Twitter team 2/27/13
By Felecia Rollins @FeleciaRollins, Brad Willaims @B_radWilliams, Erica Heagerty @ericaheagerty, Brandon Gruber @BrandonGruber, Elise Cullen @elisecullen22, Dan Effinger @danOeffinger and Kaitie Todd @kaitietodd.
This past Wednesday, Feb. 27, Casey Boggs from LT Public Relations joined our class to discuss crisis management and preparation in social media. Casey provided our class with tips on how to prepare and enact crisis communication, case study examples on crisis management, group activities and even explained how PR should work by drawing on the yet-to-be-used chalkboard in the lecture hall.
A few of Casey’s memorable quotes from the presentation:
“Public Relations is now reputation management.”
“Know who you are, who your audience is and what kind of relationship you have before a crisis.”
“Traditional media is still a credible conduit to tell your stories.”
“The question isn’t if, but how social media should be used.”
“Crisis management is 99 percent preparation and 1 percent execution.”
“If there’s a theme of negative comments, that’s the first thing you want to address.”
Casey started off the presentation with a discussion about what he called the “PR train,” something that includes critical success factors, the company’s brand, PR and sales. He stressed the importance of knowing your company’s vision and brand before deciding how to manage perception and handle a crisis. This knowledge before hand is meant to keep the “train” from going in different directions.
From there, Casey went into a discussion about PR tools that you can use before a crisis, including first and foremost your employees. Casey was sure to point out that your employees are your brand ambassadors and can help you manage your PR. Some other tools mentioned include building relationships and maintaining contact with target audiences (through social media, town hall meetings, email, and so on), using traditional media conduits and knowing who your friends are.
When it comes to managing a crisis, Casey brought up a ratio that was widely echoed throughout the class on Twitter: Crisis management is 99 percent preparation and 1 percent execution, which prompted Twitter discussion about whether the ratio should be something more like an 80 percent/20 percent split. One of the most important points of being prepared for a crisis, Casey mentioned, is making sure that your crisis plan is updated on a regular basis to ensure that you will be ready when a crisis hits. And when crisis does hit, responding immediately, being honest, apologizing and then moving on are key.
One of the most important takeaways from the discussion was that it is key to understand how we deal with crisis in our own day-to-day lives and then we can transition how we handle it there into how we handle it into social media.
Key points that Boggs addressed include the following:
–Make sure you know the vision and business objectives behind a brand before you try and be a PR guru for them. (Seems plain and simple but it’s wise to repeat).
–When a crisis happens, be sure that you tell your staff first! You should not address the world before letting the members of your company know what is going on. Communication and transparency is key here for everyone.
–It’s important to maintain healthy relationships before crisis hits. We can again take this back to how we handle things in our own day-to-day lives. We know as adults that in order to keep relationships growing, we must share and help others. We cannot solely think we deserve things just when we are in a time of need.
–Another scenario that Boggs mentioned that we can yet again bring back to our day-to-day lives is that of the cocktail party. When it comes to maintaining your brand, make sure you are not just telling everyone how amazing you are. Make sure you are listening and asking questions. This is exactly what you would do (OR SHOULD DO for those of you who don’t know) at a cocktail party. Nobody likes the people who only talk about themselves. Sure there is a time and place to share your brand, but do so sparingly while actively listening.
–Remember that it is estimated that 75 percent of crisis situations can be avoided or diminished with a plan.
–Know that lies will always come back to haunt you. Be honest and don’t spin stories to benefit you in any way. Take the hit and then move on.
–Remember to pay attention to any negative comments made about you. Use these negative comments as a platform to learn and grow. As Boggs referenced, “There is opportunity in crisis.”
If you are always doing the right thing and planning ahead of time for what-if’s, then you’ll be set. When something does occur just stay calm and take the steps to do the right thing.
Below are some of the Tweets from the discussion.
The PR Train: the locomotive is the company vision. So much is passed off as a “PR problem” w/o recognizing other variables.#J412ssm – @kmatthews
What type of relationship do you have with the public? Communicate with your target audience.. more often #J412ssm – @B_radWilliams
Crisis preparation goes a long way toward managing a crisis. 99% preparation 1% execution #J412ssm – @BrandonGruber
In Chinese, crisis means both crisis, and opportunity. Interesting! #j412ssm @ericaheagerty
The long-term ramifications of even a hint of a lie aren’t work it. Take it on the chin and communicate through it. #j412ssm – @kmatthews
shutting down during a crisis sends a horrible message to the public #j412ssm -@elciszek
75% of crisis situations can be avoided with a crisis preparation plan. An UPDATED plan. #J412ssm – @FeleciaRollins
How do you manage crisis in your own lives? Could you transition that into a PR firm? #j412ssm – @SpencerJFlores
The question should no longer be whether social media should be used in marketing plans- but how.” -PR week #j412ssm – @jordankeddie
For more information on Casey and LT Public Relations, check out the following links: