Social media can also bury your business
Social media usage in Romania is increasing
The latest Euro barometer shows that 83% of Romanians access Facebook and 61% - of YouTube within a week. These are the most used social networks in Romania. Any media scandal, any inappropriate statement, and any controversial decision is debated, analysed, and turned on all sides on these platforms.
By whom? By the user who is free to express himself, argue, complain or approve, as the case may be.
The same user who is free to distribute, encourage and indirectly contribute to the rise or fall of a brand.
When you hear something silly on TV, you can only comment on it in your home, family or circle of friends. On social media, you have a much bigger audience and the chances of your complaints being validated by others increase. And that gives you psychological comfort.
Is this dynamic relevant to a brand? Of course! Especially for one that wants to use the advantages of such a consumer market as a social media platform.
But the risks are as great as the benefits, and they need to be considered strategically before the damage is done.
Promoting services or products
One of the favourite ways for companies to use this 'marketplace' is to promote services or products through the mouths of established voices with many followers and fans, whose content is widely accessed, distributed and liked.
That person is called an influencer (because they influence consumer behaviour and even attitudes) and has become public since they have built an audience.
They have responsibilities because they have to not only preserve their audience but also grow it, to make money as an intermediary between the company or brand and the consumer.
Therefore, as a public person with responsibilities as an intermediary influencing consumer decisions and attitudes, some of the premises of a potential communication crisis are already in place.
Because it is almost impossible that, from this position, on such a dynamic and motley communication platform, difficult to control, a communication crisis may not occur at some point, smaller or bigger, better or worse managed, which may bury both the brand and the influencer.
Social media scandals
These days, active social media users are still debating the statements made in 2022 by a well-known vlogger who promotes various brands, especially on the technology and IT component.
The scandal has gone beyond Facebook and reached TV and established publications in Romanian online.
Even politicians, especially women, felt it was a good time to strengthen their personal brand and posted texts disapproving of the public statements of the influencer with over a million subscribers on YouTube and almost 500 thousand followers on Facebook.
The watchful eye of the social media user dug into the virtual history of the impostor and rolled their outrage including at the brands that paid him to promote himself. This contamination is a natural phenomenon that brands are or should be aware of.
What is a public figure or influencer, dependent on the big brands that provide his income, to do after he has made a controversial statement and sparks a scandal or communication crisis?
Prepare a response and reaction statement
What is the first step? Prepare a reaction statement.
When you have millions of people following you, when over 90% of those debating the topic on the most used social media platform disagree with what you said and the outrage is growing, you prepare a reaction! The option to keep quiet doesn't exist. Your audience deserves a reaction because it helps you earn your bread and butter.
Ideally, you should harmonise with the brands that paid you to promote them and let them know your reaction, so they know what to expect. You have this ethical obligation, if it's not stipulated in a contract - as it should be, by the way - to let them know your reaction beforehand if you still risk seriously damaging their reputation through contagion. As happened in the case used as an example.
What type of response and reaction should you have?
When there is sufficient evidence that what you have said is wrong, serious, offensive to good manners, mean-spirited and in total disagreement with the vast majority of users, the safest or least risky thing to do is to apologise.
Don't defy your audience by accusing them of taking your words out of context, when the context is obvious to everyone, don't push other communication stakes (like public health awareness), when such strategies require the expertise of specialists who actually treat the subject professionally, without offending the target audience, don't mock those who already feel insulted.
Don't involve family members, as you might sink in worse and drag them into the situation too. Take the mistake with maturity and apologise!
Simple and straightforward, without arrogance. You can invoke natural human weaknesses: tiredness, hangover, blind spot, bad timing, lack of judgement, etc. You return to common sense and ask the community that was offended to forgive you. There's nothing shameful or wrong with that, in fact, it's necessary if you want to continue your work.
What you should consider doing next?
If you're an influencer, you know a field very well, and you want to continue this activity and get as little as possible out of it, but you don't know communication above this level, you get an expert. He'll teach you what to do to get back on your feet and, with skill and patience, in a few months there's a good chance you'll declare most of the damage erased.
You may even give others the opportunity to learn how to get out of such a crisis. The ultimate goal is to show that what you said in a moment of euphoria or fatigue is not you, that you have learned something from it, that you respect your audience, and that there are no contradictions between the values you believe in and the values the brands that pay you to promote.
The expert will also teach you how to take care of your personal image, what, how and when to say, the limits of public communication and its rules.
There are many risks in using social media influencers
For a company, contracting the services of an influencer has become an almost default component in a communication mix.
Those who are aware of the risks know how to manage this relationship: by stipulating clear terms and rules between the parties, by carefully choosing who promotes them online, by constantly monitoring the content delivered and the response given by users, by anticipating possible crises and preparing for them.
Companies that are unaware of the risks believe unreservedly in the mirage promised by an influencer's popularity, without asking too many questions, without anticipating the negative scenario. It's just that treating the relationship so superficially leads to a reputational crisis, with huge implications for the life of the brand. An influencer should not be confused with a communication expert.
Influencers are not crisis experts
Don't expect him to manage communication crises like an experienced professional does. He is, at best, an expert in a field that intersects with a brand's interest. He is a person with a large social media following and skills in generating specific content (fashion, IT, insurance, automotive, etc.).
But when they confuse popularity with the right to say anything without consequences, the brand will fall with the one who promised them salvation. Because, after all, it has over a million subscribers, and that's enough to guarantee its success.
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Lighthouse PR, based in Bucharest, and its management team sit on the EU SME Development board and the CMO Council. It is also a valued member of the prestigious Crisis Communication Network Europe. It is the only member in Romania and SEE, with network offices in 14 countries across the EU.
