Solomon Communication

The Three T’s of Crisis Communication

No matter the industry, the size, or the revenue, every company is vulnerable to crisis. Natural disasters, legal issues, employee disputes, public comments gone awry, or a situation of the wrong place at the wrong time can all send your business into crisis mode. Just like people, companies often go into fight or flight mode when their back is against a wall. The worst thing a company can do during a crisis is to stay silent, always focus on communicating your position.

The best way to create your crisis communication strategy is to always focus on the three T’s, transparency, translation, and transformation. These building blocks are a simple way to keep on track even when pressure begins to build.

Transparency
Never lie, hide, or stay silent. No matter if your company caused the crisis or it is simply another victim, the best strategy is to get ahead of the situation. If your company is closely linked to the problem, transparency will help build trust with the public.

When clients look to me during a crisis, they initially want to keep everything hidden. That gut reaction is usually understandable. Hiding and silence are particularly common when a company feels its actions will be judged poorly. However, here is the truth. No matter what you do, how you do it, or why you do it, hiding will never work. We live in a world where a single tweet can cause a global panic, a Google search can position a satellite, and anyone with a phone can snap a photo of history. Whatever you hide will be found, and it will make matters worse.

Always tell the truth. When we talk about transparency, I am not suggesting you open every aspect of your company to the world. Instead, be honest about your company’s involvement in the situation. Saying “we messed up” is human and can be relatable. Do not let your company fall into the increasingly common stereotype of the shadowy corporate villain. Own up to your mistakes and highlight what you are doing to address a crisis.

Translation
One of the most challenging aspects of my job as both a writer and marketer is learning to speak my clients’ language. Every industry builds a unique language that quickly becomes second nature to them. Even marketing has its own language (think SEO, Click-through Rate, and traffic).

When a crisis occurs, the media will quickly begin to use this language, putting it into the public realm. For the media outlet, using this language gives them the ability to appear more informed or even considered an insider to the situation. However, to the public, the situation feels like they are being told to evacuate in a language they have never heard.

Translation is a great way to become the public’s chosen figure in a crisis. If multiple companies or entities are involved in a problem, public opinion will often shift to support the individual making the most sense. Use that to your advantage! Speak to the public as people and translate the situation into something that everyone can understand. Remember hiding behind fancy words or corporate jargon is still hiding.

Transformation
The advantage of a strong crisis communication plan is that it gives you the ability to control the narrative. Building public trust through transparency and translation will lead to your company becoming the primary source for information. Your messages and your statements will quickly overtake the narrative created by your opponents or the media. The more information you give to the public, the stronger your message becomes.

As the attention begins to shift to your voice, your company will be able to subtly transform the crisis. Small shifts in your message will provide a new perspective on the situation and help paint a fuller picture. Remember, transformation is not about shifting blame; it’s about transforming the narrative to include a broader perspective.

Of the three T’s, transformation is by far the most complicated. Imagine your company is involved in a major environmental crisis such as pollution escaping into the local ecosystem. As the situation unfolds, you find out that over the past ten years, members of the company have failed to document specific issues, leading to a malfunction. Following the three T’s, you identify the problem to the public and explain to them what is happening and the adverse effects on the environment. Yet, the story continues to focus negatively on your company. However, your communication strategy seems to be working as your twice-a-day video updates are being viewed live by thousands of people each time. This is the moment when transformation becomes key.

For the above example, transformation would mean expanding the story’s view to better address your efforts. Highlight how your company uses innovative technology and global experts to minimize, if not negate, the potential damage to the environment. Explore your past work and how it has positively shaped the local economy. Finally, focus on your solutions to the internal issue. Have you fired the employees at fault? What steps are you going to take right now to better train and hold the entire company accountable? As you subtly transform the story, you begin to position your company as an active participant in the solution, not just responsible for the disaster.

Crisis communication strategy is a lot like car insurance. Everyone needs it, but no one wants to ever have to use it. However, a good strategy will help you quickly address problems and get ahead of competitors who are quick to jump on your mistake. Remember, in the world of business, communication directly leads to revenue. The more you invest upfront, the stronger the results will be in the future.

