What is Crisis Management?
Crisis Management in digital and social media is the structured process of detecting, addressing, and resolving sudden negative events that could harm a brand’s reputation. These events might include viral complaints, misinformation, product issues, PR scandals, or unexpected backlash online.
Effective crisis management combines real-time monitoring, alerting, and strategic communication, allowing brands to minimize damage and restore trust.
Why is Crisis Management important?
- Protects brand reputation from sudden harm.
- Reduces business risk by acting on early signals.
- Safeguards consumer trust through transparency and timely responses.
- Provides insights for preventing future crises.
Example of Crisis Management in action
A travel company faces a surge in negative mentions about flight delays. With Real-Time Alerting, the PR team detects the spike within minutes, communicates updates to passengers, and issues a public apology — preventing the issue from spiraling into a full-blown crisis.
What can be measured in Crisis Management
- Buzz spikes linked to negative keywords.
- Sentiment drops and shifts in Net Sentiment.
- Topic surges around product or service issues.
- Mentions by high-impact sources amplify the crisis.
- Time-to-response as a measure of crisis handling.
Key Takeaways
- Crisis Management = reactive response to sudden threats.
- Works best with Alerting to catch issues early.
- Must be tied to broader Reputation Management for long-term protection.
- With Palowise, brands can track mentions, detect spikes instantly, and act in real time.