Five Tips for Cracking Crisis Communications
A dispatch from the home office
As a small business owner and strategic communications professional, I’ve been thinking a lot about what’s next. I started my consultancy at the height of the 2008–09 recession, and while daunting, I found an opportunity to develop a niche in a sector I would have never dreamed possible.
Organizations around the world — both large and small, private and nonprofit — are scrambling to adapt to the new normal including remote work and in many cases pivoting messaging based on the global impact of COVID-19. Here are 5 internal and external communications best practices that can help companies find their way:
Focus on internal affairs
In a world that looks very different than it did at the start of 2020, there’s a demand for strong and clear internal communication. Not only have I worked remotely for over a decade, I’ve also had a front row seat in shaping the narrative for online learning. I’m accustomed to decentralization but in this business as unusual moment, leadership needs to go beyond their Slack channels in order to communicate with authenticity, and to alleviate anxiety, panic, and fear with solid information, clarity, and reality.
Organizational leaders should establish daily check-ins where employees have a chance to provide updates and understand how their role is playing a part in the rapidly changing ecosystem within the company. It’s also a great way to boost staff recognition and support.
C-Suite executives can hold town halls to provide a forum to address crises, as necessary, with employees and potentially partners. External comms teams should be proactively looped in to prepare and to monitor for an escalating situation.
Webinars and live streams are serving up wisdom virtually, as well as instructional teaching to quickly upskill staffers and customers on new technologies and tools. These types of multi-purposed platforms are surging right now and serve as professional development, content marketing and new media, all in one. I’m excited to see how these virtual events will evolve in the long term.
An up-and-coming shining star in this over screened, shelter in place moment? Internal (employee-only) podcasts, which provide a respite for tired eyeballs and a chance for corporations to get creative to foster company culture, uplift and inspire, from anywhere and anytime.
Deliver data and facts with empathy
As a proud New Yorker, I’ve watched Andrew Cuomo’s daily press conferences and am beyond impressed with his leadership style. Every day, Cuomo tells it like it is, delivering data and facts with clear PowerPoints and great empathy, while offering personal anecdotes in this unprecedented time. His approach grounds the ever-evolving and chaotic 24/7 news cycle with comfort and accountability. And whenever a reporter lobs a question at him he can’t answer, he serves it to his team of experts to provide clarity.
Cuomo’s on point messaging is all about an authoritative yet compassionate voice where collaboration is key. PR professionals should work with their clients who are business leaders to rethink their tone when it comes to thought leadership right now.
Quilt a patchwork of stories
As this pandemic unravels, there are multiple perspectives. An integrated and holistic PR campaign should capture the voices of employees, partners, customers, and third-party brand ambassadors. Working with education/edtech brands, I help to uncover human interest anecdotes from all POVs. These authentic, first-person narratives resonate and are the stories that are landing coverage in trades, online and national dailies, now more than ever.
Nuanced, personalized, and hyper targeted pitches are also hitting the bulls eye. For instance, business pubs are looking for brand pivot stories that show tangible solutions tackling these unforeseen societal challenges, backed with growth stats, research and anecdotes of success. And depending on my client’s level of experience as a CEO or founder, benchmarks and transparency are a hot commodity. Authority and credibility are valued in the media; and scientists, academics, and credible, seasoned entrepreneurs are trusted sources that provide valuable insight on what’s next.
Be mindful of new media relations
With media furloughs and local papers shuttering, nonprofit news organizations and student journalism are having a moment and should be on the radar of PR folks. In my speciality, outlets like Chalkbeat, Open Campus and more general multimedia international broadcasters like Voice of America are on the rise. Before Coronavirus, college newsrooms like Michigan Daily were quickly becoming a go to source for local news. Look for college media to become a trusted source as student journalists step up to the challenge of redefining journalism in the era of “fake news” and too much noise — not only through this pandemic — but also in an election year.
Take a proactive approach
I applaud the brands that have quickly and tirelessly stepped up, and in many cases pivoted their businesses to support their partners and customers’ needs, basically overnight. Now is the time for companies to work with their PR team to observe and build out a strategic communications roadmap quietly in order to hit goals for this next phase. In this better together moment, it’s never been more crucial for public relations professionals to work in lockstep with their clients to plan the next 3–6 months to target key audiences, stakeholders and partners. Ensuring that all messaging is unified is mission critical so that when the time is right, it’s succinctly broadcasted across multiple media platforms and channels.
Ben Smith, founding editor-in-chief of Buzzfeed who now writes for the New York Times recently wrote that “crises often transform the broadly accepted rules of media”. And the old rules no longer apply.
The next few months are going to require focus, compassion and courage. And hopefully, personally and professionally we have learned a thing or two about how to grow in the face of so much uncertainty. Having built a business during the last financial recession, I know what it takes to thrive post-crisis.
In order to emerge as a force of nature and innovation now and in the days to come, stick to your gut, speak from your heart, trust your intuition, and never give up.
