If you haven't already used your social media accounts to connect with others before a crisis happens, posting during a crisis shouldn't be your very first or only message.
Use your social media platforms to direct your audience to one main source for updates, like your website, which is easy to find through search engines and where everyone can easily access the latest information.
In a crisis, you must:
- Pause all other social media posts unrelated to the crisis.
- Actively listen and monitor social media to know what people are saying and what questions they are asking about the event.
- Ensure crisis updates are cleared for public release by reviewing your social media strategy and decision matrix.
- Conduct internal communications with your base populace off social media; enemy combatants can monitor social media.
- Determine whether the information in the post is intended for external or internal communications to avoid sharing unauthorized information with external audiences.
The Initial Post Structure
After confirming the crisis warrants a social media post, use this template to prepare an initial post that conveys critical information and instructions to your audience.
We are aware that [ type of event ] has occurred [ at or associated with ] [ location or name of organization ]. We will post updates to our website as they become available. [ insert website link ]
Remember that a social media post should not read the same as your initial release. The post should:
- Acknowledge the event.
- Direct your audience to where they can find updates (e.g., your website).
In this example, the applied structure demonstrates how a post to Facebook or X might look. Note that neither includes an image as it might be inappropriate and detract from the message.
These examples use the above template, but this formula is not the only way to construct a post. Regardless of how you construct a post, remember to:
- Be clear and direct in your communication efforts.
- Alter the template as necessary to fit your audience.
- Ensure the post has all required approvals.
Posting on Social Media
Your Facebook audience is different from your audience on X, Instagram, YouTube, etc. Understand that people will screenshot and share your post with others as soon as you post it, so make sure messages work to fulfill command intent and contain no mistakes.