PR Crisis Management 101: How To Handle PR Fires

PR Crisis management is something every business needs to do at some point in its operations. There are a lot of factors that determine or influence a crisis management plan. However, the Department of Public Relations or PR plays the most significant role.

PR Crisis management is an integral part of a crisis management campaign. PR handles or monitors how a business is perceived by its clients and customers. Therefore, having a clear idea of the right PR crisis management strategies.

This article would get you upto speed. 

What Is A PR Crisis

PR crisis management can be best defined as an institutional strategy that organizations adopt to manage or contain crises. This crisis could be of many forms. However, the PR department usually gets involved when the company’s reputation is at stake.

PR crisis management plays a massive role in handling and containing situations. But how does it function? Well, stick around, and you will find out everything. 

Types Of PR Crisis

Most organizations categorize crises into three primary categories. These categories help departments handle them with more specialized expertise. Therefore, a public relations crisis management officer must understand these grades to take necessary actions.

These levels are categorized according to the severity of the crisis. Hence, crises on a certain level would need more urgent attention than others. Here are the three prominent variations in PR crisis levels. 

Here we go!

Crisis Level 1

Crises on level 1 are usually the most dangerous and detrimental. Leven 1s usually has the potential to become a massive PR disaster. Therefore, these crises should be addressed urgently. 

Level 1 crises have the potential to be massively detrimental and problematic for all the parties involved. In some cases, it can leave companies with herculean losses or a tarnished reputation. 

Level 1 Crises usually consist of three primary variants. These include product recalling, harassment, or corporate impropriety. Managing these crises usually requires expert crisis management skills and funds. 

Crisis Level 2

Level 2 concerns are urgent on the priority list. However, these are more detrimental than the crises of level 1. These variants usually require mid-scale PR crisis management tactics. However, level 2 crises can become level 1 if left unchecked. 

Level 2 crises generally include product callbacks, negative customer reviews, online spat, etc. They have the potential to become big.

Crisis level 2 has the potential to get out of hand. However, these crises require more localized solutions compared to Level 1. 

Crisis Level 3

Crisis Level 3 holds the lowest priority on the urgency list. This means these are primarily localized in nature and need a focused team. Level 1 crises usually require customer reviews and product callbacks.

Crisis Level 3 is usually seen as an indicative differentiator, Which means level 3 crises can escalate to levels 1 and 2. However, level 1 crises can be handled promptly. Level 3 crises are usually seen as pre-crisis markers.

These crises are mainly studied and used as pre-crisis symptoms. Therefore, the Crises of level 3 alert an organization. Subsequently, they go on to formulate PR crisis containment plans.  

How To Identify A PR Crisis

Crisis management works in two stages. The first stage includes identifying the threat of the problem. This stage is all about keeping a vigilant eye. Here are some of the ways that can help you identify a public relations crisis from a mile away:

• Keep monitoring your mentions across social media. Learn what the internet is saying.
• Use media monitoring tools to keep a close watch on the internet. 
• Social listening tools are also helpful in identifying problems.
• Keep a close watch on the types of blogs you are getting mentioned in.
• Use a filter that segregates between valuable and detrimental mentions. 
• Set up alerts to stay ahead of the curve if something is going awry. 
• Create detailed reports on the ecosystem aberrations and study them.
• Keep a close watch on the competition. 

Step-By-Step PR Crisis Management

Formulating a PR crisis management plan is like walking on a tightrope with blindfolds. You never know what might happen. Therefore, it is always good to tackle the whole situation systematically.

This section will not discuss a plan to handle your business’ crisis. However, this will also help you learn about some of the most essential factors you need to remember to formulate and execute a proper PR crisis management campaign. 

Therefore, take this section as an educational section, but formulate your plans and strategies for the best results. Let us dive right in without wasting a single minute more. 

Prepare For Crisis

The first step towards handling a PR fire is the preparatory stage. This is a critical stage of the whole process. There needs to be a proper plan that can guide you through the nuances of the problem.

Start planning by handling your social media and determining the scale of the problem. This should enable you to categorize and move forward effectively. 

Crisis Response Team

Once you know the problem, you can start by creating a team. Have a meeting with all the stakeholders and employees. Keep this meeting democratic and give people the podium to share their perspectives. Keeping the floor open for discussion is very important. 

Take inputs to determine the candidates that are eligible to douse the fire. This would enable you to handle the problem in a dedicated manner. This group should be diverse and well-equipped to handle problems. However, you can also hire crisis management PR firms for added expertise. 

Chalk Up The Plan

When the team is up and running, they should formulate the PR Crisis Management Plan. It would help if you remembered that this plan is the backbone of the journey. Therefore, this plan needs to be foolproof.

Divide the team into two sections. Each team would work on a separate crisis management strategy. This diverse approach helps your organization get a higher rate of success. 

Formulate Holding Statements

PR Crisis situations usually pertain to the image of a business. In other words, PR crises involve an organization’s reputation. Therefore, it is essential for the PR to have holding statements. 

Formulate specialized holding statements to handle the situation calmly and tactfully. Holding statements are usually apologetic. Therefore, having one or two people handle this side of the job would serve you well. 

Communicate

This is where the social listening tools come into play. These tools allow users to listen to or monitor what the internet is saying. Keep track of the mentions, the quality of the mentions, and the brand’s general following page. 

All of these allow you to communicate with the clients and customers, which is crucial in a crisis. Otherwise, things can go out of control very quickly. Therefore, keep communicating no matter what.

Identify Brand Ambassadors

PR crisis management firms have started working with influencers to douse fires. This is a new practice that is gaining traction rapidly. Firms would bring in an influencer or celebrity to re-create or re-establish their credibility.

This is an optional stage and can be avoided. However, brand ambassadors in today’s age can help a brand re-create its own identity. Hence, you could give it a swing. 

Get The Facts

PR Crisis management works best when you get all the facts right. Therefore, you need to get all the facts straight to learn and understand the severity of the situation. Ask the Crisis Management department to present you with all the necessary data.

This would help you to function with a sense of clarity and not just the fear of failure. Therefore, sit down and get all the facts from the team to make the right choice. This is an essential part of the deal. 

Accountability

Crisis management is about more than just containing a problem. It is also about rectifying the situation or taking accountability. Understand what the problem is and acknowledge it publicly. It is always right to make mistakes. However, it needs to be corrected to fortify them.

Draft an apology letter and share it across socials. Be mindful, honest, and objective. This would help you to create a welcoming essence. Which could help shape ideas about the company. 

Post Crisis Review

Finally, when the crisis is managed, you need to start a post-crisis review. This is an essential step as it could help you identify mistakes and allow you to work on them. 

Conduct a robust and detailed review to know all the elements and how things could have been better. At the same time, keep the review simple so that future generations can understand it. 

The End Note

In summary, PR crisis management is a robust and vital process requiring expertise and tactfulness. Hence, if you anticipate a crisis, you should stop worrying and start acting.

Start by following whatever we have said, and then you can proceed to chalk up more complex solutions that can help you handle more significant crises. 

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