Strategic communications as a critical enabler for crisis management

Strategic crisis communications do not just happen because you said or did something for a business or organisation. Communication is strategic when an intended meaning is appropriately conveyed without misinterpretation and the required outcome/action is achieved.

Strategic communications is a Purposeful use of communications to achieve a business objectives. ~ Sola Abulu

It is the foundation for effective crisis management. On the other hand, crisis management is essential for maintaining an organization’s resilience and protecting its reputation. This article explains the importance of enabling your crisis management process with strategic communications, offering insights and strategies to ensure effective crisis response, drawing from Sola Abulu’s extensive experience as a strategic communications expert.

Here is a robust introduction to strategic communications and this article is a guide to developing your communications plan.

Strategic Communications in crisis response

Crisis management is more important in the evolving digital world than it was some years ago. It entails planning for a crisis, monitoring sentiments around a brand or entity and crafting a timely response that shows care and a resolution to address the concerns of aggrieved stakeholders. In crisis management, the crisis communication team also conducts an evaluation post-crisis to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of their response for a more effective strategy. Any crisis management process aims to de-escalate the sentiments and strengthen a brand’s reputation.

Did you know there is a difference between issues management and crisis management?

Strategic communications in crisis response ensure that all messages are consistent and support the overall strategy and vision of the brand or entity involved. The aim is to manage public perception and maintain stakeholder’s trust in the brand’s ability to serve. In the energy industry for example, a communications professional can respond to operational disruptions and environmental incidents in a way that does not outrage stakeholders. The response becomes strategic when it is timely, transparent and bears the consistent vision of the organization involved.

How does strategic communications enable crisis management?

• It allows for crisis planning: No organization loves to have a crisis but every organization is prone to having one so long as it has a reputation. So, it is a proactive step to plan for a crisis by setting up a crisis communications team.
• Regularly updating and engaging with different stakeholders through appropriate traditional and digital media channels creates a community of stakeholders that can trust the brand. In Sola Abulu’s words, “We are all marketing trust”. The trust stakeholders have in a brand is needed in a crisis.
• When communication is strategic, it ensures that a crisis response is targeted at the communications channel where the negative sentiment is widely spread. This is like identifying a target audience. For example, responding on LinkedIn to a sentiment trending on Twitter is not strategic or a town hall meeting when you should have an Instagram live session to address concerns. These will only damage the reputation further.
• It ensures a culture of open and transparent communication between the organization and its stakeholders (internal and external).
• Strategic communications promote continuous learning and adaptation. It enables the crisis communication team to be regularly updated on tools that aid crisis management and effective strategies to complement their efforts.

To evaluate strategic crisis communications means to be prepared to handle future crises in a better way. This is why measuring the impact of crisis communications efforts is important. Strategic communications is the foundation of any good crisis management. It is vital for protecting an organization’s reputation and ensuring operational continuity during crises.

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Sola Abulu & Associates is a strategy and communications consulting and training firm committed to enabling businesses, brands and organizations to achieve their objectives through strategic communications, organizational effectiveness and reputation risk management.

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