A badly handled PR crisis can harm companies, driving away customers and damaging brand reputation for years. Managing a negative situation with a calculated strategy can turn a potential crisis into a loyalty-building marketing event. Public relations professionals must respond swiftly and consistently when an event occurs, providing a unified message to the public to ward off potential complications.

Before creating crisis communication plans, you need to know the crises your company experiences and the impacts these events may have. To properly assess risks, PR professionals should conduct vulnerability audits, hold brainstorming sessions on what events may occur, and immediately address the situations with preventive measures. Consider these essential steps:

Identify risks

Your plan should break down potential crises and response options, organising response intensity according to severity levels. The guidelines should explain best and worst-case scenarios and allow for unique variances that may occur. Incorporate information from your brainstorming sessions and vulnerability audits.

Establish a response team

Your company can establish a crisis communication support team of executives, spokespersons, and possible external PR consultants. They must work together to navigate it and ensure consistent public messaging. Other executives and employees should understand the messaging strategy. Each member has specifically defined duties to perform in a crisis.

Identify key stakeholders

You need to identify key stakeholders with whom you will communicate during crises. These include employees, customers, business partners, media, and the general public. Depending on the type of crisis, you might also need the assistance of lawyers, consultants, or first responders.

Designate a powerful spokesperson

Companies can designate representatives with strong public speaking and critical thinking abilities to send the right message to key stakeholders. Choose an empathetic spokesperson to communicate with employees, who can act as an ambassador when armed with the right crisis communication service.

Establish communication methods

Develop technology infrastructures for sharing internal and external information in real-time. These crisis communication channels are essential to providing accurate, consistent updates to stakeholders. About two-thirds of companies use specialised technology tools or software to send emergency notifications and facilitate crisis management communications. These include software as a service or on-premises programs with email or SMS communication.

Develop specific responses

A company’s communication plan should include specific examples of a potential crisis and messaging. While no company can foresee what may happen, PR professionals experienced in crisis communications can help a business create action plans tweaked to suit future events. You can also develop ‘holding statements’ for your firm and apply them to various scenarios.

Final words

Allow the crisis team to develop response guidelines for social media posts and press enquiries by including different templates for framing corporate messaging. It allows companies to issue press releases and media responses quickly before extensive damage occurs.