How and what to communicate for your brand during a time of crisis
So, you’ve landed yourself in some hot water hey? Maybe your warehouse has burnt down, you’ve been a naughty little thing and suffered a negative publicity scandal or, as the world would currently have it, a super ramped virus hits, everyone panics and some of us begin to wonder if this is what the world would look like if a real zombie apocalypse happened?
When a crisis hits, whether it’s caused by your company or completely out of your control (thank you mother nature), reassuring and communicating with your people is an important priority. Why? In an uncertain time, your team members will be looking for guidance on what to do and how to behave. And your valuable customers and clients will want the peace of mind that you’re taking care of them and thinking about their needs with regards to how your business will minimise any impact the crisis will have on them.
By keeping everyone in the loop and providing solace (where possible) you’ll keep up the trust factor, create comfort where there’s discomfort and simply show care for people’s general well-being. Because at the end of the day all we really want to know is that we’re going to be ok.
What to communicate will depend on the situation at hand
When something goes awry knowing what to communicate can sometimes be tricky. One thing’s for sure, transparency is critical during a time of uncertainty. Keeping to pertinent information and sticking to the facts is in everyone’s best interest. This is not the time go radio silent or stretch the truth just to make people feel less panicked.
First and foremost, acknowledge the current issue that is happening for your business. Taking responsibility and holding yourself accountable is one of the quickest ways to build trust and bring down some of those defenses that show up so people can listen to what you have to say. People want to know exactly how a change in circumstances is going to affect them and how you plan to alleviate or solve the current problem moving forward. They need your guidance for what they’re next step is and where they need to go to in order to resolve their problem.
For example, depending on what has occurred you can provide details on whether your business is going to stay open during this time and/or what precautionary measures you have or are putting into place to prevent any further impact. Tell them who has or who you expect will be impacted by the event that has taken place or is taking place and give them a point of contact they can refer to in order to find out more information.
If there are multiple stake holders or owners in your business it’s important to agree internally about what will be communicated before any announcements are made to ensure that your messaging will be consistent. You will also need to make sure your updates are specific to your business, and where needed use automation and segmentation to cater your message to the relevant audience. Continuing to blast news and updates to those customers who aren’t affected by the crisis will simply overwhelm and annoy them. Be deliberate in what you say and provide the right information to the right people.
Anticipate what people might need and offer an alternative
When a major storm hits your business, the knock-on effect of this can be substantial. Pouring out into people’s everyday livelihoods. It’s certainly an icky feeling, especially when you’re not expecting it. Let’s take a moment to stop, take a breath and work out what your customers and employees might need coming up as a result of the crisis?
Will your employees need counselling because of what has happened? Will they need access to other resources or equipment to be able to continue working? What will they need to know or be aware of during this time? What will they need tangibly and emotionally from you as a leader? If you can no longer offer a particular product or service, what can you provide or offer instead?
Whatever it may be, spend the time to sit down and identify the concerns of your team members and clients. When you make a list of all the possible ramifications that could occur it will be easier to break down and work out what factors you can control and provide help for, and what factors are out of your control and where you might need to re-direct your people to other services. If you are unable to offer what is needed at this time, reach out to your network and alternative suppliers and vendors who can provide you with the right tools and amenities. A crisis is when you need to leverage your connections and people power the most so that you can continue to provide a top-notch brand experience even when things are falling down around you.
Once you’ve identified everyone’s needs, develop your messaging so that it demonstrates you have and are doing all you can to provide assistance to those affected. Acknowledge their concerns and frustrations and make sure to always give them a point of contact to go to should they need further help or guidance. Let them know clearly and simply how to get their questions answered. Having a dedicated employee, spokesperson or team in place for this will help streamline incoming queries and avoid any miss communication that could occur.
Set up expectations and continue to provide updates early and often
How are things going to look moving forward? How does the situation that’s happening affect the way your customers and employees interact with your business? If your stock is going to be delayed, you can no longer offer a certain service due to health concerns or there’s going to be closures in areas of your business, communicate this from the very beginning. If you’re not 100% sure yet as to how everyone will be affected, let them know that you are working to find out what is happening and you will update them as soon as you have an answer.
Provide a timeframe for when they can expect an update if you can, for example you could say “we are working to find out if XXXXX stock is being held up at this time and are aiming to have an update for you within the next 48 hours”. This will help reduce anxiety while people wait and minimise the incoming questions that repeatedly get asked. If you have a significant announcement to make, make sure it’s prominent where people can see. For example, if you’re expecting delays or shutting down services communicate this front and centre across your website and be sure to repeat this across each page that relates to this issue.
It’s better here to over communicate than to let assumptions and rumours fill the void. Where needed issue summary statements, updated action plans and new developments as soon as they happen.
The same goes for your team members, how will the situation affect their job or ability to perform it? Do they need to stay at home? Will they have to work in a limited capacity because they won’t have access to certain facilities? If so, let them know and let them know for how long you anticipate this to be for. Don’t leave people guessing or stabbing around in the dark for an answer, this just creates more confusion and chaos. Be direct, sincere and provide actionable answers.
It’s better to over communicate than to let assumptions and rumours fill the void. Where needed issue summary statements, updated action plans and new developments as soon as they happen.
Make sure your message is delivered from someone of authority
When chaos ensues, this is the moment where true leaders shine the brightest. Your brand’s message needs to be delivered by the big guns at the top. Why? Because they’re the ones pulling all the strings and your people want to hear from the horse’s mouth themselves that the people, who at the end of the day, hold the decision-making power are doing what they need to do and are making the right choices. So, lead your brand communications with the CEO, boss babe or Gerry the general manager’s reassurance. This will add a layer of credibility that’s needed during a time that’s stressful.
When it comes to writing your messaging, don’t continue to drone on about how terrible something is and all the ways it’s going to negatively affect everyone. Be solution oriented in your communications, not problem focused.
Remember to communicate across all of your customer channels
Your customers interact with you in all sorts of ways. Some are on your email list, others follow you on Instagram or some you have ongoing personal relationships with. Remember to put your message out there in every format, you don’t want your customers to miss out on important updates because you assumed they follow you on every platform.
With the help of social media, you can directly respond to your clients and during a crisis this is really valuable. Provide support to them by answering any questions one on one as they arise and use this as an opportunity to find out their most pressing issues. This will help you to tailor your brands messaging so that it gets to the heart of their worries.
Be thoughtful about your tone of voice
While your brand’s voice might not change from day to day the tone you use will vary depending on the context. During a major negative event, how you speak to your people plays a big role in how the information you tell them will be received. If the news is very serious or disappointing this might not be the best time to be charming or sarcastic, even if that’s how you would normally speak for your brand. Instead, have respect for people’s feelings and use a tone that shows empathy and understanding.
Offer additional services or value-added offers
When things go south, this is the time to think long, hard and creatively about your brand and business to keep it moving in a positive direction. How can you pivot at this time? Is there a way for you to offer some of your products or services in a different format? What can you give to your clients now to help them through the negative situation?
How you show up and respond during a crisis will greatly impact the perception of your brand. Look for the ways you can continue to provide value to your people and if you have something that will benefit them, let them know, don’t be shy about it. Remember to buckle down and keep growing, during trying times it’s the fittest that survive. And you dear business owner have undoubtedly got this.
This post was originally published on June 5th, 2019 and was written by Erica Torres, founder of And Granger. We help clients think about their future. Then create the brand, web and packaging assets to help them get there.
