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In this age of instant communication and viral internet posts, the time span between an event happening or a rumor starting and it hitting the internet and news feeds can be short. Companies no longer have the luxury of waiting to react to a crisis. Instead, they need to at least have rudimentary plans in place for how to handle the various types of public relations disasters that might occur.
While every public relations crisis is as unique as the company and players involved, history has shown there are some techniques that work to minimize the negative impact. Other tactics are likely to only increase the damage that you and your brand may suffer.
Here are five issues to consider in helping your company develop or update a strategy to survive and push beyond a PR crisis.
Create a Plan
Take time to consider the different types of public crises your company could face, and the negative exposure that could occur. As a business owner, you need to know where your liability risks are so you can make the best planning decisions possible. For example, could your business have a data breach, a product recall or workplace violence? While these PR nightmares can be too scary to think about, preparing for major disasters like these and others may make a minor crisis a little simpler to deal with. Unfortunately, the reverse isn’t as likely.
Develop a written plan on how your company will deal with these crisis scenarios. Include specific actions to take for each potential situation. Then, consider how you can communicate with each audience (including employees, clients and potential customers). Include in your plan what channels of communications you will use, who needs to be informed, and what the levels of escalation are.
While the majority of people still trust traditional news outlets over the internet, including social media response as part of your written plan is essential. There is no denying that social media channels can have a staggering impact on a company’s image. Even worse, by the time a newspaper can go to press or stations can develop and run a report, news (whether true or not) can “go viral” on the internet. Having a social media response plan can help you get on top of a situation before it has time to snowball out of control.
Make sure you review and adjust your crisis plans during the year so they are current. If you had to dust off and update an old plan just when a PR crisis hits, you’d waste valuable time and energy. It’s also helpful to practice putting your plans into action – consider a table top exercise to talk through how you’d implement the plan if a specific crisis took place.
Develop Teams
Once you have identified the range of possible catastrophes that might arise and actions to take for each, it is time to develop specific teams to deal which each type of threat. Team members should have expertise relevant to the type of misfortune. Define roles within the team and include decision makers as well as general counsel, your insurance agent, or members of your legal team. As a business owner you need to know where your liability risks are so you can make the best decisions possible.
Communicate the plan to all members of the team and determine how the plan will be distributed to all employees. Having guidelines on how employees can represent the company is also a critical step in protecting your brand’s reputation – whether in crisis or not. If your company does not have a policy on how employees speak about your brand both offline and online, it’s time to create one.
Appoint a Spokesperson
In a public relations crisis, it’s paramount that your company speak consistently – and not send mixed signals. To help avoid this, a designated spokesperson should be chosen as the public face of the company. Whether your response involves holding press conferences, responding to media inquiries, or pushing messages out through social media, it is normally better to have a single point of contact that people can identify with and place their trust in.
The person chosen should have a position of authority within the company. This will help to emphasize overall concern from the company as a whole. Have a plan on who will fill in if that person is unavailable, and make sure this is outlined in your written plan.
Take Responsibility and Make Corrections
If your company does bear some fault in the situation, it can be important to accept and express responsibility from the start. People are historically more willing to forgive a company that admits mistakes. Showing a sincere effort to correct underlying issues (rather than avoiding accountability) can help your firm regain trust.
Emphasize the Positive
While acknowledging accountability, it’s also important to remind the public, employees and investors of why they trusted your company to begin with. If there has been an accident at one of your facilities or a product recall, acknowledge what has happened. But don’t be afraid to include your past safety record while sympathizing with those affected.
Creating a public relations crisis management plan and identifying actions and teams while things are running smoothly can prevent critical mistakes when trying to respond to a PR situation in the heat of the moment.
A well-organized plan and response shows that your company can handle all situations that develop.
Consult with your Selective agent regarding your public relations response plan and understand where your risks are. Being informed can help you be prepared for the different risks and potential costs associated including: product recalls, cybersecurity, sexual harassment and more. Don't have an agent? Click here to find one in your area.
While every public relations crisis is as unique as the company and players involved, history has shown there are some techniques that work to minimize the negative impact. Other tactics are likely to only increase the damage that you and your brand may suffer.
Here are five issues to consider in helping your company develop or update a strategy to survive and push beyond a PR crisis.
Create a Plan
Take time to consider the different types of public crises your company could face, and the negative exposure that could occur. As a business owner, you need to know where your liability risks are so you can make the best planning decisions possible. For example, could your business have a data breach, a product recall or workplace violence? While these PR nightmares can be too scary to think about, preparing for major disasters like these and others may make a minor crisis a little simpler to deal with. Unfortunately, the reverse isn’t as likely.
Develop a written plan on how your company will deal with these crisis scenarios. Include specific actions to take for each potential situation. Then, consider how you can communicate with each audience (including employees, clients and potential customers). Include in your plan what channels of communications you will use, who needs to be informed, and what the levels of escalation are.
While the majority of people still trust traditional news outlets over the internet, including social media response as part of your written plan is essential. There is no denying that social media channels can have a staggering impact on a company’s image. Even worse, by the time a newspaper can go to press or stations can develop and run a report, news (whether true or not) can “go viral” on the internet. Having a social media response plan can help you get on top of a situation before it has time to snowball out of control.
Make sure you review and adjust your crisis plans during the year so they are current. If you had to dust off and update an old plan just when a PR crisis hits, you’d waste valuable time and energy. It’s also helpful to practice putting your plans into action – consider a table top exercise to talk through how you’d implement the plan if a specific crisis took place.
Develop Teams
Once you have identified the range of possible catastrophes that might arise and actions to take for each, it is time to develop specific teams to deal which each type of threat. Team members should have expertise relevant to the type of misfortune. Define roles within the team and include decision makers as well as general counsel, your insurance agent, or members of your legal team. As a business owner you need to know where your liability risks are so you can make the best decisions possible.
Communicate the plan to all members of the team and determine how the plan will be distributed to all employees. Having guidelines on how employees can represent the company is also a critical step in protecting your brand’s reputation – whether in crisis or not. If your company does not have a policy on how employees speak about your brand both offline and online, it’s time to create one.
Appoint a Spokesperson
In a public relations crisis, it’s paramount that your company speak consistently – and not send mixed signals. To help avoid this, a designated spokesperson should be chosen as the public face of the company. Whether your response involves holding press conferences, responding to media inquiries, or pushing messages out through social media, it is normally better to have a single point of contact that people can identify with and place their trust in.
The person chosen should have a position of authority within the company. This will help to emphasize overall concern from the company as a whole. Have a plan on who will fill in if that person is unavailable, and make sure this is outlined in your written plan.
Take Responsibility and Make Corrections
If your company does bear some fault in the situation, it can be important to accept and express responsibility from the start. People are historically more willing to forgive a company that admits mistakes. Showing a sincere effort to correct underlying issues (rather than avoiding accountability) can help your firm regain trust.
Emphasize the Positive
While acknowledging accountability, it’s also important to remind the public, employees and investors of why they trusted your company to begin with. If there has been an accident at one of your facilities or a product recall, acknowledge what has happened. But don’t be afraid to include your past safety record while sympathizing with those affected.
Creating a public relations crisis management plan and identifying actions and teams while things are running smoothly can prevent critical mistakes when trying to respond to a PR situation in the heat of the moment.
A well-organized plan and response shows that your company can handle all situations that develop.
Consult with your Selective agent regarding your public relations response plan and understand where your risks are. Being informed can help you be prepared for the different risks and potential costs associated including: product recalls, cybersecurity, sexual harassment and more. Don't have an agent? Click here to find one in your area.
