Our VerriBerri team are crisis management PR experts and have been for over a decade. We have a whole team dedicated to protecting the reputation of our clients. From the biggest scandal to smaller glitches; unfavourable press can severely negatively impact your business.
I often hear the term ‘bad press is still good press’ and we couldn’t disagree more. As a business, your reputation is everything. Nobody wants to be associated with buying from or using the services of someone who has been slaughtered online. It’s for this reason that your sales could suffer if this were to happen to you.
What is Crisis Management PR?
Regardless of how much you stay out of drama, we’re not perfect. Human’s make bad decisions and that’s just part of life. Although I’m sure you wish you were, business owners are not immune to this. Subsequently, if people catch wind of something controversial, your reputation could be at stake.
Crisis management PR is a way of preparing your business for potentially detrimental news stories or online backlash. It’s a way of stopping problems in the first place or managing and limiting the fallout if they have already been published.
Why It’s Important to Avoid Crisis
Imagine putting your heart and soul into a campaign and getting lots of amazing press. Sounds amazing, right? Then imagine something happens that ruins it all. Taking all your hard work and money and screwing it up into a ball. That’s unfortunately what will happen if you’re not both proactive and reactive in your approach to crisis management.
With social media being such a massive part of our everyday lives, there’s no escaping. It’s no wonder we so often fall into the trap of believing everything we read. This being said, not many companies go unscathed when it comes to drama. Avoiding this in the best way possible will mean your reputation is protected and the hard work you put into your other marketing won’t be wasted.
How to Avoid a Crisis
So how do we do it? How do we avoid negativity? There is no way of guaranteeing it won’t happen. What you can do however, is take steps to lower your chances of being highlighted as much as you can.
Thinking you can avoid any criticism would be unrealistic. Planning, however, is one of the best ways you can avoid a crisis from arising. Being aware of your upcoming projects and pinpoint possible areas you may be criticised. This is a great start when it comes to having a contingency in place. This way, you can put this plan into action straight away, meaning minimal damage. You may choose to do this within your own team, or you may consider bringing onboard a crisis management PR company like ours. Whichever way you do it, you really should be prepared.
A slightly more basic way of managing crisis is to simply stay away from controversial topics. This definitely is easier said than done when it comes to running a business. Avoiding getting involved with controversial topics such as politics (for example) is a good way to avoid offending anyone and drawing negative attention towards yourself. This one kind of comes hand-in-hand with planning for the future because although it’s easy for me to sit here and say ‘avoid anything controversial’ there are still plenty of pitfalls.
How to Improve a Crisis
If you’re reading this, you may already be in a whirlwind of negativity. Fear not! Through the years there have been numerous stories about celebrities and businesses that have had a detrimental effect on their reputation. Despite this, they have bounced back and you can too. Using crisis management PR, you can minimise the effects of this and salvage people’s opinions on you.
Listen to the Problem
Nobody likes to feel like they haven’t been listened to. If you’ve done something wrong and people are calling you out for it; actively listen to what they have to say. Once you have done this, you are able to construct an effective response that best portrays your company. Taking your time is key. Don’t rush a response as this can often make the situation a whole lot worse.
Do Something to Put it Right
Not everything wrong can be put right but you can definitely try. Maybe it’s as simple as speaking out about the issue or removing whatever it is that people didn’t like. Maybe it’s simply in educating yourselves better. Either way, show your customers that you are being proactive and trying to fix the issue. This is a great way to gain respect back for your business.
Humanize Your Brand
We all know it’s easier to connect with humans than it is to connect with a business name. Bringing forward the face of your business in a time of crisis could go one of two ways. Often, being personable often makes people realise that you are a real person and actually, we do all make mistakes. This can help aid the crisis to a state more manageable. You do however have to be careful when doing this. As we mentioned previously, the world can be a judgemental place. Putting your face to your brand can backfire. By outsourcing to a crisis management PR agency, we are able to get you back on track and suggest the best ways to do this.
Contact Us
Although the media brings us an abundance of happiness the majority of the time, the reality is, sometimes the media can be a nasty place. If the media were eagles, your business could be their prey.
If you think your business could benefit from crisis management, we would be more than happy to help. To get in touch with someone today, click here!