If you are a social media or advertising enthusiast, you probably noticed some of the biggest brands pulling off outstanding campaigns. Clips are going viral, buzz is created, everybody is talking about the brand. A good example of an amazing campaign is Old Spice’s “The man your men could smell like”. It’s simple, it’s funny, it reached its targeted audience in no time.
However, social media is not always a positive experience. Mistakes tend to get viral much faster than the good news. Who hasn’t seen the clip where an UPS guy is throwing a package? Or the scandal around US Airways, who posted an inappropriate picture on their Twitter account.
Some say that bad publicity is still publicity. We are inclined to disagree. If your brand takes a hit, it’s very hard to recover, especially if you don’t act fast.
So what’s the PR conduct in a crisis situation and how can PPC help you?
* First of all, if you made a mistake, make sure you publicly admit it. It may be hard, but your audience needs to know you are aware there is a problem and you are working on finding a solution (if you found it already, even better). Make sure you apologise and state what your actions will be. Post this on your official website and social accounts. If it’s a video, post it on YouTube.
* Find the “scandal” keywords. For example, “UPS throwing package”. People are curious, they will search it.
* Bid highly on those keywords to make sure you are above the results that lead to unflattering articles. Use your apology page as a landing page. If you have a video, we recommend using the YouTube advertising scheme as well.
What’s a small investment in PPC when compared to a lifetime of damaged caused by a lack of response on your behalf?