STUDY: Most Companies Are Utterly Unprepared For A Social Media Crisis

I read an interesting report by the Altimeter Group and find more than half of the 144 companies surveyed say they don't have a response plan if a real-time technology crisis strikes.

"Equally as shocking, the study -- which also researched 50 mainstream social media crises since 2001, and interviewed social media strategists at Intel, Coca-Cola, and Toyota, among other companies -- found that 76% of crises could have been averted, either with more preparation or a better response to the problem."

"The average corporate social business program is three years old, and there's a huge difference between companies that have crisis-response systems in place and those who don't. According to the study: Of companies with a formalized crisis response plan in place, 96% feel prepared for a social media crisis; of those without a plan, only 22% indicate preparedness."

Here are graphs demonstrating how careless some companies are in such cases:

So, how do companies avoid a social media crisis? Based on its interviews with advanced social businesses, Altimeter Group developed a “Social Business Hierarchy of Needs” (pictured below) to help businesses achieve social business readiness. Here’s a look at the pyramid and each set of requirements:

Each segment of the pyramid is accompanied by thorough, step-by-step instructions on how to achieve excellence in each section of the pyramid. Here’s a quick overview:

• Foundation: Define business objectives. Develop four sets of policies: social media, disclosure/ethics, community and privacy. Train and empower employees.
• Safety: Appoint a team that actively monitors social media channels during office hours and beyond. Develop a triage system. Practice with “fire drills” that simulate real-life crises.
• Formation: Take inventory of all social assets and reform your teams accordingly, focusing on increased communication. Form a social media “Center of Excellence” that serves the entire company.
• Enablement: Enable business units to deploy and run social media programs on their own. Set up an internal community where employees can learn from each other, and aggregate measurement data to prove successes.
• Enlightenment: In an ideal state, businesses are able to make decisions based on real-time intelligence and use social data to inform product development and partner relations. Furthermore, “enlightened” social businesses are able to achieve real-time customer engagement by empowering all employees to use social media on behalf of the company.