What to do in the first hour of a digital PR crisis? [INFOGRAPHIC]
Do you know what to do if a public relations crisis happens in your organization? Have you got a digital PR crisis communication plan in the event that you are parachuted into the social media spotlight for all the wrong reasons?
In business and in life your reputation is everything. It is in fact more valuable than money, because if you lose your good reputation, losing business will likely be the immediate impact.
Being prepared for a digital PR crisis will help mitigate the damage to your brand. Click To TweetI have been on all sides of PR crises throughout my 15 year communications career – as a journalist, a PR consultant, a business owner and even as a reality TV show contestant and now as a digital marketing consultant. So I have dealt with many crises in many guises over the years. My advice in this blog post is based on handling many real-life PR dramas, both offline and online.
The Golden Hour
Social media, community and digital marketing managers don’t always have a PR background so it’s important your management team meet to discuss the potential for any digital PR crisis on your social networks and have a response plan in place. Trust me, ignoring it will fan the flames.
As an introduction to our e-book and online course ‘How to Handle a Digital Age PR Crisis’, I have developed a FREE infographic outlining what you should do in the first hour of a digital communications crisis. This will determine how your digital PR crisis will unfold.
JSB Top Tip
Use the infographic as a conversation starter in your department or organisation to discuss how you would respond.
[ DOWNLOAD FREE INFOGRAPHIC HERE ]
FREE INFOGRAPHIC - Find out what you should do in the first hour of a digital PR crisis Click To Tweet
An Expert’s View on Digital PR Crisis Management
Elena Verlee is founder of a technology PR agency that works with start-ups to billion-dollar companies. She talks about the 4 A’s when reacting to bad PR. She says that if we are in business it’s inevitable that we will face negativity.
“No matter what business you’re in, eventually you’ll piss someone off.
I’m not talking getting bad PR or a major crisis management campaign like laying off 500 people, or having a product recall where you have a gazillion journalists and customers to deal with. I’m talking about preserving your reputation with the more common one-off “your product or service is not good enough” emails or blog comments, your social media network saying your personality leaves much to be desired, or in another scenario, you jump to the next curve and are 10x better than the status quo and well, it tends to rile people up.
It’s always best to plan ahead, but let’s get real…most of the time, we don’t have the time, and are caught reacting to bad PR.”
The 4 A’s
- Act quickly
- Assess the situation
- Admit the truth
- Make amends
Nobody or no company is immune from a PR crisis. We never know when we will directly or indirectly be involved in one. But we can plan for a digital PR crisis and be able to act strongly if and when it happens.
Nobody or no company is immune from a digital PR crisis. Click To TweetHave you got your PR crisis communications plan in place? If not, what are you waiting for? You are surely not going to wait for a crisis.
[ DOWNLOAD FREE INFOGRAPHIC HERE ]
Contact us today and download our infographic to find out what you should do in the first hour of a digital PR crisis.
We will be launching an online course on this topic in the upcoming weeks. Stay tuned to our Facebook and Twitter feeds for updates.
