Public relations and managing reputation

The defining theme of best practice public relations is that organisations which proactively create mutually meaningful and mutually beneficial relationships with their stakeholders are, “…more likely to develop relationships with their publics that make it possible to achieve organisational objectives and develop a positive reputation…”

One of the most interesting, thought provoking and humorous Australian public relations blogs is justanotherpr, the product of the wild, fearless and intelligent Karalee Evans. I say one of the best Australian PR blogs, but really it’s one of my fave blogs on a global level.

Along with eye-rolling, can-you-believe-it dumb marketing and/or PR moments in 2009 (think loser marketers, the GFC and social media) there have, thankfully, been plenty of inspirational examples of best practice professional communication too. Most importantly, what have we learnt during the year and how will it make us better communicators?

Strategically, social media offers immense utility for public relations professionals when it comes to crisis management but, conversely, it also opens up organisations to immense risk.

Fires and flu: what a year. Worst of all for those suffering from the cataclysms. But a real challenge for public relations professionals working hard to inform and help the community. This post features insights shared by two of Australia’s preeminent public relations practitioners at Frocomm’s Crisis Communication & Social Media Summit 2009.

Whether through addressing a flu pandemic or the cataclysm that we know all too well in Australia, bushfires, the same principles of crisis management apply for public relations professionals. Some of them include building trust in an organisation, using your employees as ‘advocating communicators’ and putting human safety at the top of the priority pyramid. Remember, as well, “trust is harder to maintain in a social media environment.”

Insightful tips provided by public relations heavyweight experts at the Frocomm Crisis Communication & Social Media Summit 2009 related to specific social media tools that are of utility: ‘dark’ websites, videos, forums and Twitter are discussed.

Public relations’ tactical, hands-on tips for using social media in a crisis.

An organisation should customise stakeholder communication in respect of, and in response to, stakeholders’ core values. This means aligning an organisation with societal and stakeholder expectations. This is often driven by CSR and thought leadership which, when strategically applied, will lessen the impact of a crisis and lead to a faster ‘reputational’ recovery post-crisis. All of which will be enhanced by the involvement of a best practice public relations professional.

A crisis communication plan that does not include social media is incomplete and seriously flawed. This was the overarching key message to come from Frocomm’s 2nd Annual Crisis Communication & Social Media Summit 2009. A free report summarising the summit content is available here [link].