crisis communications: manage (and avoid) crises with media monitoring
TRANSCRIPT
CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS: MANAGE (AND AVOID) CRISES WITH MEDIA
MONITORING
TODAY’S PRESENTERS
Shel Holtz
Principal, Holtz Communication + Technology
Jennifer Zingsheim Phillips
Founder, 4L Strategies
What is a Crisis?• The public is risk-averse
• The public attaches little credibility to business advocates
• Media’s role is based on conflict
• Advocacy groups will exploit your crisis to their own purposes
• Emotion, not logic, is at issue
• Crises are characterized by symbols
BEFORE A CRISIS
Planning for Potential Crises
• It’s not feasible to plan for every possible crisis
• Planning for problems your organization may likely encounter is best practice.
Pre-Crisis Monitoring
• Use monitoring tools to track what your audience is saying about your brand.
• These tools allow you to monitor for unusual spikes in mentions.
• A spike in mentions could mean a problem is on the horizon.
WHEN A CRISIS HITS
Responding to a Crisis
• Organize into teams to handle the various aspects of a crisis.
• PR professionals/communicators and legal teams typically have different objectives.
• Respond quickly and with transparency.
• Prioritize your stakeholders.
• Protect your customers first.
Pay Attention to Social
• Social media adds another layer of complication for crisis management.
• News- and outrage- travels fast• The multitude of voices can spread rumors• Crises are turned into memes, compounding a
company’s problems
Continue to Monitor
• In the flurry of activity, don’t neglect your monitoring tools.
• Refine keywords, if necessary, to collect the most relevant coverage.
• Use the collected coverage to help structure responses.
FOLLOWING UP AFTER A CRISIS
Your Crisis is Over- Now What?
• Use monitoring tools to conduct sentiment analysis of coverage.
• How did the crisis affect your organization’s reputation?
• Use the information gleaned from this analysis to plan and prevent future crises.
Q&A
