Eight ways to keep a lid on a PR crisis

It’s not true that online noise has made it impossible for brands to minimise negative publicity once it’s out there. These eight steps can help keep the fire under control.

1. Speed is of the essence. You will be able to react more quickly if you have clear processes already outlined, based on a thorough risk assessment and involvement of all the key internal decision-makers. You need to anticipate as much as possible and avoid bureaucracy at all costs

2. Make sure the organisation is behind you. Internal communications based on a strong idea of who you are and what you stand for will help staff adapt more easily to rapidly changing situations

3. Employ people who are specialists in crisis communications. There are lots of pitfalls the experts will have been through – they will be able to act decisively

4. On the digital front, concentrate only on the relevant online chatter (you can’t be everywhere) and react swiftly when something happens. Silence is often taken as an admission of guilt

5. Stay the course. Digital channels thrive on conversation, so watch how people react to your response. Be prepared to provide more comment, but take care with answering back. There will be limitations to how much you can influence in social media. It may be better to watch and respond via other channels than jump straight in there, as Ryanair found to their cost earlier this year

6. Reacting via digital channels requires the right tools (e.g. equipment to record video, social media knowledge, web design expertise, pre-emptive purchase of the most helpful search terms in a crisis). Make sure your staff already have them and know who to turn to if they need specialist help

7. All organisations should have a crisis blog set-up ready to activate quickly as a means to getting their side of the story out in a crisis. Having a blog that links in and out of your web site provides flexibility and improves search ranking

8. I’d also encourage organisations to think about using ‘talking head’ video posts from executives and experts to provide responses in crisis situations. Here is how Dominos used one to good effect when responding to their recent in-store hygiene crisis in the US