It’s 7:30 p.m. on a Saturday night. You’re out enjoying your weekend with friends when your phone begins going crazy. As a social media professional, you know what this means– some kind of crisis is happening. Your weekend is officially over.

It’s at this moment where many social media professionals freeze. What should I do? Should I say something or wait? What if I make it worse than it already is? It’s this precious time where things can get very, very ugly.

Notify your communications chain that social media has begun blowing up

The first response you should have is to check your e-mail and see if anyone else in your organization is aware of the crisis. Provide a brief, but detailed, sample of the content coming through your social channels to those involved in crisis communications.

Most importantly, stress that you need a statement approved ASAP for social media to acknowledge you’re aware of the situation and are looking into the matter. This is crucial for one simple reason: You want to give people a place to vent that you ultimately control. Give them a target to aim for. This will hopefully keep them away from places like Google Reviews, Yelp, or other areas that fall outside your brand’s control.

2. Turn off your Facebook Reviews immediately.

Shutting down your Facebook Reviews section immediately is another crucial step. Facebook Reviews are now used as a means of digital hostage-taking. Users leave highly-angered 1-star reviews threatening they will not change their review until the brand does a specific action (i.e. fire an employee, stop supporting a certain cause, etc.) This can cause incredible damage to your brand. Many of the users will leave a review and never care to change their review at all, even if your organization takes action.

Go to your Facebook Page > Settings >General > Reviews > “Disable Reviews”

3. Pin your latest statements to the top of your page/profile.

Pinning is one of your best tools during a crisis. Facebook and Twitter both allow pinning content to the top of pages/profiles. This will ensure the latest information is prominently displayed so those visiting your profile won’t overlook it. Update the pinned content as often as you update your official statements.

The prominence of pinned content will also give angry users a target to shoot at when venting their frustration– most importantly it’s a target you ultimately have control over. On Facebook, you’ll be able to hide, delete and moderate comments as you desire. Just be careful how you moderate the thread, you could make things worse.

To pin a post on Facebook, click on the down arrow in the upper-right corner of the Facebook post. Choose “Pin to Top of Page” in the drop-down menu. (see below)

How to pin a Facebook post to the top of your Facebook page.

Example of a pinned Facebook post. You’ll note the blue pin icon in the upper-right corner.

How to pin a tweet to the top of your Twitter profile.

What a pinned tweet looks like on your profile. Note the “Pinned Tweet” icon above the tweet.

4. Use Facebook ads to your advantage– even in a crisis.

Many digital crisis communicators don’t think of digital ads when the shit is hitting the fan. However, there is a time and place to use Facebook ad dollars strategically.

If your brand is going to put out a statement that will get massive applause from your own community or those berating your brand put some money behind it– don’t waste the opportunity to win their hearts.

Spend Facebook ads dollars targeting your own page likes to spread your statement to your Facebook community. Giving your statement more reach and impressions will increase engagement and sharing, thus increasing the total awareness of your actions. When your Facebook followers get approached about the brand crisis off-line they’ll be able to spread your message for you. You’re turning your community into active brand ambassadors that can help disseminate and reinforce your statement.

If you follow the four tips I’ve shared above you’ll be off to a great start on managing the digital firestorm a brand crisis can generate. If you have some other tips from your personal experience drop me a response down below– I’d love to hear them!