Crisis management is a major concern for all brands. In the time it takes you to read this sentence, a crisis can erupt that will not only take down your organization but everyone associated with you. This may be a bit of an overstatement, but you get my point. In today’s hyper-connected world where bad news travels faster than good news, the digital environment is a hotbed for PR nightmares. You won’t escape unscathed or unscrewed if you don’t plan ahead. With a strong crisis management plan in place, you minimize damage and ensure a quick recovery.
Creating an effective crisis management plan begins with assessing your organization’s readiness. Are you ready for a crisis? Do you have tools in place to gauge any threats or risks? When should such a plan be put into action?
In fact, crisis management planning helps you think through the full range of actions required to communicate through any type of crisis from a business perspective. There are two important tools of crisis communication.
Listening
Research has consistently shown that listening is critical for communication and conflict resolution, especially during a crisis. All too often, crisis situations are handled without truly knowing the underlying issues that need to be addressed.
But knowing what’s being said isn’t enough. PR pros also need to know who is saying it. Having the right data at the right time can help our crisis response. And that’s why we need real-time media monitoring software. The sooner you know, the more options for the response you might have.
Mitigation and aftermath Plan
When a crisis happens, you’re in the hot seat and likely your CEO’s most-wanted confidante and advisor. It’s important to arm yourself with the knowledge of what happened using a media monitoring platform. You ought to understand what it involves and how it unfolded. Thereafter, create a mitigation plan taking all points into consideration.
At the heart of every crisis is information and managing that information, and then turning that into action. A robust media monitoring helps a brand’s Crisis Communication team determine facts, identify key takeaways from incidents, and listen to what people are saying about their brand. Armed with this information, it is easier to decide on what to do next. In addition, monitoring can also reveal valuable insights into how a brand’s reputation is being affected as a result of the crisis.
This will enable you to create the right strategy and a campaign to revive the lost trust and reputation.
How Wizikey Helps
Wizikey’s metrics like Brand Share of Voice, Leadership Share of Voice, Sentiment Analysis helps organizations identify both negative and positive trends. For instance, COVID-19 was a crisis for almost all organizations. Those who had media monitoring in place could take apt and fast decisions, maintaining smooth business continuity.
While SOV gives you an overview and identity trends, Sentiment Analysis helps you identify the sentiment of your stories. A drop in sentiment is an indication that you need to buckle up and either prepare to brace a crisis or craft a mitigation plan.
Crisis management has become a corporate priority in the 21st Century. The number of crises that happen is growing, but it’s much less traumatic to go through a crisis well-prepared. With Wizikey you have a partner who will keep a close vigil for you.