How To Bounce Back After A Social Media Fail

You may remember recently when NPR made a crucial social media mistake. One that's pretty much any social media manager's nightmare. Someone accidentally posted something personal onto NPR's business page.

Although embarrassing, viewers perceived the message as humorous, and the post received an enormity of likes and comments. This post is a social media fail that worked in favor of the company. But not everyone is so lucky!

What do you do if you mess up on your social media business account? First, take a deep breath. Then follow these suggestions:

1. Accept and apologize: Perhaps a joke that was meant to be light-hearted was perceived as offensive, or a post was misleading. Compose a genuine apology to share with viewers.

2. Be responsive: One of the worst things you can do in response to an error is to ignore it. Address questions and concerns immediately but thoughtfully.

3. Create a strategy: Decide how you will communicate better with your marketing team and your audience in the future.

4. Don't ignore negative feedback: You can approach this in a couple of ways. If you have a significantly large audience with the same concern, it may be almost impossible to address every person. Additionally, if you pick and choose whom to respond to, that could just add to the fire. It may be best to make a collective statement with a solution if possible. Otherwise, rebuild relationships and connect with negative commenters directly.

In the instance of a significant social media upset, use these helpful tips to bounce back from a social media fail.