Whether you have a staple event or a one-off that needs to be canceled, how you notify consumers can be a delicate process! If you’re a brand working independently or working with an agency, it’s important to have both your digital marketing and public relations teams in the know. Let’s take a look at a few tips for making the process of notifying and responding to consumers smooth.
Initial Announcement
Before posting something on your social media channels, you’ll want to work alongside your PR team to make sure you have messaging that is consistent and can easily be applied across channels. If members of the press were planning to attend, it is even more important to have your PR team involved! Once a cohesive message is crafted between the two teams, then it’s time to send it out. For social media platforms specifically, you will want to first make sure any in-platform event listings reflect the event being canceled. Next, posts should be made with the same imagery across all active channels for consistency.
Responding to Feedback
Depending on the buzz around your event, you could have some pretty upset people! That happens and it’s nothing to sweat about when you know you have a solid communications strategy. Similar to the announcement, you will want any responses or requests for more information around the cancelation to be in line with what your PR team may be sharing with the press. Keep comments direct, but not cold. You’re dealing with someone’s disappointment, so it’s important to have an understanding tone to your message. While not everyone will approach their disappointment with polite comments and messages, for those that do you want to ensure you are responding to all of them, so no one feels ignored.
Reassuring for the Future
Now that the event has officially been canceled and you’re handling any questions/concerns that come through, it’s time to turn an eye towards the future. Are you rescheduling your event? If so, it’s important to make sure you have a roll-out plan for the new event details if you did not share it with the cancellation. From the PR side, this could be a media alert and for social media, new event listings and posts across channels are key. Is it canceled for a reason that could make people lose confidence in your future events? If you are not rescheduling, you will want to make sure that all your communications reassure customers that this was an isolated cancellation for whatever reason and future events are still on. It’s important to also take a moment to note your cancelation policies and protocols allowing customers to know you’ve got things handled, no matter the situation.
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