There seems to be a lot of interest in crisis communications at the moment. Is that a symptom of the times? The lack of trust in institutions, the rise of fake news, increasing data security breaches and leaks, and the increasing transparency of our lives through the internet and social media, all contribute to increasing concern about our online reputation and security.
We’ll be running a session on Crisis Communications in Social Media for the PRCA this week (message us if you’d like more information), and it was also interesting to note that in last week’s BBG and AmCham breakfast event on PR and Reputation Management, crisis communications was a hot topic, fuelling a lot of the questions.
We’ve previously talked about ways to try and prevent or reduce crises and issues from occurring, so in this week’s post, we’ll look at the eight essential steps to take if and when a crisis does break:
1. Get the facts
You need to know what you’re dealing with – what happened, when and where, and what is being done about the issue now. Ascertain what is going on, who is involved, the extent of the damage, and what the next steps are, so that you can work out what should be communicated, where, by whom, and when.
2. Create a holding statement
Whilst you are obtaining all of the information, you need to ensure you have a holding statement prepared. The worst thing you can do in a crisis is be silent, so even if you don’t have all of the information yet, let people know you are aware of the situation and assure them you are working on it. Generally speaking it would be along the line of “We can confirm there has been an incident at XX (location) on XX (date/time). We’re currently working with the authorities and will update you as soon as we have more information.”
3. Update your website, and switch social media logos and background images
Your website should be the hub for all online communications, which means there needs to be a space for any issues should they arise, and this should be the first thing that is updated with the statement, before you extend this on social media – that way you can direct people back to your website for information, rather than relying on them getting their information from less reliable sources elsewhere. If there have been any casualties, you should update social media icons for greyed out versions of the logos, and switch any background images or banners for non-emotive images (generic pictures that don’t feature people).
4. Upgrade your media monitoring
The most important element of any communications strategy, and especially in a crisis, is listening. When there is an issue, you will probably need to update your monitoring service with additional search terms that are relative to the issue. You also need to think about the timing of your updates as you’ll probably want to be updated much more frequently. In order to effectively manage your crisis communications you need to be listening, monitoring public sentiment, establishing key supporters and detractors, and the intensity of the issue.
5. Record a video/audio statement
We all know that video is much more effective in terms of engagement and reach, plus having a human face giving you an update builds trust and inspires confidence much more than a simple written statement (if it’s done right of course!) Body language, expression, emphasis, all go a long way to appealing to our emotions and empathy. If you can’t get a video, could you at least record audio and overlay it on a picture? Having the statement shared in multiple ways (as a graphic, as a video, and as text) will ensure it reaches more people.
6. Respond initially on the platform where the issue originated
With so many social media channels now being used, and each by different audiences at different times for different reasons, it can be difficult to decide where you should post first, and host the majority of your activity. Obviously Facebook is the biggest network, and has much more capability to act as a hub (you can host videos, images, short form and long form text, and keep all conversation in one place), however you should look at where the issue originated online and where the majority of the conversation is taking place. If it all started on Twitter and that’s where the most active conversation is, that is where you should focus your attention, if it started with a video on YouTube, then you need to think about responding on YouTube and focussing efforts on video content.
7. Reach out to advocates and ambassadors
This is where an effective social media influencer strategy comes in. If you have been working strategically and professionally with influencers (beyond getting reviews and selfies on Instagram), then you will have a number of key influential people who are familiar and favourable to your brand, and who would therefore be likely to try and support you during a crisis. Reach out to them and share the statement and updates with them personally, so that they can share with their followers and extend your reach – and help build confidence and rebuild trust.
8. Update people regularly
Don’t just post one holding statement and leave it at that, people need to know what is happening, and if you’re not telling them, then they’ll look elsewhere for information (and who knows what they’ll find!) Let people know when the next update will come, whether that’s in an hour or at a specified time – and be realistic, don’t promise an update in an hour and then not deliver, you need to be building people’s confidence in you, not giving them more cause for doubt. If it’s time for the update and you don’t have anything new to add, then be honest and tell people that you are continuing to work on/monitor the situation, and remind them of other channels they can follow. When you do post, keep your updates calm, reassuring and show empathy. Use neutral and objective language and be accountable, don’t get defensive or try to apportion blame.
As the situation develops, it’s important to be honest, to keep updating people regularly and responding to all questions and comments. Monitor the situation closely to work out how and when your communications need to change, as it hopefully reaches a conclusion. These basic steps should form the foundations of your crisis response, if you’d like to know more about each of the steps in detail, or how to start rebuilding trust and burying the negativity after the issue, or how to try and manage issues to prevent social media crises, please do drop us an email to sam@footstepcommunications.com
