Session 4

How Ryan Air should have addressed the social media crisis? 

1. Be informed of that Facebook post
Indeed, Rayan should have been more present on the social media in order to prevent, or at least respond, to such a comment that really create a crisis for the brand. The PR manager should have been more focus on the social media, simply because this is nowadays the fastest and cheapest way people can communicate with each other all around the world.

2. Answer the guest and act quickly
In that case, the comment written by the guests cannot just be ignored because there is an unfair feeling from her, that can easily be spread to many other people in the world. For that reason, Ryan Air should not have ignored it but should have replied it as fast as possible.

3. Apologize
Even if the guest is wrong, he is the one who have the power and can decide if he will choose them. If Ryan Air is right, customers will see in their explanations that they did their best. Even if it is clear on the contract, asking for such an amount of money just to print some papers is completely crazy and understandable for customers. For this reason, apologizing towards the woman is crucial for the brand.

4. Involve the community
It is important to remember that it is not a 1 to 1 conversation. The discussion is on an open wall and Ryan Air should have gave apologizes to Suzie and at the same time all the Ryan Air community.

5. Offer a compensation
Posting a reply is not enough in that case. I think that Ryan Air should offer a compensation to that woman (such as an upgrade for her next flight with the company, or free luggages). Indeed, those items are expensive. That is why, offering one of them to the woman will definitely be appreciate by the customer and the readers.

6. Use appropriate words
It is important to talk differently on social media than a press article for example. They have to be more relax and closer to the customers. The customer needs to be placed as a good friend using their services.

7. Make sure this problem will not happen again 
If it occurs a second time, customers and readers will definitely see that Ryan Air does not take care of their customers and just apply the contract rules. For this reason, the company must ensure that something in the contract with the customers will be reviewed to avoid such a problem in the future.

8. Make a public announcement
It is very important for the company to make it public. If it does not, the customer will do it by herself and it can turn into a real reputation disaster. Maybe, in addition to Facebook reply, they can post something on the website by explaining the problem and how they dealt with it. Indeed, doing such a thing will calm down the customers because they will see that the company "hears them" and does the best to solve this issue.

9. Display comments on the website
I suggest that Ryan Air offer the possibility for customers to write public comments on the website. In that sense, both negative and positive comments will be displayed, creating transparency and trustful relationship between customers and the company.

10. Thank the customer
Indeed, the company must thank the customer for having shared her opinion because it means that she does care about Ryan Air, thus thanking her will encourage her to still choose this airline company in the future. In addition, Ryan Air should apologize again and monitor the Facebook post in order to prevent any additional issues linked to the initial problem.