Crisis PR is one of those areas of business that you absolutely have to get right the first time around. It’s critical to know not only what to do, but also what not to do. The key is to have a plan, and that’s exactly what we’re going to outline here.
Determine Impact
Determine if the issue you’re facing is legitimate and will negatively impact your business or just one irrational person with an ax to grind
- Did your company do something that other rational people perceive as significantly wrong? If the answer is yes, then you have the potential for a PR crisis that you need to address.
- If not, evaluate the damage that could be done to your company.
Strategize
Have a plan
- Identify which media outlets interested in the story and sort them by which ones you already have relationships with.
- Develop talking points
- If your company did nothing wrong, your talking points should revolve around what you did and the value you bring to those you serve.
Execute on your plan
Get your message out in the media before a negative story gains momentum.
- Leverage every channel available, from national news to small blogs. The idea is to go big enough to overwhelm the media cycle and keep it up long enough for people to lose interest in the negative story.