Print Will Never Die

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, I spent a great deal of time traveling to conferences across the country. I have always loved conferences. The feeling of joining together with other professionals who are just as passionate as you are cannot be beaten. My favorite part beyond the spur-of-the-moment conversations is the education options offered to everyone.

At a recent conference, I joined a session on Marketing Trends of 2020 (obviously, these have all since changed due to the pandemic). The speaker, a CEO at a marketing firm I had heard of, started the session with a slide that proclaimed, “Print is Dead! Long Live the Age of Digital.” While we all had a good laugh at the drama, the next hour was spent discussing why companies wasting money on print media were doomed to fail. I left the session less enthused than I was going in.

So that is the question, is print advertising dead? Well, no, but also yes.

According to the Pew Research Center, newspaper circulation reached its lowest level since 1940 in 2018. The number has continued to drop since then, continuously setting new record low numbers. It is important to remember that these numbers reported by Pew combine both print and digital distribution. Another study found that in 2020 over 300 published newspapers suspended publication and closed their doors. There is no way to sugarcoat it; the newspaper industry is approaching catastrophic extinction.

Meanwhile, the digital market continues to boom. A study conducted by eMarketer estimated that over $389 billion will be spent globally on digital advertising in 2021. Another interesting fact, customer retention rates are 90% higher for campaigns that use multiple digital channels than those that use just a single channel. This means customers are more loyal when they engage with a company through search, social media, email, and other digital channels than a single option. We should not be surprised by that statistic. The advantage of digital advertising is that it gives companies a way to interact with customers multiple times a day and in multiple formats.

With digital entities continuously improving their algorithms and format options, it may seem that there is little hope for print media. However, it isn’t time to carve out your print budget just yet. Print will always have a place in the customer journey.

First, there is data to support that print advertising leads to greater brand recognition and recall than digital. A study conducted by Temple University found that print ads’ tactile aspect led to greater impressions on the participants. Not only did participants better recall the ad’s brand but also the details of the advertisement itself. Participants also felt that a product advertised in a printed magazine was more desirable and more luxurious than one advertised online.

Print advertising also remains the most trusted form of advertising among the majority of consumers. Due to the prevalence of spam and click-bait, a study by Marketing Sherpa found that 82% of participants felt that print ads were more trustworthy when presenting a quality product.

The final advantage of print ads over digital revolves around culture. Digital has become too pushy. Countless consumer studies, including one conducted by HubSpot, have found that customers feel that digital ads hamper their experience on the web. Pop-ups and mobile ads were particularly invasive, often leading to customers exiting the page without reading any content. This isn’t to say that print ads refrain from being pushy. The term “junk mail” didn’t rise because of email; it came from generations of mailboxes filled with direct mail adverts and other cloying forms of print media. However, it appears that customers today are less concerned with their mailboxes filling up and more concerned with their online experience being overwhelmed by ads.

Like so much in business, the print versus digital debate is about finding a balance. Breaking apart your advertising budget depends significantly on your ideal consumer. Businesses looking to target seniors aged 65+ or those providing services such as healthcare should think about leaning heavier on print advertising. Companies looking to sell products or reach a younger audience should utilize digital advertising paying close attention to user experience (UX). On average, I advise clients to pursue a 70-30 split, 70% in digital and 30% in print.

When it comes to print, carefully consider the publication before spending money. Companies should always spend their advertising budget on print publications that invest heavily in paper and print quality. Remember, when you submit a print ad, you give up control of what the final product will look like due to the publication’s print standards. For digital, look to spread your budget as broadly as you can. I always recommend focusing your budget heavily on SEO and keyword bidding. Customers are more likely to engage with your brand when it comes up high on their search results versus ads scattered across their screen.

Print, like rock n’ roll, will never die; it just gets better with age.

5 Things Star Wars Taught Me

Today is my favorite holiday of the year. Forget my birthday, July 4th, Halloween, or Thanksgiving; no, today is the best holiday of the year. Today is International Star Wars Day.

