CommCore has asked top Communication Experts on their insights on Crisis and Social Media. Below you will find our first guest post by Melissa Agnes. If you would like to be considered to share your insight on future posts, please let us know.
Q: What are the top 3 social media communications skills you value internally or – aim to have your clients enhance?
A: I actually have 10, which I call “the 10 new rules of crisis communications”. However, if I had to choose 3 I’d say:
1. Learning to make all communications two-way and what that really means.
2. Real-time communications. Organizations have 15-60 minutes to respond to a crisis these days – and that counter begins not when the organization becomes aware of the crisis, but from the moment the crisis originates.
3. Being human, compassionate, informative and sincere. These are all musts for crisis communications these days.
As Twitter is the leading social media platform when it comes to the dissemination of news, information and communications in a crisis, I created the guide, “Leveraging and Managing Twitter in a Crisis”, to help organizations understand how to do exactly that – leverage and manage Twitter in a crisis. There are a ton of great tools, tricks and need-to-know crisis communications strategies within this corporate guide.
Q: How necessary of a role in crisis prevention do you think crisis simulations are today?
A: Crisis simulations are an excellent tool when it comes to, not just crisis prevention, but crisis management as well. Practice makes perfect but, obviously, nobody really wants to practice a crisis! However, there are some really awesome tools out there that allow you to simulate a crisis or potentially viral issue, allowing your team to practice their resolution in a controlled and safe environment. This does wonders for a crisis team’s crisis management and communications confidence and skills – not to mention, simulations are a lot of fun to do!
Bio:
Melissa Agnes specializes in crisis response, prevention, planning and training for the digital age. Working with national organizations and global enterprises, Melissa offers a variety of specialized services that help today’s biggest and brightest brands prepare for, prevent and overcome any type of crisis situation. Connect with Melissa on Twitterand Linkedin.