By Michael Lauer, Part-Time Faculty, Continuing and Professional Studies

Part of any good crisis communication plan is a core set of key messages. Those top one or two priority messages that must be conveyed regardless of the crisis at hand. This could be a reassurance about adequately responding to a disaster, accounting for the health and safety of employees, or just a general reassurance that business operations will indeed continue.

But, as most PR and communication pros know, you will achieve maximum impact by tailoring your messages based on the audience(s) being targeted. You see, not every message will be appropriate for every audience. The simple truth is that when a crisis unfolds the WIIFM (What’s In It For Me?) proposition kicks into overtime!

Define Your Audiences

For many of my clients in the healthcare industry, patients are always top of mind. It’s just part of the natural desire to create something – a pill or therapy – that can improve (and save!) lives. There are, however, many other important stakeholders that should be kept informed especially during a crisis situation.

Investors – the folks who give substantial sums of money to support a specific business idea naturally will want to know about any risks to their investment. This reflects the true nature of any early-stage business where cash is the universal language everyone speaks fluently.

Partners – organizations in business with a company being impacted by a crisis can, and should, expect to be asked about what’s going on. While these partners should refrain from speaking directly on another company’s behalf (a great topic to revisit in a future post), they too need to be told what impact, if any, the crisis will have on their business. It’s the natural flow of information.

Media – Most members of the media, regardless whether they are reporting from a local, regional and national outlet, aspire to do two things 1) get information out to their audience as quickly as possible, and 2) report something “new” that fellow journalists don’t already know. The latter point is what fuels the 24-hour news cycle and constant push for new details. Plan accordingly.

Employees – As the lifeblood of any organization, employees deserve to know about a crisis situation that may impact them directly. Even those not directly impacted – say, those working at other locations – will undoubtedly have concern for their fellow colleagues. Employee messaging should always be part of every crisis response plan.  

Community Members – I put this group last not because they are the least important, but because the nature of the crisis will dictate on how, when and why you brief the local community. A financial scandal may not require direct outreach, however, a chemical spill in the local river most certainly would!

Segment and Test

If you have an influential role in developing your company’s crisis response, I strongly encourage you to go through a similar audience segmentation exercise like the one above. This is especially important if you work in a highly regulated industry or high-profile organization prone to issues.

Once you have your audiences segmented it’s time to test. Do you have access to these key stakeholders? If so, pull together a few – even informally – to get their reaction to some of the messages. Make sure your planned messages will land as intended during a time of intense emotion and stress. By making this a more collaborative effort, your audiences will appreciate being considered and feel less anxious about receiving critical information when a crisis arises.

Michael Lauer is a veteran PR pro and former President of PRSA New Jersey. He is the Founder & CEO of MDL Strategic Communications, a consultancy designed to support early-stage healthcare companies, and part-time faculty for the Rutgers University Crisis Communication and Reputation Management Certificate.