1. Work on a process for resolving issues
What is your customer service process for responding to inquiries that are sent to your agency via social media? Do you have a 100 percent response rate displayed on your Facebook business page? Practicing and testing your citizen response process is something you can always work on.Ensure that your process for answering citizen questions on social media has been made clear. Your profile pages should explain the timeframe in which accounts will be monitored, how quickly to expect a response, and include alternative methods of contact if necessary. Internally, staff members should understand the workflow for responding to inquiries and be ready to do their part.
2. Craft crisis messages
Something big might happen in your community on your watch. It could be a major weather event, large-scale accident or something more nefarious such as a major shooting. When a crisis happens, the onset is usually swift and you’ll have little time to sort out what to say on social media.While most communications your agency makes on social media will be very specific to the crisis, there are some messages that you can write in advance. These pre-written crisis communication templates are better handled in your social media downtime, not during the disaster.
Consider the first thing your entity should say to your citizens on social media when a crisis happens. Your first response should include a statement that your agency is aware of the situation. You also want to let them know that you’re in the process of looking at it. Finally, your last two elements of that first message should be to express that you care and state that they will hear back from you. While the particulars of these four points will change based on the crisis, the basic template can be prepared ahead of time.
3. Make a list of influencers
Social media influencers are important because their networks tend to be large, so they might be able to help grow your reach by sharing or drawing attention to your posts. Cultivating a decent list of influencers is a good use of your downtime.How can you find key influencers? Jot down who any influencers might be as it relates to your agency, department or program. These might be people of recognizable status in the community, leaders of boards and commissions, or active participants at public meetings. Search Twitter and Facebook to see if the size of their social media followers reflects their offline status. If so, make an online connection with them.
Perhaps the key online influencers in your community are entirely different than the major players offline. You can use free online tools such as Social Mention or Topsy to discover the handles of online influencers. Simply search for hot topics in your community and take note of the active users. Many times, these individuals are happy to help share or retweet posts by your agency if they align with the type of messages they typically send. You won’t know until you reach out.
Your work is never “done.”
Hopefully these ideas will kick-start your approach to social media downtime and get you thinking about other ways to strategically use these quieter intervals. Remember, you are actually in a lucky position that many social media managers never get to experience.
