About eight years ago, a young woman was boarding a transatlantic flight. Before takeoff, she sent out a tweet—something snarky, but she didn’t think twice about it. By the time she landed in Europe, her phone started flashing with thousands of replies. She had gone viral—for all the wrong reasons.
It’s a story we hear often in this age of mass communication. Accountability for one’s words isn’t a new concept, but the very public nature of our every thought and interaction certainly is. When you post online, you open yourself up to criticism from anyone, anywhere. When you don’t consider the possibility of negative perceptions before you post, what comes next? What happens in the fallout? What if you’re a powerful person like a microcelebrity, CEO, or politician? Do you keep your job? Do you lose friends, voters, or fans?
This is where professionals like Nancy Dibert come in. As a crisis communications expert and CEO of Epic Marketing, Dibert takes on the challenge of assisting organizations and individuals as they navigate seemingly impossible situations. When we watch the news or scroll through our social media feeds, we often see the work of professionals like her. Although, what’s going on behind the scenes can be much more complex than a 120-character tweet. That’s the part the general public will never get to see if it’s done well.
“It’s not on us to go out there and say, ‘We’re Epic Marketing and we’re going to be handling this crisis,'” Dibert explains. “We’re acting as them at that point. We’re that client.”
Despite the private nature of crisis communications and management, dramas like Scandal have started to draw back the curtain on what is by nature a pretty private profession. While network television dramas aren’t always beacons of true-to-life accuracy, they get some parts right.
“There are some similarities,” Dibert says, comparing Scandal to her everyday work. “Some executives can get themselves into places they shouldn’t be. Then it’s our job to handle that blowback while remaining authentic to the brand and as transparent as we can be without hurting people.”
The value of authenticity
From QAnon conspiracy theories about lizard people to untimely deaths, Dibert has seen it all in her 17 years in the profession.
Dibert once handled an active hostage situation at one client’s place of business. She was responsible for updating staff, families, and the public in real time as customers and staff were being held hostage.
“While we were handling that piece of it, it devolved into live gunfire from the police and the suspects,” Dibert says. The police were quick to call a press conference—before suspects were even in custody. During the press conference, the sheriff made inflammatory statements containing insensitive wording, and it was up to Dibert to ensure there was a clear line drawn between the police’s messaging and her client’s.
“You have to be really clear in your messaging, or things spiral out and people take that and run with it,” she explains.
Tensions often rise during crisis situations, but it’s vital to ensure every piece of messaging remains true to the values of the client. A major reoccurring theme in Dibert’s work is authenticity. It’s at the center of any form of effective communication, but becomes especially important in times of crisis.
“We have a rule at Epic, and it’s that we have to believe in you. We have some pretty strong parameters for clients. If our mission and vision doesn’t align with our client’s mission and vision, it’s not a good fit for them, it’s not a good fit for us.”
Crisis—That’s a bad thing, right?
“It’s not all negative. There’s a lot of positive crisis,” Dibert explains. Positive crises come in the form of high volume. She points to one example from her career when a client of hers had a piece on the Mars rover. Suddenly, a company that was flying under the radar was getting a lot of media attention. The “crisis” was figuring out how to handle the volume of media requests.
Another common example is when high-profile influencers post about small local businesses. A mom-and-pop shop used to serving 20 customers a day may see 100 customers after a social media mention. How they communicate through that adjustment could mean the difference between retaining those customers and losing them after a single visit.
“Really think about what you’re saying, and is that who you are? Is that how you’re going to represent yourself? If it is, be ready.”
—Nancy Dibert, Epic Marketing CEO & Crisis Communications expert
Crisis Communications: What can we learn?
There are plenty of valuable lessons we can all take away from this discipline. Crisis is, after all, an inevitable part of life. Learning how to react and plan for these situations is a universal skill that could become necessary on any given day. Regardless of your walk of life, Dibert shares a few invaluable takeaways.
Be intentional in how you present yourself.
“That universal lesson is really think about what you’re saying, and is that who you are? Is that how you’re going to represent yourself?” Dibert says. “And if it is, be ready.”
Dibert advises that before you post—either as a business or an individual—consider all the ways people may interpret what’s being said. Then watch for feedback.
Have a plan…and another, and another.Â
Especially for small business owners, Dibert emphasizes the importance of planning ahead. Have your messaging planned preemptively. While you can’t plan for every type of crisis, Dibert recommends brainstorming some situations and laying out your communication plans for best-case, mid-case, and worst-case scenarios. Having those plans in place ahead of time will save you from being forced to react in the midst of crisis while your stress levels are high. The more you plan in advance, the less likely you are to face a crisis completely blindsided.
Know when to stop.
Effective communication doesn’t necessarily mean constant communication. With the news cycle and social media moving stories so quickly, public attention spans are shorter than they used to be. Regardless of the crisis at hand, Dibert advises, “It will blow over—and faster than you can imagine. The press and attention and social will be onto the next. Just stop shooting yourself in the foot.”
Learn more about crisis communication best practices with this free resource from Epic Marketing.Â
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