Oklahoma City Based Smart Shelters Weathers Tornado With Disaster Preparedness Social Media Plan

LOS ANGELES - May 28, 2013 - PRLog -- Smart Shelters Inc., the Oklahoma City, OK (http://www.smartsheltersinc.com) based tornado shelter company did not miss a beat this past week when a devastating category F5 tornado blew through Oklahoma City and Moore, Oklahoma. With all communications lines down, the company’s emergency social media plan went into full effect and communications with customers, prospective customers and the public at large were uninterrupted.

Robin Valois-Hood, Director of Sales and Marketing had the foresight to enlist a social media consultant at the beginning of April 2013 to ensure that as tornado season approached, there would be no disruption in the company’s ability to communicate with the public. By Monday night, the company’s communications were completely off line but their social media efforts were in full swing.

As soon as Robin posted on facebook that all lines were down and he was effectively cut off, the social media plan was implemented. Los Angeles based, social media consultant, Arlene Battishill, who had been monitoring the company’s social media accounts and weather conditions across social media channels, immediately began posting updates to facebook by the minute with information about the impending tornado based on storm chaser reports being posted on Twitter. That information was immediately posted to the company’s facebook page and instantly the company’s posts were being shared across social media channels.

Over the next three days, Battishill was posting by the minute, answering questions from panicked residents of Oklahoma City and surrounding areas desperate to get on the company’s installation schedule. Unable to reach the company, people went straight to facebook for information and had the comfort of knowing that the company was still actively operating and getting them taken care of even though traditional forms of communication had been severed.

By Thursday evening following the storm, several hundred people had been able to lock in installation dates for their tornado shelters. Without their disaster preparedness social media plan in place with someone outside of the affected geographical area, the company would have suffered significant losses as prospective customers would have found their way to other companies. Unfortunately, all the other shelter companies were experiencing the same communications outages leaving thousands of people in a panic over how they would get set up for a shelter. Throughout the week, Battishill was monitoring other shelter companies on facebook and Twitter and it was evident there wasn’t any activity indicating that no emergency social media plan was in place. As a result, Smart Shelters became the “go to” shelter company and continued through the weekend following the tornado helping people get on the company’s installation schedule.

While most companies have disaster plans in place for data recovery, few have a social media emergency plan to ensure that there is no lapse in communication with the public. It is a testament to Valois-Hood’s foresight to have put a plan in place that kept his company operating through disastrous circumstances.

Contact:

Robin Valois-Hood

Directors of Sales and Marketing

Smart Shelters Inc.

4000 S Prospect Ave

Oklahoma City, OK 73129

Tel: 405-417-8676

Email: robin@smartsheltersinc.com

Arlene Battishill

Social Media Consultant

2431 Tesla Terrace

Los Angeles, CA 90039

Tel: (323) 203-7411

Email: info@fbadtargeting.com