New Crisis Communications Tool Helps You Stay in Your Lane

By: Heather Garlich, Director, Media and Public Relations, Food Marketing Institute

One of my mentors always advised, during a crisis situation, “Stay in your lane.” It’s a stern command, but certainly a requirement when you’re working with teams to address and subdue tensions that can build during a crisis situation. I recognize that in order to heed this counsel, one needs consistent and confident route guidance.

In that spirit, FMI recently developed a crisis resource that helps you better prepare, respond to and recover from a communications crisis. This manual helps streamline processes and sheds new light on how companies can integrate social media into their crisis communications plans. During a crisis, we recommend activating and mobilizing your online community, making it important to construct your social media strategy and presence before a crisis.

FMI Crisis Communications Manual:

• Provides guidance and context around process involving crisis communications in a digital world to FMI member companies;
• Identifies internal and external social media tools and outside resources to streamline information-collection and -sharing; and
• Integrates a contemporary approach to crisis social media response plan into a crisis management plan so these plans are truly one-in-the-same.