Crisis Communications for Online Communities
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Data breaches, distasteful ads or marketing campaigns, offensive content left unmoderated for far too long\\u2026 as community professionals, we\\u2019ve studied these situations when they arise and many of us have had to manage such issues in our own communities.
In this episode, Patrick and crisis communications expert\\xa0Kate Hartley\\xa0discuss examples of micro and macro communications crises and how to best manage them. Kate breaks down the difference between a full blown communications crisis and negative or critical response to a change. \\u201cIt\\u2019s only a crisis if it\\u2019s going to stop the community [from] being able to function,\\u201d she says. \\u201cIf it\\u2019s not going to stop the community being able to function, then it\\u2019s not really a crisis. It\\u2019s an issue that just needs to be well-managed.\\u201d
Kate and Patrick also discuss:
- How social media and news feeds fuel outrage
- Remembering your employees during a communications crisis
- Setting a strategic intent for handling a communications crisis and knowing how to measure your outcomes
Our Podcast is Made Possible By\\u2026
If you enjoy our show, please know that it\\u2019s only possible with the generous support of our sponsor:\\xa0Discourse.
Big Quotes
The concept of manipulated outrage (6:30):\\xa0\\u201cWe are more likely to post or share commentary that makes us angry. The two things we like to share are things that make us laugh and things that make us furious. The more angry we are, the more likely we are to share things. So we\\u2019re seeing more and more of this content everywhere we look.\\u201d \\u2013@katehartley
Living up to your community or organization\\u2019s values (25:18):\\xa0\\u201cOne of the things that will get a community to turn on you quicker than anything else is if you go against your own values. If you do something that goes against your own values, people will call that out, quite rightly. \\u2026 You have to have the actions that meet the words you\\u2019re saying.\\u201d \\u2013@katehartley
Don\\u2019t forget about your employees during a communications crisis (34:40):\\xa0\\u201cWe see this a lot when we\\u2019re working with organizations on how to manage their reputations in a crisis. They\\u2019re so focused on the external, on what the media think, on what their outside community think, on what their customers think, [that] they forget about their own people. In some organizations, that\\u2019s a significant number of people who actually could be your greatest advocates. \\u2026 These are people who are going to be talking to their friends, to their families, [and] they need to believe in you. They need to believe that you\\u2019re doing the right thing. They need to share your values, they need to understand why you\\u2019re doing what you\\u2019re doing. If you have an employee community, what better place to talk to them and explain exactly what\\u2019s going on [during] the crisis.\\u201d \\u2013@katehartley
Measuring whether or not you\\u2019ve managed a crisis successfully (40:23):\\xa0\\u201cThe measurement for [the successful handling of a] crisis has to come quite a long time after the crisis is over to really understand the full impact that crisis had. It needs to reflect what you wanted as the objective from managing the crisis right at the beginning. If you bear that in mind at the beginning, everything you do will be informed by it. How you communicate, how you behave, what you ask the business to do for you. Everything will then be informed by that objective. Then six months down the line, you can look back and say, \\u2018Did we meet that strategic intent? Did we behave in the way we said we were going to? Did we retain the loyalty of our customers? Are our communities healthy?\\u2019 That\\u2019s how you measure it.\\u201d \\u2013@katehartley
About Kate Hartley
Kate Hartley\\xa0is the co-founder of\\xa0Polpeo, a crisis simulation company that helps some of the biggest brands in the world prepare to deal with a crisis as it breaks and spreads over social and digital media. She is the author of\\xa0Communicate in a Crisis, a book that explores the changing way people behave in crisis situations, and how organizations respond.
Kate\\xa0has 25 years of agency-side experience in crisis and reputation management and corporate PR. She is also a trainer in crisis communications for the\\xa0PRCA, the UK\\u2019s PR industry association, where she sits on the digital steering committee, designed to shape digital best practices in the PR industry.\\xa0 She has spoken at and run workshops on the impact of social media on crisis management at international events including SXSW, The Global PR Summit, PR Week\\u2019s Crisis Comms, and Social Media Today\\u2019s Social Shake Up.
Related Links
- Sponsor:\\xa0Discourse, civilized discussion for teams, customers, fans, and communities
- Kate Hartley on Twitter
- Polpeo, a crisis simulation company
- Communicate in a Crisis
- PRCA\\xa0(Public Relations and Communication Association) and\\xa0CIPR\\xa0(Chartered Institute of Public Relations)
- The Social Element
- Dr. Molly Crockett on moral outrage in the digital age
- Rohit Bhargava on manipulated outrage
- Streisand effect
- Derek Powazek\\xa0on\\xa0Community Signal
- Ocado says fire at robotic warehouse cost it more than \\xa3100m
- Jonathan Hemus, UK crisis expert
Transcript
Your Thoughts
If you have any thoughts on this episode that you\\u2019d like to share, please leave me a comment,\\xa0send me an email\\xa0or a\\xa0tweet. If you enjoy the show, we would be so grateful if you spread the word and supported\\xa0Community Signal on Patreon.
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