The subtle art of communicating in times of crisis

Knowing how and when to communicate during an global crisis, such as COVID-19, is instrumental to business success.

There are important questions to ask yourself including:

• Do you have a communicator that contributes to the various conversations related to the crisis?
• Can you do it in a useful, constructive and meaningful way without being perceived as taking advantage of the situation?

In addition to those questions, there are standard communication aspects you must consider including audience , messaging, and the media channels to use.

Worldcom Partners, Fusion Communications and Realidades, define the proper path to communicating during a crisis.

Define your industry
If you’re in a consumer-oriented industry like travel and tourism, use direct communication to alleviate the safety concerns of your customers. Multiple hotel and airline chains used direct communication only days after COVID-19 was a threat.

Announce something good
Save the press releases for topics that deliver value to the community. For example, Barco Uniforms released a press release stating they were donating 10,000 medical uniforms to health professionals in need.

Be creative
People will be tired of seeing the same news over and over again. Devote time to more positive and refreshing news and use non-traditional media channels to communicate this. For example, Down Dog, a popular yoga platform, used its social channels to announce that access to its online classes will be free until April.

Use the various amounts of technology at your disposal to communicate with consumers in an easy and effective way. Use positive experiences to help calm stress.

If the crisis gets worse, make sure that you have a detailed crisis management plan you can put into action. Make sure to continuously update your crisis plans, define communication protocols, and respond in a variety of situations.

Get more insights about communicating during a crisis from Realidades. You can find more information on communication trends from Worldcom Partners.

Realidades is a Public Relations and Communications agency located in Peru. They focus on providing corporate communication advice with a comprehensive, strategic, creative and innovative perspective.

Fusion Communications is a South Florida based agency that specializes in creating sound public relations strategies and tactics that will integrate into their client’s communications program.