All businesses, big and small, have more technological capabilities than ever before — which means we’re unfamiliar with how to fully use them. For proof, just look at any organization that needs to address an ongoing PR crisis. Most recently, the 2020 Democratic caucus in Iowa was unable to provide timely answers regarding highly publicized voting errors, prompting widespread confusion and a social media backlash.
More from PostFunnel on crisis communication:
Being Authentic About Crisis Communication
Best Practices for Email Marketing During a Crisis
When a crisis occurs, it’s no longer enough to collect facts and present an official statement. Marketers must be able to react to any possible narrative while reining in executives who are too happy to tweet their reactions. PR teams must have up-to-date crisis management skills in 2020, even if they will never have to use them. Here’s What Your Customers Want to Hear in a Crisis from Optimove.
The storytelling challenge of crisis management
To understand why crisis management is so challenging in 2020, we need to consider how humans process narrative. As a species, humans are natural storytellers — when confronted with difficult circumstances, our brains instinctively analyze the situation, assigning the roles of hero, villain, and victim to anyone involved.
Digital ethics advocate, Bill Mew, recently offered an excellent example of a bank robbery. When armed criminals ransack a physical branch, the narrative presumes that the gunmen are villains while the bank and customers are victims. If the bank has hacked, however, the villain role becomes more abstract. Our storytelling instincts, demanding a villain be responsible for injustice, can suddenly determine the bank is at fault — usually because they failed to account for their security precautions.
We’ve seen countless examples of this dynamic play out within modern brands. Take Sony’s 2014 data breach, where media coverage and social media posts promoted the theory that a disgruntled Sony employee was responsible for the hack. This notion was disproved by US security experts a month later, long after the damage to Sony’s reputation.
Reach out to customers immediately
So, what can be done? First and foremost, modern marketers must be proactive and tackle false narratives head-on. Expert after expert agrees that it’s crucial to immediately prepare and release a succinct statement that clarifies your position.
At one time, PR specialists could respond to press comments with non-committal boilerplate statements while conducting a full investigation. In an age of social media and 24-hour news cycles, that is simply no longer possible. If your brand does not have a message prepared, it will be prepared for you — and you probably won’t like it.
Depending on the scenario, giving a detailed response may not always be practical. The key is to prevent silence from defining your messaging. Never say “no comment,” when you could say, “This is important to us, and we’re assessing the situation.” Otherwise, the narrative will quickly become about how distant and out-of-touch you are with customers. Wherever possible, try to:
- Assume responsibility for what’s happened: This doesn’t necessarily have to presume your brand is at fault, but you’re still in the best position to better support customers who have been harmed or inconvenienced.
- Offer a gesture towards impacted customers: This will usually involve authorizing refunds, but it’s also possible to offer free products at this time.
- Use language that highlights support for customers during a stressful situation: In many circumstances, the crisis your brand is going through will pale in comparison to what customers are experiencing. Acknowledge their concerns tactfully and appropriately.
Be honest, transparent, and accountable
While the specifics of your response may vary, all messaging must highlight transparency, accountability, and honesty. Being open with customers about your difficulties creates empathy and provides social currency that can sustain loyal fans until the crisis passes.
The alternative is to try and cover up details in your public statements, which is the last thing any brand should do. If the truth comes out – and it probably will – the revelation will be immensely damaging to your credibility. Rebuilding trust will become that much more difficult, and customers may even doubt your genuinely honest statements.
Monitor the social media response
In 2020, an unchecked PR crisis can have a cascading effect far grander than the initiating incident. A story that begins as mildly embarrassing can become embellished once social media audiences start sharing details – whether they’re verified or not.
A significant part of any modern crisis strategy is to monitor social media channels for developing narratives. Are people talking about your brand in a positive or negative light? Do they consider you a victim or a villain? It’s possible to counter these narratives, but you have to see them coming.
Prevention is always the best solution
Much like in medicine, preparation, and prevention are far more effective than treatment. The best thing an organization can do to counter a crisis is to be ready before it starts. Marketers are well-advised to develop a crisis plan that manages the following roles:
- Who is assessing the situation?
- Who is responsible for managing outgoing communications?
- What partners or other parties need to be notified of the situation?
- Who is handling social media monitoring?
- Who will address the public?
Along with your plan, it’s also worthwhile to make previous steps from this article into daily practices. For example, adopting an authentic brand persona from the beginning will give you some banked credibility if an unexpected situation arises. It’s also an excellent idea to pre-develop public statements for executives and team leaders before they speak out of turn.
Sometimes it is impossible to avoid a crisis, but if you can stay prepared and maintain an authentic relationship with customers, it’s certainly possible to survive one.