Social Media and Public Relations Needs To Be Part Of Your Disaster Planning Strategy
by admin
In 2004, a video began circulating around the Internet of a man opening a Kryptonite bike lock with a Bic pen. Within a matter of hours, the company’s reputation had been severely damaged.
(Since then, the company has altered the design of their locks to resolve this problem. And they’re also much savvier about how they interact with their online client base.)
What made this case unique was that it was one of the very first online viral videos to cause such a major disruption.
Back then, companies were still approaching PR with a pre-Internet mindset. Organizations would typically react to this sort of event by issuing press releases which would be published the next day through traditional print media.
But the Kryptonite incident caught many by surprise.
This was a time before YouTube, Twitter or Facebook. And although companies had never even heard of social media by this point, they now had to completely re-examine what “Public Relations” meant to their business.
If your organization is ever hit by a disaster, rumours could start circulating within minutes. You need to have a plan of action ready to go, and your employees need strict instructions not to discuss internal company matters through social media or with the press.
I recently had a chance to speak with Dana Marruffo from Buzz Public Relations, and here’s what she had to say about this:
“A critical element to any business continuity plan is crisis communications—or damage control. Social media and the Internet have completely changed the playing field in this regard.
Nonetheless, a company must be prepared for any and all incidents that may cause a disruption to their business: Flooding, fires, viral complaints in social networks, blackouts.
Having a solid PR emergency plan in place allows for quick decision-making that can save not only a company’s reputation, but reduce downtime, minimize financial losses, and more importantly emphasize due diligence to customers, prospects, shareholders, bloggers, industry analysts, and media.”
When your company is hit by disaster or scandal, this is no time for improvisational spin sessions.
You need to build trust and credibility through frank and straight-forward updates. And your messaging has to be very carefully worded and planned out long in advance. If bloggers don’t trust your messaging, they will sniff out every inaccuracy and twist all of your words out of context. (The bloggosphere has a very finely tuned “BS detector”)
When putting together your disaster plan, make sure to involve your PR and Marketing team. List every possible scenario that could harm your company, and ask them to create a communications plan for each. And revise this plan on a regular basis to make sure it’s current.
Also, you should closely monitor what people online are saying about your company. I’m almost certain that someone from Kryptonite’s PR team will be reading this article within a day or 2 of its publication. (Hi guys!) And you should be doing the same.
When a disaster strikes your organization, it’s guaranteed to generate buzz. The positive or negative effects of this free publicity will depend on how proactively you approach the situation. You can be the source of news, or you can be the victim of it.
The choice is yours.
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