Crisis & Reputation Management Playbook

When a crisis hits, speed matters. The difference between a managed incident and a viral disaster is often 2-4 hours. This playbook shows how to detect crises early and respond before they escalate.

What this playbook does

Shows you how to set up crisis detection scans, configure instant alerts for negative spikes, and build a response workflow that your team can execute in minutes.

Who it's for

PR teams, communications directors, brand managers, and agency crisis response teams.

Step-by-step workflow

1. Set up crisis keyword scans — Create auto-scans with crisis-specific queries: "[Client name] scandal", "[Client name] lawsuit", "[Client name] data breach", "[Product] dangerous", "[CEO name] fired". Run these daily.
2. Configure instant alerts — Set up Slack or email notifications for negative mentions. On Agency tier, create a dedicated #crisis-alerts channel that only fires when negative mention volume spikes above normal.
3. Establish a monitoring dashboard — Use the Mentions page with negative sentiment filter as your crisis monitoring dashboard. Check it multiple times daily during active situations.
4. Build your response playbook — Before a crisis happens, document: who gets alerted, who approves statements, what channels to respond on, and escalation criteria.
5. Detect early — Most crises start small — a single tweet, one angry Reddit post, or a journalist's inquiry. Early detection gives you time to prepare a response before it snowballs.
6. Respond appropriately — Acknowledge publicly, take detailed discussions private, and escalate internally when needed. Don't argue in public forums.
7. Track narrative spread — Monitor how the crisis narrative spreads across platforms. Track whether coverage is growing or declining, and which platforms are amplifying the story.
8. Post-crisis analysis — After the crisis subsides, review all mentions to understand: what triggered it, how it spread, how fast you responded, and what could be improved.

Pro tips

• Set up crisis scans even if everything is fine — you need the infrastructure before you need it
• Include competitor crisis keywords too — their problems can affect your category perception
• The first public response within 2 hours shapes the entire narrative

Related resources

• Full case studies: Crisis Management Case Studies
• Monitoring setup: Client Reputation Monitoring
• Alert configuration: Email Notification Settings

Quick steps

1. Create daily auto-scans with crisis-specific keywords for your client and key people
2. Configure instant Slack/email alerts for negative mention spikes
3. Set up a monitoring dashboard using the Mentions page with negative filter
4. Document your response playbook: who, what, when, and escalation criteria
5. During a crisis: monitor spread across platforms, respond within 2 hours, take details private
6. After the crisis: review all mentions, analyze spread, document lessons learned