Huntington Beach, CA,
08
February
2021
|
08:26 AM
America/Chicago

The Crisis Newsroom

How to lead your organization’s social media messaging in a crisis.

Summary

Ensuring brand messaging is consistent across all channels, internally and externally is more difficult than ever—especially in a crisis. Social media accounts with multiple contributors, leadership disputes over messaging priorities and a lack of internal transparency can further muddle communications. At this year's Digital Summit & Crisis Management Bootcamp in Huntington Beach, CA., PressPage's Co-Founder Bart Verhulst shared key aspects about how the corporate press room can help navigate safely through media firestorms and social media scrutiny—and help (re-) establish trust in your brand as a result.

Bart Verhulst, Co-founder and CCO of PressPage
For most communicators, the question is not if, but when a crisis will hit. And when it does an organization cannot waste time trying to figure out how an antiquated press release graveyard in the corporate website is going to get that critical response out the door now.
Bart Verhulst, Co-founder and CCO of PressPage

An online world means that everyday citizens are gaining greater control over the messages they see, believe, share and utilize in their decision-making processes or attributions of brand reputation. In a time of crisis, they may see more information about your organization than during ordinary times; they may believe the real-time accounts of others over you; share the most dramatic of stories (in many cases leaving out facts); and decide in a split moment if they support and trust you.

What is an organization to do so that a crisis – whether of human life or of reputation – enables, and does not destroy, that support and trust?

However, not every crisis is predictable. A crisis is a point in time. It should not define the organization. Yet how an organization responds certainly can leave the public – and anyone hurt in the process – with feelings ranging from extreme clarity, confusion, or contempt for who the organization is and what it stands for.

The modern online newsroom has become a strategic tool for communicators. Journalists, bloggers, customers, partners, employees and other stakeholders and influencers use the online “pressroom” – or “newsroom” – to find information, or stay updated about a company.

In light of this, organizations would do well in implementing a systematic approach to a seamless and smarter online newsroom strategy. The presentation reviewed a systematic --and hands-on-- approach to seamless, smarter crisis management, specified per phase:

Pre-crisis: How to prepare your online newsroom for when the unexpected happens.

During: How to systematically use your newsroom and leverage social channels to get the message out.

Post-crisis: the role and importance of your newsroom's SEO benefits in the aftermath of a crisis.

Learn more about how to do crisis management across all online channels in our webinar "Smart crisis management across online channels", where we discuss must-haves before a crisis, what makes a crisis response successful, and how to gather actionable insights afterward.

About PressPage

PressPage provides a SaaS PR platform with additional services for the creation of advanced social newsrooms, virtual press centers, and online media hubs. It enables brands to publish and distribute rich content and provides direct insights into the results. PressPage empowers PR professionals by adding efficiency and effectiveness to their daily work routine.