Three PR Crisis Management Strategies

A PR crisis can unravel at the drop of a hat. Without proper planning it’s likely to suck up resources and wreak havoc on a brand, leaving marketing and communications pros to mitigate the damage. 

Here are three strategies straight from the BAM team on how to lessen the severity of a crisis and prepare before it even happens:

1. Plan ahead, stay ahead

The most successful method for navigating through a crisis is to plan for it before it happens. Take time to reflect and research your market, identifying what crisis may become a factor in the future. By constructing a plan in advance with the help of a professional or an agency experienced in managing crises, you allow yourself more time to research and reflect on the situation and properly form responses based on the severity. Then, if a crisis occurs, all you need to do is turn to the appropriately scaled response via your plan.

2. Navigate fast

Now it’s time to turn to and implement your plan. In the moment, even with plan in-hand, it can be tempting to jump to solutions when it seems like the sky is falling. Your company’s response should match the scale of the crisis, and a dedicated spokesperson responsible for distributing information will help your organization control the message and keep “the main thing” truly the main thing.

3. Look and listen

The only way to prepare for a crisis or reduce the chance of one occurring is to understand types of crises your organization may face. From a social media perspective, when a crisis hits, you’ll need to pause daily posts and swiftly update the public with a post via the company homepage and all platforms. Ensure communication channel usernames and passwords are accessible so PR representatives can access them urgently.