The Public Relations Blog

A crisis communications plan protects and defends companies and organizations from a fallout in the public eye. These crises are caused by issues like a company scandal, an executive’s inappropriate behavior, or a product recall. Developing a crisis communications plan can help companies maintain their reputation. 

Companies task public relations agencies to design comprehensive crisis management plans that limit risks to their brands. We craft specific messages for employees, investors, customers, the public, and news outlets. Insufficient external and internal communications can cause the following:

• Operational response failure

• Stakeholders reacting negatively

• Public perception that the company is inept and, even worse, criminally negligent

• Sever impact on the company’s brand, reputation, and finances 

Crisis PR is key to a great crisis plan, so make sure your insurance helps you pay for it

When your company is in crisis, you’ll take in many sudden expenses that you’ll have to pay for out of pocket. This can strain budgets that used to be open or push your already tight budget to its limits. One of these expenses includes crisis public relations to manage your reputation in such a trying time. Having insurance help pay for crisis PR is a big help, but can insurance do that?

No company is safe from crisis as we’ve seen with the coronavirus pandemic. Although your communications strategy and tactics must shift to crisis communications during a time of emergency, it’s still of utmost importance to monitor and evaluate your company’s coverage as it weathers the storm.

You should continue to measure your company communications during a crisis, and you should include these four values in your criteria.

The year 2020 started with a focus on the latest public relations trends. Niche targeting, live streaming, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and Big Data integrations generated the most buzz, and they continue to do so. Although they haven’t faded in the background, the focus on how to use them has drastically shifted.

Brands have started to actively market to a niche audience through influencers, self-publishing platforms, social media, and informative content. The top players from brands have started to use live streaming to get in front of the audience. 

Artificial Intelligence and big data have become the go-to source for brands to monitor social media platforms, predict consumer needs, and develop targeted content based on causes impacting their audience. Handling it all from behind the curtain is an experienced public relations agency. 

Public relations agencies are well-aware of the changing times and have doubled down on their efforts to point brands in the right direction. We want to highlight how PR has changed in 2020 and what to do about it.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many companies have decided their best course of action is to suspend their ad spending and limit their PR expenditures. This could wind up being a big mistake.

In most cases, Facebook can be a delightful asset to your company, generating goodwill between you and your customers or generating strong leads that allow the inbound marketing strategy to fall perfectly into place. However, at times, Facebook can breed negativity. 

When that happens, you don’t want to waste time being unprepared.

Customer service is hard. Dealing with conflict and complaints is even harder. For many companies, this can be a make-it-or-break-it point. If you have poor relationships with customers and clients, it can even permanently tarnish a company’s reputation. To avoid that and strengthen customer relations along the way, here are three tips for responding to a crisis response when customers have been offended.

Use these three tips to get back to normal.

This is a story about COVID-19 and its impact on business and PR. Read Media Relations during COVID-19 and four communication actions your company can do during COVID-19 for more information.

The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly slowed down the economy, putting a dent in your company and your public relations plans. However, now that lockdowns are starting to rescind, you need to begin thinking about how your company will get back to business and how your public relations plans will go forward.

As things start to open up again, consider these three points as you plan for things to return to how they used to be.

This is one story in our series about COVID-19. Read 8 ways your PR agency can assist you during COVID-19 for more.

The business landscape, disrupted by COVID-19, has transformed almost overnight and triggered talks of recession. As many companies look to reduce spending, keep in mind it’s been proven over time that increasing (or maintaining) your overall marketing spend during a recession can result in long-term gains. No marketing strategy would be complete without public relations, and especially during challenging times, PR must be an integral part of that plan. 

Although it may be tempting to hit pause on your PR program, now is not the time. It’s time to be even more strategic. Speed is the most important commodity in times of crisis. Don’t wait and risk missing the opportunity. 

This is one story in our series about COVID-19. Read 8 ways your PR agency can assist you during COVID-19 and Don't think you need a PR agency right now? Think again for more.

It’s difficult to determine the best course of action for communications during this unusual time. You want to be as sensitive as possible to people’s distress and anguish, and you want to stay engaged, operating from a place of care and concern for your employees, your customers, and your community. Here are some things to consider to maintain a proper level of internal and external communications while waiting for this crisis to pass.