisis hits (whatever the crisis may be). Deploying an integrated Google AdWords campaign to drive information seekers to your microsite will ensure the public is seeing your information first, providing a substantial leg up in the online race to be found. Include relevant press releases, blog posts, news clippings, and videos correcting misperceptions and directly addressing the public’s anxiety. While AdWords can spread your response far and wide, these tactics will fall flat if your content does not address public concerns and searchers must go elsewhere to find the answers to their questions.

2. Target all keywords related to your crisis:

In setting up an AdWords campaign, you have the capability to target your ads specifically to those searching for precise key terms associated with the crisis at hand. In developing your response, consider all related key terms that people might use – not just those with your company’s name – as well as common misspellings of all terms. For instance, in a litigation or regulatory crisis, try optimizing the names of the statutes or codes at issue, as well as names of top individuals both at your company and the regulator or opposing counsel. In a product liability crisis, be sure to purchase the key terms being searched for by a concerned public (“recalled baby stroller,” for example). You can use Google’s own Keyword Tool to help identify potentially related terms.

3. Tailor the text of the ad to attract clicks:

When people turn to Google to find out more about a crisis, they don’t want to know about your company’s ten-year business plan; they want to see your immediate response. With that in mind, create an ad that includes your key messaging and an invitation to find out more. One successful tactic is to use the keywords you’re targeting in the text of an ad. Including your business name and key terms will ensure that those parts of your ad will appear in bold when part of the search query. For example, when a person searches for “recalled baby stroller,” if your ad text reads, “Find out more about the recalled baby stroller,” the last three words – part of the search query – will appear in bold, drawing the eye of the searcher and increasing the likelihood of your ad being clicked. It can be a challenge to fit everything you want into the 95 character limit, but the more appealing the text, the more clicks you will receive - and the further your message will spread.

4. Consider geo-targeting options:

If budget is an issue or if there are particular geographic areas that are most important to reach, Google allows you to tailor your campaigns to reach precise locations down to the street level. This can be especially useful when targeting key influencers and decision-makers as part of a strategic communications plan. For example, if your company is faced with a state-level regulatory investigation, you can target your ads specifically at either the capital or a radius around the regulator’s office, as well as the offices of media outlets and other key influencers.

5. Use contextual ads to reach broader audiences:

Google’s expansive network of partner sites provides an ideal opportunity to place your ad – usually inexpensively – alongside any article about the crisis at hand. In certain situations, this capability can be combined with geo-targeting options to create a so-called “Google Bomb,” which effectively ensures that every Internet user inside a certain geographic area will be exposed to your messaging. At a minimum, contextual advertising can ensure broader dissemination of your messages specifically to those reading articles, blog posts, and other content directly related to your particular crisis who may not be actively seeking information through search engines.

6. Bring your marketing team into the fold:

In many cases, your company’s marketing team may have already established an AdWords account set up that includes significant lines of credit and has imparted invaluable experience working with the service. If you already have an AdWords account, use it to your advantage; otherwise, you will have to pre-pay for ads instead of using established lines of credit to pay as you go. Even if you don’t have an existing AdWords account, chances are someone on your marketing team is familiar with the tactics and strategies for best optimizing online advertising. Crisis teams need to know in advance whose online marketing expertise can best be leveraged during a crisis.

Click here to receive Six @ Six in your inbox each week

Dallas Lawrence is the chair of the Social and Digital Media practice at Levick Strategic Communications, the nation’s top crisis communications firm, and a contributing author to Bulletproof Blog. Connect with him on Twitter: @DallasLawrence.