Choosing a crisis PR firm can be tricky business but it is easier if you know what to look for.
Red Banyan CEO Evan Nierman explains in an article in Fast Company the qualities to watch for when selecting a crisis PR firm to work with.
Look for a crisis response team that can handle everything from media relations and interview preparation to content creation, reputation repair, and messaging strategy, Nierman notes in the article. Crisis management experts should be able to identify potential threats and outline ways to prevent looming disasters, he adds.
Read the full article here.
How to Select a Crisis PR Firm
Knowing what qualities will serve your business best is important to understand before you select a public relations agency to help with crisis preparation planning.
“Be prepared” may be the Boy Scout motto, but it’s a valuable directive that every company should embrace. Savvy business owners and entrepreneurs know that it is never enough simply to hope for the best. Companies must prepare for the worst and have a crisis plan in place so they have the best chance possible of weathering the storm when the waters get rough.
Bad things are bound to happen at some point, but whether you sink or swim depends on how you react. Consulting with a professional crisis PR firm is a surefire way to prepare for the unexpected. But choosing the right crisis PR firm is a bit trickier.
Knowing what qualities will serve your business best is important to understand before you select a public relations agency to help with crisis preparation planning.
WHAT IS A CRISIS?
When it comes to crisis planning, it’s important to remember that crisis management is not industry-specific. It’s about people, and when people are involved, anything goes. By definition, a business crisis is an event or series of events that cause a major disturbance. Time is usually short, and decisions have to be made quickly. Knowing what to do ahead of time, instead of figuring out what to do on the fly, is the best way to yield successful results.
Crises can stem from anything and everything, and range from personnel issues and company policies to character assassination, social media emergencies, the threat of litigation, and data breach disasters.
According to PwC’s Global Crisis Survey 2021, for which 2,814 global business leaders were surveyed in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, 62% of businesses used a crisis response plan to respond to the pandemic.
“Businesses that prioritize and invest in building a foundation to address any type of crises will be better positioned to weather what comes next,” the survey noted.
Not surprisingly, 95% of businesses surveyed reported that their crisis management capabilities needed improvement. Companies that fared well during the pandemic were able to weather lockdowns, remote work, illness, and other disruptions through resilience, innovation, and crisis planning.
According to the PwC survey, organizations that are prepared for crises and have embraced organizational resilience have the following traits:
The ability to anticipate and identify threats
1. A faster response activation
2. Clarity of roles and plans
3. Confidence through muscle memory
4. Access to critical data and insights
5. Reinforced purpose and values
6. Strengthened trust with stakeholders
7. An ability to emerge stronger
BEST CRISIS PR QUALITIES
Experience and tangible results are the most important qualities to look for when choosing a crisis PR firm to create a crisis response plan for your company. Agencies with proven track records are more likely to deliver the goods than PR firms that simply list “crisis PR” among the many services offered.
Find out if the firm has dedicated personnel to handle crisis PR or if everyone at the agency is a Jack-of-all-trades. Crisis PR is a specialty subset of public relations that requires the kind of knowledge and finesse that not everyone has.
Look for a crisis response team that can handle everything from media relations and interview preparation to content creation, reputation repair, and messaging strategy. Crisis management experts should be able to identify potential threats and outline ways to prevent looming disasters.
Competent problem-solving under duress with the goal of minimizing reputational harm is the primary goal. Seasoned crisis PR experts know how to deliver the right message to the right audience at the right time—and timing can be everything.
Here are five ways crisis PR experts mitigate crises:
- Ferret out weaknesses that could tarnish a client’s image or business model
- Seek out ways to avoid problems in the first place
- Make sure their clients understand how crises develop and worsen
- Control the narrative instead of responding to someone else’s version of the facts
- Lower the temperature so news organizations will be less likely to cover the story
When it comes to facing a crisis, something has to be done—but knowing the right something for any given situation can only be learned through experience. For this reason, partnering with an experienced crisis PR agency can mean the difference between success and failure.
Even if the situation is new to you, your crisis PR manager has likely worked througha similar event and will know how to quickly develop an effective crisis response. Preparation pays off.