PR professionals have a lot of tasks on their plate. They’re responsible for planning and developing PR campaigns and media relations strategies, maintaining close collaboration with internal teams and senior management, creating promotional materials, building and maintaining a positive public image for their clients and the list could go on.
Unfortunately, every now and then, PR teams are faced with a reality they’d rather evade: handling a public relations crisis. These unfortunate events are a PR professional’s biggest nightmare, but one that’s impossible to avoid. Whether we’re talking about organisations, companies or prominent individuals, any entity that deals with the public in one way or another will, at one point, experience a PR crisis.
It’s impossible to predict all the things that could go wrong and cover all your basis. Life happens, mistakes occur, and negative events are bound to happen sooner or later, and that’s when PR professionals come into play to save the day. Because make no mistake, PR crises are not the kind of issues that go away when left alone. On the contrary, if one doesn’t act promptly, the problem is only going to get worse with the passage of time.
So, if you’re new to the realm of public relations and you dread the moment you’ll have to handle a PR crisis yourself, whether alone or assisted by a team, here’s a guide that can direct your steps and help you keep your cool even in the most distressful of situations.
What counts as a PR crisis?
Not every problem you encounter along the road can be considered a PR crisis. So how does one differentiate between everyday challenges and a full-on PR crisis? Any event that poses a major threat to a client’s reputation, be it an organisation or a public figure, can be considered a PR crisis.
These events can range from bad reviews and negative media coverage to scandals, accidents, or criminal charges and injuries – which you can read more about at https://www.compensationcalculatoruk.co.uk/criminal-injuries-compensation-calculator/. Basically, anything that can cause the public to have an adverse reaction towards a person or organisation has the potential to turn into a PR crisis.
It’s important to point out that no one is immune to these types of crises. So, even if you work for a small company that doesn’t receive much media attention, you need to remember that we live in the age of the internet and things can escalate pretty quickly if they’re not handled properly.
There’s also a common misconception that major companies are less affected by PR crises because they’re too big to care about public opinion and they have enough resources to push through any challenge that may come their way. However, there have been many examples of big brands handling a PR crisis poorly over time that prove this theory to be false.
A lot of companies have suffered major losses because they didn’t know how to address the issue. Loss of customers’ trust, inability to attract new clients or investors, damage to brand image, and loss of revenue are just some of the negative effects of a PR crisis. Therefore, a fast and adequate response is key to overcoming these hurdles.
The golden rules of PR crisis management
Even if you’ve been lucky enough to have avoided PR crises so far, there’s no guarantee they won’t happen in the future. As a PR professional, you have to be ready to handle every type of problem that might occur, so here are the steps you should follow in the event of a PR crisis.
Be proactive
The first rule of thumb when handling a PR crisis is to act promptly. Waiting too long to take action in hopes that the storm will subside will just make matters worse as it gives people time to make inaccurate assumptions about the whole situation. When you take matters into your hands sooner rather than later, you show the public that you care about solving the problem and you avoid further damage.
Accept responsibility
Trying to make excuses or covering things up is the worst thing you can do when a PR crisis arises. Even if you’re not entirely at fault for what happened, you should take responsibility for the role you played in the event and be honest about how things played out. Any attempt to minimize your contribution will probably lead to further backlash. People are more likely to understand that mistakes sometimes occur and respond in a positive way when they are met with honesty and transparency.
Communicate your stance clearly
If you don’t take a stance and communicate your position publicly about a situation, you’re giving people the opportunity to make their own idea about what happened. The same event can be interpreted in numerous ways by different media outlets and the masses. That’s why you need to step up and communicate your message clearly. After sending out an initial statement, you’ll have the time to craft a more detailed response and clarify every aspect that needs to be addressed.
Take the necessary measures to address the situation
Acknowledging the problem and apologizing for your mistakes can go a long way in reducing damages and rehabilitating your image. However, words don’t suffice to make things better, but actions might. After you’ve expressed your regret about the incident and shown the public you care, it’s time to get down to business and take measures to correct the situation. People need to know you’re actually doing something to ensure such things won’t happen again in the future.
Wrapping up
PR crises come in all shapes and forms and can affect businesses, institutions and individuals in numerous ways, so handling these challenges is anything but easy. However, regardless of the nature or the magnitude of the PR crisis that your client is facing, the rules listed above will prove effective in helping you navigate the storm.
