To cancel someone on social media means to stop supporting that person. Celebrities, influencers, and other popular personalities usually get canceled because of something they said or did. Brands can get canceled, too, because of failing to stand up for what their audience perceives to be an important social issue. There have been many times in the past where a company suddenly has a Lakeland public relations nightmare on their hands because of a viral comment about them. 

So, what is the role of PR in the cancel culture that social media users seem intent on cultivating? Do brands even get canceled truly? Or do these “calls” stay on social media only?

Respond

The first thing that a brand should do when it gets canceled on social media is to respond. You need to cut this message from spreading to the rest of your target audience. The more you try to ignore the complaints, the more the people are going to get vicious on attacking your brand. So, respond with a nice message publicly and via DM, too. 

However, make sure that you word your response properly. Remember that people can screencap your messages and share them with their followers. The last thing you want to do is to fan the flames, so respond as calmly and respectfully as possible. 

Formulate a Plan

Once you mitigated the problem by offering to give the customer his money back or replace the product, meet with your Lakeland public relations team. By now, they should have a plan ready for how they are going to deal with the problem. They should build a plan on how they are going to stop one viral tweet from ruining the reputation of the company. That is the main goal of the plan. 

Check With Stakeholders


Who was most affected by the complaints? The customers, of course. But first, reach out to your investors and explain the situation. You may also want to send an email to your loyal customers to assure them that your business remains to be in control.

The last thing you want to happen is to lose current customers because of complaints from previous ones. Listen to your stakeholders because they have as much interest in your company as you. 

Getting canceled on social media is not the end of the world. Certainly, it’s a lot harder for your Lakeland public relations team to save your reputation. But as is with many things in business, this is part of what makes it challenging. So, take this as a challenge and attack it with the single-mindedness great entrepreneurs are known for.