Common Sense PR

Fast Action in a Crisis Can Get your Message Heard

by Eric Eggertson on April 18th, 2007

A lot of PR people are still stuck in the pre-Google world, when crisis management was almost all about media relations.

Google CPG Blog reminds us that getting your official statements picked up by search engines as soon as possible is also an important early step.

First one to stake a claim to a search phrase on Google has the best chance of staying near the top of searches, as more people pile onto the subject.

This is not a techie thing. This can have the same impact as getting on Larry King.

The Menu Foods pet food recall was number 1 and 2 in searches for the week of March 18-24. The kind of traffic is enormous, and it’s all from people very interested in finding out more about the situation, and seeing if there are any brands they should avoid.

Says Jen Bradburn:

1. The moment information is publicly available, make it findable

2. Target Searches and Content in Post-Event Proactive Branding Campaigns

3. Use Site, Sound and Motion for Maximum Impact

Or, you could just let your competitors, your critics and lawyers trolling for customers monopolize the search engine positioning related to the issue you’re dealing with.

Thanks to Steve Rubel for the link.

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POSTED IN: Communication Tactics, Crisis Communications, PR Tools, Reputation Management