Why Video Should Be the Number One Tool for Crisis Management
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Companies cringe at the word “crisis.” And yet, communications experts know that a crisis plan can be the tool that takes a company from defeat to survival. In the COVID-19 era, surviving a crisis requires modern tools to formulate a response.
In a natural disaster or significant controversy, a video message helps to soothe public panic. A personal update from the company CEO or leadership team members steers the organization in the right direction. It lets everyone know that the company is in control of the situation.
Using this technology can also help the communications team relay the right facts and stay on top of new information as it develops. Video offers a wide array of options: live streaming, pre-recorded messages, and live Q & A sessions. Instead of being forced to read flat, written statements, people can feel more emotionally connected to your brand.
Video communication is an incredibly effective way to handle a crisis. The average human processes visual information 60,000 times faster than text. Save your words and make them more impactful with a two-minute personalized update from a team leader. In the first stage of crisis management, a video can help stabilize your team.
Crisis response videos are common in this digital age. From Barack Obama to YouTube star Logan Paul, almost everyone in business and media has released a crisis management video.
Let’s talk about some things to consider when using video as a crisis management tool.
Choose a Medium for a Crisis Management Video
Technology has made personal crisis management videos easy to produce and even easier to distribute. Leaders can give updates from the comfort of their offices within hours of the crisis occurring.
You can create videos through a range of mediums, from Skype and Zoom to a more professional high-quality video. Distribution can range anywhere from social media platforms to traditional media outlets. However, not all mediums are created equal. A low-quality crisis response, posted to the wrong distribution channel, can spell disaster for a company.
When creating a crisis management message, either for the public or for internal use, some questions to consider:
- What style of video will you choose?
- What platform suits it best for distribution?
- What needs to be said?
- What kind of message will deliver the most impact?
- Is this video for internal use among employees and clients?
If so, then perhaps a live Q&A session might make more sense for your purposes.
Is this meant to be distributed to news media and a broad range of customers? A pre-recorded video message tactfully released at the right time speaks volumes.
Furthermore, sometimes the approach needs to be more personal than just the use of traditional media outlets. Customers, investors, and employees need to see that your company cares about them as you weather the storm together. Make sure you have a reliable system for distributing a personal message to the people who matter most.
Your Crisis Management Message
Remember that the quality of the video won’t do anything to affect the quality of your message. Crisis management videos require you to be sincere, factual, and tactful. Writers and public communications officials should skip the jokes and stick to the facts.
The best video message offers a solution to the crisis. While that option is not always available, videos should acknowledge the problem and promise results.
Even when a company is not responsible for a crisis, it helps when your brand shows that it cares. When COVID-19 broke out, companies such as Ford released positive videos announcing their healthcare partnerships to do their part to stop the pandemic. Other enterprises, such as Uber, encouraged customers to stay home and stop using their service.
In both cases, a well-done, quality video was created and used to allay customers’ and employees’ fears.
Security and Reliability
Your company already has standard operating procedures. But these systems should not be compromised by your crisis and emergency management processes.
That’s why you want to consider the enterprise video platform you’ll use for distributing videos during a crisis. Security should be a top concern.
Your platform needs to be dependable, as well. Time is of the essence in a crisis. You can’t afford to lose precious minutes during an emergency. And you also need to know you’ll be able to deliver video to your audiences efficiently and reliably. Would you like to learn more about the other ways you can leverage video to effectively solve some of your company’s communications problems in 2021? Our new eBook lists ten ways video will make a difference in corporate communications for enterprises in the new year.
