Twitter Crisis Comms Still Lack Ingredient
We’ve criticized Twitter in the past for its robotic crisis communications, which regularly lack any semblance of the human touch that is practically demanded these days.
Oh, you’ll certainly receive notification if, as in the example below, your information may have been compromised, but as far as how you might feel about that, well, apparently Twitter couldn’t care less.
Take a look at this email that went out to users after the customer support portal used by Twitter, Zendesk, announced its data had been breached:
It doesn’t matter if you were at fault, or even had anything to do with, a crisis situation. What’s important is that in order to fully grab the attention, and avoid drawing the ire, of upset or concerned stakeholders, your crisis communications desperately need a few heavy drops of compassion.
Having trouble figuring out how to do this? The trick to finding the right words isn’t difficult, just put yourself in the other person’s shoes for a minute. Imagine how “you” would be feeling in the same situation, and then turn around and acknowledge those concerns in your crisis communications.
The level of receptiveness that a small dose of compassion creates is incredible, and when you’re messaging in a crisis that’s what you want, no, NEED, in order to get your points across. Read over every crisis message with an eye for how it will make the reader feel, and watch your results improve.
The BCM Blogging Team
https://www.bernsteincrisismanagement.com/