It happens. Brands tweet first and check the meaning behind a hashtag or topic later; never a good idea. The latest installment came from DiGiorno Pizza when they jumped on a trending hashtag without checking its origin first:
Unfortunately, it was a hashtag on which women were sharing their experiences with domestic violence. When many who saw the tweet reacted with the kind of snark DiGiorno is known for, saying there would soon be an opening for a new social media manager, the brand took action immediately. While it’s important to have a social media crisis communication plan in place, brands also have to act on any unique situation that presents itself in a way that best reflects their brand values.
DiGiorno did three things right immediately to take control of this potential social media crisis.
1. Deleted the offensive tweet, immediately.
Although things can never be permanently deleted in an age of screenshots- like the one taken from the Huffington Post article detailing the offensive tweet in question, above- taking the action alone signals that a brand understands that they have done something wrong and that they are taking action to right it. An important first step in the right direction, provided it is done immediately. Waiting to delete a tweet until intense backlash builds signals that a brand doesn’t think they’ve done anything wrong, or doesn’t care enough to do anything about it.
2. Apologized, and then reiterated the apology.
Immediately after deleting the tweet, DiGiorno followed up with an appropriate apology:
A million apologies. Did not read what the hashtag was about before posting.
— DiGiorno Pizza (@DiGiornoPizza) September 9, 2014
And a day later they reiterated it:
We heard from many of you, and we know we disappointed you. We understand, and we apologize to everyone for this mistake.
— DiGiorno Pizza (@DiGiornoPizza) September 9, 2014
DiGiorno is working to communicate that they understand the magnitude of their mistake, and they know it cannot be fixed in a single tweet. Or even with two. Which brings us to the third thing they did right.
3. Personally responded to those who were offended, individually.
Most brands delete an offensive tweet, apologize, and lay low before moving forward when enough time has passed. DiGiorno took things a step further and reached out individually to Twitter users offended by their tweet:
That takes a lot of time, and shows that DiGiorno takes their fans, followers and customers seriously. They are willing to respond to those who have reached out to them with concerns – and not simply with a canned, repeated answer.
The bottom line.
This is a powerful lesson for brands: Take the time to research any trending hashtag or topic before joining the flow of conversation. As DiGiorno said above in one of their individual response tweets, that’s an inexcusable and highly avoidable mistake. But mistakes happen; and DiGiorno owned up and made amends as quickly as possible. DiGiorno did that part right.
Want to make TweetReach a part of your social media crisis plan? We can help: Using TweetReach to monitor a social media crisis. And talk to us if you’d like to start monitoring tweets about your brand.