Social teams are early detectors of a crisis

Social teams are often the first to detect emerging issues or potential crises. But their role is not to necessarily respond or resolve every situation.

Instead, the job is to capture early signals, assess severity and route it to the right teams.

According to Samantha Cocove, senior specialist of enterprise social media at  Cencora, while speaking at Ragan’s Social Media Conference, effective escalation starts with documentation. Her team logs posts with links, screenshots, timestamps and keywords, anything that could help other teams, like PR or HR, quickly understand what’s happening.

“No one should have to hunt for context,” she said.

Stay in your lane

Clear roles help the escalation process move quickly.

Social teams are responsible for identifying and tracking risk, then presenting it up the ladder. HR handles employee issues while PR handles messaging, said Glennon Daysardonia, director of social media at Cencora.