Recently, Brad Phillips, a.k.a. Mr. Media Training, wrote a post about giving a Tweet-worthy media interview. This excellent piece of literature got me thinking of the importance of having Tweet-able messages within your crisis communications plan.
Why are tweet-worthy messages important in a crisis?
Soundbites are a powerful thing. (For everything you need to know about soundbites, I recommend reading Brad Phillips’s new book, The Media Training Bible) In a crisis, you want your message to be powerful, to the point, memorable and seen by the right people. Being prepared with a strategic and to-the-point soundbite is a good way to accomplish this crisis communications mission. Now, what if your soundbite was so strategically thought-out that it was short enough to fit into a tweet – and better yet, short enough to be retweeted by others?
This would:
- Up your chances of retweets, and thus providing you with the potential for maximum views
- Make your message easy for others to write about, talk about and share
- Leave your audience with choice-words that are memorable and to the point
So, while developing your crisis communications plan, remember to include some guidelines for creating tweet-able soundbites. To be even better prepared, include some generic tweet-ables within your crisis plan’s holding statements section.
Tips to creating and sharing tweet-able crisis communications messages
- Keep it short (aim for 100 characters or less)
- Make it catchy, memorable and to the point
- Keep it in-line with your overall crisis communications messages
- Include a Vine strategy where possible
- Share it with your audience from your own channels
- Make it a “Tweet-able” link from your blog, website and/or newsroom
- Ask your loyal followers to help share your message
So, next time you’re working on your crisis communications plan – or worse, next time you find yourself in a crisis – remember to make your message memorable and tweet-able.
What are your thoughts and/or experiences on creating tweet-able messages in a crisis? Feel free to share them with me below!
Author of Crisis Ready: Building an Invincible Brand in an Uncertain World, Melissa Agnes is a leading authority on crisis preparedness, reputation management, and brand protection. Agnes is a coveted keynote speaker, commentator, and advisor to some of today’s leading organizations faced with the greatest risks. Learn more about Melissa and her work here.
Some good thoughts and worth discussing. I'd retweet this right now… but Twitter has crashed… which is why I'd suggest that Twitter can be part of a strategy, but I wouldn't put too many eggs in the Twitter basket. It is, however, a great way to get a quote to a reporter.
It's good for many reasons. Though you're right, there are many strategies and dimensions to a solid crisis plan. Twitter is merely one of them – though an important one indeed.