Maintaining Communication Rhythms

Why do companies keep stuffing our inboxes with emails assuring us that they’re “there” for us in times of crisis? Because brands need to remind us they exist, to pay our bills or, better yet, buy more stuff. They know that frequency is good marketing.
 
For mission-driven organizations, though, establishing a rhythm of communication in a crisis is not just a marketing tool. It’s a necessity.

Having a rhythm establishes you as an authoritative, reliable voice to your audience. And over the next two months, this will be more important than ever. Vacuums attract rumors and speculation that can potentially derail your best crisis efforts.

Here are four rules of the road:

Once you set your rhythm, stick with it.

If you’re a large enterprise organization, you might be communicating daily status updates to employees. A smaller non-profit may be looking at weekly or biweekly emails to clients or partners. Either way, build an expectation that those you work with are going to hear from you on a regular basis.

Define a different pattern for each audience.

Different groups of stakeholders require distinct types of information at various frequencies: Is it communicating with board members twice a week on a conference call? Regular social media posts to the public? A weekly email to clients? Communication doesn’t have to be daily, but it should remain consistent. If you haven’t, now is the right time to develop your plan and put it into action.

Remain flexible.

When new information that impacts your audience comes up, be ready to respond with your organization’s unique insights. Flexibility and being able to pivot are essential – whether by writing a new draft of a press release or pulling down a scheduled tweet on short notice.

Avoid message fatigue.

Be cognizant of message fatigue – now more than ever. Give relevant information. Make it actionable, when appropriate. Get right to the point. 

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If your team needs assistance on building outreach campaigns, establishing employee communications, or writing content for specialty groups of stakeholders, don’t hesitate to reach out. We pride ourselves on developing impactful, segmented messaging for target audiences.