Beyond crisis management: why you need PR and communication strategy in the age of digital
A crisis generally arises with sudden and short notice, putting individuals and businesses in a challenging position. When an organisation operates in an environment where a crisis has hit, it is crucial to know how to communicate with internal and external stakeholders and what information to share.
Clear and effective communications is almost unnegotiable. Living and operating in a digital area, we have the unique opportunity to stay connected with all stakeholders, from online communication tools to media platforms. The key to survival and thriving in a crisis is open, consistent and transparent communication between business leaders, their employees, customers and any other influential stakeholder.
Here are out key reasons why you need PR in times of uncertainty and the growing age of digital.
Up the communication to strengthen your brand reputation
Your customers, prospects, employees and colleagues need to hear from you more than ever in a crisis. Keep the communication open within the business, keeping employees informed of all company movement and reassured. Your message needs to be consistent, relevant and strong both internally and externally, to ensure you remain open, upfront and trusted.
Strategic Planning
Living in a digital era means you must stay relevant, and on top of your communication game to adhere to the fast-paced nature of a crisis. The key to success is to formulate a PR and communication strategy that address personal and organisational reputation beyond the initial crisis period.
Aligning crisis management with the organisations strategic plan will enable consistency in messaging. All communication objectives need to align to your business objectives. Planning, defining your key messages and acting fast are they key to effectively navigating crisis.
Control the conversation and have your key messages ready
The media is a fast and smart way to communicate with mass stakeholders and key audiences. Social media also plays a key role in leveraging your media conversations, again, ensuring consistency of your key messages reaching key audiences quickly.
A reputation takes years to build and seconds to destroy. In any crisis, there is no doubt negative media coverage can tarnish your reputation at a blink of an eye. To reduce the risk of this happening, it is important you jump on the front foot and engage with media platforms to communicate your position on a crisis, with key messages, truth, compassion and all the relevant information your stakeholders need to know.
Key messages are the core messages you want your target audience to hear and remember. These build the foundation of your communication strategy and are used beyond media initiatives. They help articulate the points you want to convey and formulate the brand story. Ensure your key messages flow through your actions, visually, verbally and in written communication.
Controlling the message is the key to how you want the message to spread. Building relationships with media allow organisations to control the dialog, demonstrate thought leadership, remain relevant and lead the conversations in the media and beyond.
Monitor media and online conversation
While you’re focusing on what to communicate, don’t forget to monitor the crisis in the media. Understanding the environment will best position your organisation to plan your next move and act appropriately.
For media this can be done by reading the news daily, searching your personal and company name and using media monitoring services. On social media, this can be achieved by following hashtags, searching your personal and business name and keeping on the fore front of breaking and evolving news.
At Taurus, we are known for our no bull approach to PR and communication strategy using our unique and integrated TaurusBullseye© Methodology. Talk to us about our approach to PR and Crisis Communication. Reach out to us at [email protected]