PR fires happen. Sometimes, you’ll know about them in advance – i.e. layoffs, mergers and acquisitions, leadership changes and so on. But in most cases, a crisis comes at you when you’re not expecting it. A successful response will depend on all these factors. No matter how severe the crisis is, companies should prepare in advance and have a crisis communication plan in place to provide appropriate steps for each stage of the crisis. This helps you respond quickly and minimize negative impact. Focus on these stages of crisis communication management to be prepared.
Before the Crisis Hits
It is important to develop a crisis communication plan to help your company plan your priorities and response. Your strategy should identify key individuals, their roles, responsibilities, pre-drafted communication, and established communication channels. This stage should also include regular exercises and mock drills to test your crisis management plan and revise as needed.
Choose your crisis communications team. This typically includes members from the management team, your legal counsel, and a PR executive. All too often, the company chooses a senior-level spokesperson who is known for public speaking but does not have substantial media training. Be sure to identify and train the right spokesperson ahead of time. You don’t want to be making these decisions in the heat of a crisis.
Responding to a Crisis
In today’s fast-paced digital world, your ability to respond quickly will determine your success. Having established communications channels and pre-drafted responses will allow you to communicate accurate information. Keep your message simple. Stick to three or fewer main messages to stakeholders but address all concerns. For instance, you may need to address concerns relating to safety, correct inaccurate information, and express sympathies.
Not all communication channels are created equal and it is important to know which channels to use for long and short communications. For example, on Twitter, you will need to keep it short but offer links to an outside page where a longer message is displayed.
After the Crisis
Once the crisis has ended, it’s time to assess the damage and ask, “what did we learn from this?” Get together with your response team and brainstorm. Create a formal analysis using hard data and identify how to improve various elements of preparedness.
Then, plan what is needed to rebuild or restore your reputation. This is a time to focus on all the things you are doing right and be sure to communicate with your clients. Let them know you are here to stay and are here to help. This is also a time to publish as much as you possibly can so that any negative content is pushed lower in the search results. Lastly, revisit your crisis communication management plan and restructure it based on lessons learned.