Dealing with a PR crisis is something that you must do in pieces. You cannot respond to a crisis without a plan, and you must make a plan before you ever venture to work as a company. There are many different companies who do not have PR plans, and you will find that a crisis management plan will guide you when you are concerned about the fate of your business or yourself. You might not realize what goes into one of these plans if you haven’t made one before, and this article explains how to create the plan you need.

#1: A Press Release Plan

You must have a plan to create a press release that coincides with any PR disaster. You will let the press know that you have a response to what has happened, it should be a short response that may be disseminated throughout the media. This is only the first step, but it is required of you if you wish to move forward. The press will wonder what has happened if you do not respond, and the narrative may be written for you by reporters who have grappled onto the story.

#2: Turn To A Seattle PR Firm

The crisis PR firm you use will help you craft all your press releases and documents that relate to the crisis. You may not realize how dire the situation is until it is explained to you by someone who works in PR every day, and you will learn quite a lot. They will help you understand what you are facing, and will give you a number of tasks that will be completed before their job is done.

#3: A Plan For Image Maintenance

A PR problem may be accompanied by information about your company that is published online. You may publish a number of articles online that will be used to improve your company’s overall image, and you will find that each of these articles paints a much better picture of your company as a whole. You may ask another company to write them for you, or you may focus on writing on positive topics.  A professional PR firm should have cultivated relationships with online magazines that can also help to maximize the effectiveness of your crisis PR response.

#4: Responding To Problems

You may receive a lot of emails, complaints or phone inquiries in the wake of any PR problem. You must ensure that you know how to respond to these allegations in a proper manner. A Seattle Public Relations Firm can help you with what to say, and will write out scripts to use for other crisis PR issues. Should you choose to have a PR firm help you, they will remain in control of the issue and will let you know if the narrative or your response must change.

There are quite a few things that must be done when you are facing a major PR problem. The first thing to do with any PR problem is having your company give a good face with your first press release. You may turn to a PR company for help, and they will begin composing items that make it easier for you to respond. You will show the public that you are taking this crisis seriously, and you will prove to the public that they need have nothing to fear. You will handle the problem in a way that makes the public feel comfortable with you again, and you will not be pushed into obscurity in the wake any PR problem.

 

#5: Crisis PR and Social Media

It is also very important to have a Social Media plan in place since nowadays so many people are online and using social media so prevalently.  If you have a Facebook page for your business, sometimes it is advisable to disable the reviews for your page.  Some Crisis PR situations can enrage troves of people online and some situations have even been known to drive angry people to leave false or defamatory reviews about your business online.  Once the PR situation has passed, then you can turn the reviews back on for your page.

Above all else, when posting on social media during a PR crisis remember to communicate honestly, compassion and portray genuine concern and empathy.  An effective crisis PR plan much incorporate social media into the risk and planning.

 

“The secret of crisis management is not good vs bad, it’s preventing bad from getting worse.”

Andy Gilman