Social Media Crisis Plan Template (Free, With Statements)

Free, no signup · Updated 14 October 2026 · Opens in Excel, Google Sheets or Numbers

Download

Severity levels: filled example (CSV) · blank (CSV)
Response steps and contacts: filled example (CSV) · blank (CSV)
Holding statements: filled example (CSV) · blank (CSV)

In Google Sheets: File, Import, Upload, then pick the CSV.

What's inside

A severity sheet with nine example situations sorted into three levels, each with a lead and a response time
A response steps sheet: the order of actions, who owns each one, their backup and how to reach them
Contacts for people outside the team: insurer, vet, adviser and each platform's help centre
Holding statements to adapt for the most likely problems, with who approves each one

How to use it

Replace the example situations with the ones most likely in your business. Think about what has gone wrong before, and what would hurt most.
Agree the three levels and what each one means, so no one has to debate it when it's happening.
Put a real name and a backup against every step, and write down how to reach each person out of hours.
Rewrite the holding statements in your own voice now, while things are calm.
Save the plan somewhere everyone can open it from a phone, without needing the account that might be hacked.
Practise once: pick a situation, read the steps aloud and time how long it takes to get a holding statement approved.
After any real incident, fill the review step and update the plan.

Preview: Severity levels

A filled example for a made-up small business, first 8 of 9 rows.

Situation	Level	Why this level	Who leads	Respond within	Holding statement
One unhappy review about a late appointment	1: Low	One customer, no safety issue, not spreading	Jade	1 working day	Not needed; reply directly
Wrong price in a post	1: Low	Our mistake, easy to correct	Jade	2 hours	Correction
Several comments asking why the shop was shut unannounced	1: Low	Confusing, not harmful	Jade	2 hours	Unexpected closure
A complaint post shared widely in a local group	2: Medium	Spreading beyond our followers	Owen	1 hour	Complaint gaining attention
A post of ours is criticised as offensive	2: Medium	Reputation risk, needs a decision	Owen	1 hour	Post under review
Booking system down on a busy Saturday	2: Medium	Affects many customers at once	Jade	30 minutes	Booking problem
A customer says their dog was injured during grooming	3: High	Animal welfare, possible claim	Owen	30 minutes	Safety concern
Our Instagram account is hacked and posting spam	3: High	We've lost control of what's posted	Owen	Straight away	Account compromised

Preview: Response steps and contacts

A filled example for a made-up small business, first 8 of 14 rows.

Order	Step	Owner	Backup	How to reach	Within	Levels
1	Spot it and screenshot it, with the time and a link, before anything is deleted	Whoever sees it	n/a	Post in the staff group	Straight away	All
2	Tell the lead for that level	Whoever sees it	n/a	Owen: mobile in the pinned staff note. Jade: same.	15 minutes	All
3	Pause scheduled posts so nothing cheerful goes out mid-problem	Jade	Owen	Scheduling tool	15 minutes	2 and 3
4	Decide the level and who leads	Owen	Jade	Phone call, not chat	30 minutes	All
5	Post or send the holding statement	Lead	The other lead	From the holding statements sheet	Respond-within time	2 and 3
6	Find out the facts: who, what, when, what we did	Owen	Jade	Talk to the staff involved	Same day	All
7	Reply to the person affected privately, with a name and a way to talk	Owen	Jade	Message or phone	Same day	All
8	Hacked account: secure email, reset password, use the platform's hacked-account help	Owen	Jade	Each platform's help centre	Straight away	3

Preview: Holding statements

A filled example for a made-up small business.

Situation	Where	Statement	Approved by	Update by
Correction	Comment on the post, then edit the post	Sorry, we got this wrong: the price is £35, not £25. We've corrected the post.	Jade	n/a
Unexpected closure	Stories, Facebook, Google Business Profile	We're closed today because of a staff illness. We're contacting everyone booked in to rearrange. Sorry for the trouble.	Jade	End of day
Complaint gaining attention	Reply on the original post	We're sorry to read this and we want to put it right. We've sent you a message so we can talk directly.	Owen	Same day, privately
Post under review	Reply on the post, or a short post	Thank you for telling us. We've taken the post down while we look at it properly, and we'll come back with an update.	Owen	Within 24 hours
Booking problem	Stories, Facebook, Google Business Profile	Our online booking isn't working right now. Please call or message us to book, and we'll update here when it's back.	Jade	Every 2 hours
Safety concern	Reply privately first; public reply only if needed	We're very concerned to hear this. We're looking into it now and we've contacted you directly. We'll share an update once we know more.	Owen	Within 24 hours
Account compromised	Other platforms, and the account once recovered	Our Instagram account was accessed by someone else. Please ignore any messages or offers from it while we fix it. We'll post here when it's safe.	Owen	When recovered

Tips

A holding statement says what you know, what you're doing and when you'll update. It doesn't guess at causes or blame anyone.
Write the statements now. In the middle of a problem, nobody writes well.
Keep the plan, contacts and recovery codes somewhere that doesn't depend on the account that might be hacked.
Don't delete critical comments just to make them go away. Hide or delete only abuse, spam or private information, and screenshot first.
The grooming business, names and situations are made up for this example. Response times are the example business's own targets, not industry standards.
If you use Zolyp's Autopilot, the veto window lets you pull a queued post before it goes out, which helps with step 3 in this plan.

Common questions

What counts as a social media crisis for a small business?

Anything online that threatens customers' trust or safety faster than normal replies can handle: a complaint spreading widely, a post seen as offensive, a hacked account, a safety incident or exposed customer data. Most problems are level 1 and just need a quick, honest reply.

What is a holding statement?

A short public message you post while you find out what happened. It acknowledges the issue, says what you're doing and says when you'll update. Writing them in advance means you can respond in minutes instead of hours.

Should we stop scheduled posts during a crisis?

Yes, for anything above level 1. A cheerful promotional post going out in the middle of a serious problem makes things worse. Pause the queue, then check each post before restarting it.

Is this plan legal advice?

No. For anything involving injury, data or possible claims, speak to your insurer and a qualified adviser before making a detailed public statement.

Social media crisis plan template for small businesses