Communications in a Time of Crisis

As the COVID-19 emergency dominates the headlines, we are seeing an overload of news, headlines, information and communications in our inboxes, on TV and on our social media channels. 

With new government restrictions in place to contain the virus’s spread, customers are increasingly hesitant on leaving their homes and therefore not spending their money, and even becoming more hesitant to spend online.

In light of this, companies around the world are consistently working to reassure their customers and staff members while keeping up with rapidly changing government regulations and requirements. What we can learn in these unprecedented times is maintaining an open source of communication is extremely important. These are unchartered waters for many of us and social distancing is the new reality. To keep up with this new reality, many businesses and communications professionals will need to figure out the best way forward in terms of communicating with their audiences. 

One thing to keep at the top of mind when communicating is the importance of the three C’s of communication: clear, concise and consistent. Maintaining the three C’s of communication with your audience – whether it’s employees, customers, or the general public – can help decrease uncertainty and confusion, leading to increased trust with your brand. During a time of uncertainty, it’s especially crucial to maintain transparent and honest communication with all your audiences. Customers and employees alike will want to know where the company stands at a time like this and how it is reacting and supporting those who need it most.  

An important step to take when developing communications during these unprecedented times is to take a step back and look at what makes your company unique, why your employees love your brand and why your customers love your brand.

This will help you understand what’s appropriate for your brand to be communicating. Think about the value your brand provides to the wider community and how you can help the community in this unique situation, and use this to carefully craft consistent, valuable communications in line with your brand while staying open and honest.

The world is watching how brands choose to act, and those being seen as acting human are the ones that will come out of this crisis stronger than ever before. One way to relate to your audiences on a deeper level that this situation requires is overcommunication. Ordinarily this is not a great strategy for standard communications plans, but for extremely uncertain times, overcommunicating with clear, concise and consistent language can help reassure your audience and strengthen your brand’s reputation.