On
Saturday, I received an email with subject “Buffer has been hacked – here is
what’s going on”. As an ardent Buffer fan and user, my first reaction was “Oh
my god. What must have happened to my tweets/ Facebook posts?”. But when I
opened the email, I was up for a pleasant surprise. Yes, I am saying a
“pleasant surprise”. Here is why:
#1: The email did not
beat around the bush but clearly stated the fact that buffer has been hacked
and it’s a problem which needs to be handled. At the same time, the language
and tone clearly showed that the Buffer team was concerned and apologetic about
what happened. While things can go wrong with anyone, finally taking the
ownership makes or breaks the deal.
#2: The email clearly
stated what needs to be done next – which is most important.
#3: While the Buffer
team was working round the clock for solving the problem, it made sure that team
members were posting constant updates on their live blog, Facebook and Twitter. Having worked on software products for a
considerable period in my career, I can fully understand how difficult it must
be for the team to handle the issues and solve the technical problems. But at
the same time, they made sure that they don’t keep the users in dark. I was
amazed to see updates almost after every couple of hours. The frequency of the updates clearly showed
that the team was working round the clock over the weekend to take care of this
crisis.
#4:
Here is what completely amazed and blew me away. I posted a tweet
congratulating the buffer team for their excellent crisis management and I got
a personalized response. Note that buffer has 145K followers and I can only
imagine the flood of mentions it must have got after the hacking incident.
Responding to each tweet – that too in a so much personalized manner in
incredible!
The
personalized signature at the end of the tweet from Buffer team made me look at
their “About Us” section to know really who the members are. What increased my
respect for the team is the fact that the buffer team is only 13 people and the
people who responded to my tweet did not necessarily belong to “marketing” or “social
media” department. Belle is the Content Crafter there and Brian is the Designer!
Yet again, a fine example to emphasize
the fact that marketing
is no more confined to marketing department.
Key
takeaways from this:
-
In case of crisis like this, be honest and transparent. Show the concern and
at the same time, accept and take complete responsibility
-
Communicate the updates and tell the affected community that you are
working on it
-
Social Media is a powerful channel – while you enjoy publishing news and achievements
there, it can very well be used in such situations as well
-
Social media is not ONLY marketing department job. The whole buffer team, right from the CEO to the Designer, all of them were on social channel, responding to queries, feedback and appreciations.
-
Give a personal touch to your social media presence– to be honest, the
personalized response to my tweet made me write this blog post!
Have
you witnessed any other fine example of crisis management using social media?
Share your comments!
