How to Handle a PR Crisis at Your School
Red Banyan is a crisis PR agency for public and private schools. Our staff specializes in school crisis communications, school media communications, media outreach, on-camera interview training, legal PR, school content writing and reputation rehabilitation.
When a crisis affects a school, the effects are far reaching because of the large number of people that are typically involved.
Red Banyan’s crisis management team can provide you with essential guidance so when an emergency strikes, your school is not caught off guard. Having a school crisis communications plan is necessary for keeping tabs on a changing situation, presenting a unified message and communicating with the media.
Our crisis communications experts will help you identify a school spokesperson, so you have a single source for releasing information. We will help you choose a crisis communications team composed of individuals who can think on their feet, work effectively on deadline, and have proven experience dealing with stressful situations. We have years of experience in public relations for schools.
School crises can take on many forms ranging from large scale disasters such as hostage situations and gun violence to natural disasters like hurricanes and tornadoes that require an emergency response from the community.
It is important to plan for each different kind of scenario so if one of them occurs, you have a rehearsed playbook to follow so you can take control of the basics.
Public relations for schools is one of Red Banyan’s specialties. Our crisis PR team will provide tailored advice to specifically fit the unique needs of your public or private school, so you are prepared to respond if something goes awry.
Communications Strategies for Public and Private Schools
Our school public relations crisis communications team will outline a crisis communications plan for your academic institution and then walk you through every step, so you are familiar with the plan and are ready to act. Practice is the key to success in order to make sure every team member knows their role and the responsibilities that go with it.
Red Banyan’s public relations for schools experts will explain the importance of a timely response and convey the value of regular, ongoing communications during a disaster. Communicating clearly in a way that is easily understood is extremely important in emergencies. It is also important to be transparent and truthful during an emergency.
Our communications experts will show your team how to take control of the narrative and steer the conversation in way that allows you to communicate your key points of interest.
Red Banyan also specializes in media relations and has established relationships with reporters. Our media outreach experts will teach you how to work with reporters and show you how to write press releases so if you encounter the press, you will not feel uncomfortable.
We also teach clients how to conduct on-camera interviews, which can be intimidating if you have never done one before. Our PR experts will teach your school staff how to prepare talking points for an interview, explain what to wear and what not to wear, and hold mock interviews with them until they are comfortable.
Crisis Communications Case Studies for Schools
In a world where so many people are quick to anger, social media meltdowns and online attacks have become the order of the day. Red Banyan’s social media team deals regularly with outrage culture and will devise a communications plan for your public or private school that addresses the problems created by social media attacks.
Dealing with cancel culture and online attacks is a huge job. Red Banyan’s social media consultants can review your school’s social media channels, check your analytics and devise new way to improve your metrics and help you produce better results.
Has your school ever been vilified on social media for unpopular policies, teacher actions, or problems on campus? Red Banyan’s social media and crisis PR experts can help get online firestorms under control.
Our social media experts can tamp down simmering online attacks, address any negative content that may have been posted online and create new, positive content to promote your school’s good reputation.
Social media in schools is an especially important aspect of crisis communications, should an emergency occur. Social media channels like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram can be used during a crisis to share information in real time and keep your stakeholders informed.
Your crisis plan should designate someone to take over social media communications during disasters so you are prepared should something unexpected occur.
How Red Banyan Can Help Your School and/or School District
Red Banyan’s public relations professionals for schools can create a one-of-a kind communications plan for your private or public school that will also address crises that other schools have experienced. We will also help you brainstorm a list of potential crises for your school to address and while also helping with the issues at hand.
Once you have selected the members of your crisis team, our crisis PR professionals for schools will help you sort fact from fiction. Then we will meet with involved parties to help you determine who needs to know what and when they need to know it.
You may have to decide if an incident needs to be reported to police, or if an insurance company should be notified. Red Banyan’s communications strategists will help steer you in the right direction.
Our public relations professionals know what works and can tailor a unique plan using their years of experience and knowledge to create a comprehensive social media strategy that will improve your school’s online presence with a system of measuring and reporting that will help your organization become more impactful. We will also help you share positive information about your public or private school on social media.
Red Banyan’s media outreach team is composed of former journalists who understand what reporters need and know how to use storytelling skills to get positive attention. Our media relations experts can craft press releases that will capture the attention of the media so you have a better chance of sharing your school’s story the want you want it to be shared.
Red Banyan provides crisis PR for public and private schools and has years of hands-on expertise that can mean the difference between success and failure.