Respond to a Crisis

I am currently reading "Real-Time Marketing and PR" and chapter 10 discusses crises and how no one is safe. Every company must have a plan in case of emergency, and the people in charge of the crisis plan must be ready for anything that happens.

While reading this part, I related it back to natural disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes and floods. When a disaster occurs, people typically panic, but there should be a plan for evacuation or a safe place to hide from the storm. Information is usually broadcast all over every news station and updates are regular and informative. The same concept applies to companies experiencing a crisis.

The first important thing to remember is that everything is happening in real time, which means a story could break on a social media network before you get the information out to your audience. If that's the case, you must address the problem on that medium and move on from that point. It is never a good idea to ignore the situation, the crisis should be explained and resolved before others can comment and critique the company in question.

If a crisis occurs, a team should be ready to handle the situation and get the correct information out to the audience as quickly as possible. After the initial information is given, updates should be scheduled to continue to tell people what is going on.

The book outlines why it is important to get your message out and to react quickly, but accurately, when a problem occurs. There should always be a plan, and there should be a team to execute the plan when needed. If crises are ignored or kicked under the rug, a company could be looking at more than a flood or a hurricane when it monitors its social media content.