Public relations blunders are a nightmare for brands and make audiences cringe, but for Gerry McCusker, PR analyst, adviser and author of ‘PR Disasters’, they’re the perfect example of what not to do to maintain your reputation.
Online media is taking reputation management to a new digital level. What do you do if your brand becomes embroiled in an online PR disaster?
Follow McCusker’s tips for online PR crisis management and you might find that your ‘disaster’ could just be the best opportunity you’ve ever had to address and improve your online reputation.
- Assemble your CC-team and plan. Activate your well-rehearsed crisis communications team and template response plan. If you don’t have them, that is your first mistake.
- Find and face the facts. Collate a helicopter view of the issue, the catalyst or main problem, the sequence of events and any aggravating circumstances.
- Re-compile/understand your influencer list. Don’t react; instead respond. Carefully assess those posting on the issue, and decide WHETHER comment and engagement will positively inform, or painfully inflame, the issue.
- Empathy. Change your perspective. Try really seeing it from the affected stakeholders’ – or key media players’ – point-of-view. Social media is mainly their media, you need to recognise that context.
- Get your ‘humble’ on. Many brands ignore the 3 Rs of PR disaster recovery: regret, responsibility and remedial action. Is your brand humble enough to get real, admit wrong and talk straight?
- Sort it, or shut it! Whenever possible, fix the problem – and then be ready to maximise letting key audiences know how well you sorted it out. If you’re not going to fix the issue, lay lizard-low.
- No reasoning in the madhouse. Back read blogs, forums and networks to get a feel for stakeholder sentiment on the issue and generally towards your business. DO NOT comment, engage or post in those social channels or forums where emotional-fuelled insanity means you’re likely to get a kicking.
- SEO-optimise response content. If preparing ‘key message’ responses (ideally in multiple formats), search optimise it all with keywords, tags and data to make it more magnetic as far as short-term and long-term search engine finds are concerned. Also make sure you target journalists from high-traffic websites with this optimised content.
- Mind your language. Your modes of expression (audio, copy, infographics, interviews, Tweets, video) should be informed, conciliatory and ‘open’ rather than invalidating, blustery and arrogant.
- Become an authority. Ensure all your response content emanates from – and is housed on – a social-media news dashboard (such as www.presspage.co.uk) that’s search friendly and easily lets audiences read, share and repost your position. Draw citizen and mainstream media to that source and become a credible, consistent voice on the issue.
- Keep at it. Monitor coverage, trend and sentiment to gauge – and possibly tweak – how, where and to whom your messages are directed, how much traction you are getting with your position. Keep communicating as a trusted authority figure.
Hear from Gerry McCusker and a suite of speakers and some of Australia’s most well-known brands at Social Business 2014, to be held at the Melbourne Recital Centre from February 18-19. Tickets are selling fast, so register now!