It’s a PR team’s modern worst nightmare - their Facebook Page is under siege by a mob of angry fans, mobilised around a cause and nimbly aimed at your brand by virally spreading messaging - it’s a situation which has no doubt haunted many a Corporate Affairs professional’s dreams.

Yet challenged to name examples of this modern day protest few spring to mind, and those which do are generally famed for their mismanagement, the cause behind them long forgotten. Don’t get me wrong these things happen, and there are no doubt well covered up horror stories to share, but here’s why, for most causes, it simply doesn’t make sense: 

Visibility: See those 2 million fans? What a juicy target!

Not so. When a brand posts to the page only around 10% of people see it (200,000). A user posting on the wall will only be seen by those actually visiting the page itself which for the 2 million fan page I’m referencing is only 400 a day.

What serious cause wants to mobilise and reach a few hundred people? Immediately the channel loses its appeal for a considered target. Action groups can get a much larger reach using users own social networks (eg their Facebook Pages and Twitter Profiles) and this is how recent protests (eg News of the World) have been run. In these situations a strong brand presence on social media can help calm the voices, but ultimately the activity will be in spaces you have no control of.

Lock down: Tightening visibility even further

Even for those 400 landing on the page a savvy brand can manage their public wall visibility, which can mean users’ comments are 3 clicks away for a new fan visiting the page. Whilst an ‘attack’ could drive a spike in traffic it would mainly be of people already siding with the cause and even they might struggle to get a sense that other people are campaigning too.

Comments on brand posts appearing more widely in people’s streams are a wider concern but in the short term can be dealt with simply by not pushing out new material. The biggest issue is possibly for very socially active brands who will be visibly silenced by the activity if they don’t respond – here working to produce a simple response can answer claims that ‘you’re not listening’ and a separate corporate account can come on the page to respond in a way that doesn’t flood news feeds. 

Positive community: Attack is the best form of defence

A well-managed fan page is a pool of hundreds of brand advocates who’ve no doubt been doing mad things for you over the past month. If you’re dirty laundry is going to be aired in public where better than with a crowd who’ll take it down and clean it for you?

Genuine positive consumer response to negativity can go a long way to silencing critics or at least balancing discussion - though NEVER consider faking this sentiment, you’ll be found out. Of course there IS a risk that even your super fans love for your brand could be undermined by overwhelming campaign against it, but don’t underestimate the defence a well formed community can be. 

PR Pickup: When journalists strike

Of course any brand with a presence on social media would be foolish to assume themselves safe and not have clear measures, like the ones touched on above, in place to activate and escalate if a crisis ever does emerge.

The biggest threat is probably if the activity gets wider media activity, such as a press article reporting on a siege on your brands Facebook page. Certainly this is an issue and a concern but one where an age old trick comes into play – a brand’s existing relationships & trust with journalists and a speedy response to their investigations.