Those who know me well have discovered my passion for the galaxy far, far away. As a kid, the perpetual fight between good and evil served as a way for my dad and me to bond. Now, the movie represents something more, a deep and beating passion for creativity and storytelling. In that deep story, I’ve found myself reflecting on how I can be a better professional, a better colleague, and a better employee through the lessons of Star Wars.

The story of Star Wars can offer so much to those willing to listen, reach out, and experience it. As a professional, I’ve found myself time and time again pulled to its characters for inspiration and lessons for guidance. So to truly celebrate the impact this world has made in my life, I thought I would share some lessons I have found in the stars.

1. Fearlessness and courage come in all forms: While most casual Star Wars fans will look towards the stalwart Jedi or the brave rebellion fighters for acts of courage, I find myself constantly noticing the small acts and the more minor characters. Being a professional can often feel like a constant battle. The battle to grow, to be successful, to be noticed, and for some to survive. In moments of difficulty, a single act of courage can change everything.

In a world like Star Wars, where good and evil battle on a global scale, it is easy to forget the simple acts of courage, the dare I say, ordinary acts of courage. Sure, Luke Skywalker facing Darth Vader to save his friends is pretty cool, but so is a little droid’s willingness to give a total stranger the chance to be a hero for the first time in his life. Everyone can be courageous, and even one small act of courage can send shockwaves through your world.

2. Attachment can be a strength and a weakness: As a kid, I always struggled with the Star Wars idea that love could lead to darkness. Why couldn’t a super powerful Jedi like Anakin Skywalker also be a solid and supportive partner? I wanted to be a Jedi, but it seemed like a lonely life. As Yoda teaches so many times, “Fear of loss is a path to the Dark Side.” Childhood, me couldn’t accept that.

However, like so many lessons, this one took me time to understand. On the professional side, we come into every opportunity, meeting, and new day with attachments. We are attached to our ideas, our methods, even our experience becomes an attachment. These attachments provide us strength, but they can also drag us down. These attachments can cause us to become defensive to coworkers who disagree with us, greedy towards our ideas, and fearful of our networks for stealing them. Before you know it, attachment leads to greed, greed leads to jealousy, jealousy to hate, and hate to the professional dark side.

Are you going to become a villain like Vader? No, but no one wants to work with the professional equivalent. Take time each day to clear your mind and prepare for what is ahead.

3. It Takes A Village or a Crew: Nothing makes a Star Wars fan light up like the image of our favorite heroes all together. From the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon to a stage at a convention, the image of our heroes is a reminder that good can overcome any darkness.

Every Star Wars story involves a crew. A collection of some of the most varied individuals from across the galaxy thrown together by circumstance (or the Force) and pushed towards greatness. Like a great Star Wars story, every company or organization is a collection of individuals from all over, brought together by circumstance. That is what makes it exciting!

As a professional, you learn quickly that not only do you need a crew with you, but that crew needs to come from all over the “professional galaxy.” I look at the most successful teams I have worked with (my current team comes to mind) and can’t help but smile. We are all so different, so unique, yet we come together to form a crew like none other. Oh, and yes, I see myself as the charming, witty, and scruffy one; this is my metaphor, so deal with it.

4. “Never tell me the odds…” Speaking of scruffy, I have to say that this line from everyone’s favorite smuggler still serves as a mantra for me. As a young professional, it becomes all too common for someone to “tell me the odds.”

People will always find a way to drag you down. Some will tell you that the odds of you being successful are slim to none. Others will be more concerned, hoping to save your company from the financial and business backlash of a poor decision. Here is the thing, they very well could be right.

Take me, for instance. I love to write; it is a passion and something that gets me excited no matter what mood I’m in. What are the chances that I will become a bestselling author or could pay my bills off of witty editorials written from a lounge chair in Florida? As C-3PO once said, “Artoo says that the chances of survival are 725 to 1.” However, that doesn’t stop me from writing!

As a professional, sometimes you need to take a leap of faith, you need to bet on the underdog; you need to try. Will you be successful? Who knows! What I have learned more than anything is that you are more successful than the people who doubt you by simply taking that chance. Han Solo never once stopped doing what he needed or wanted to do because the odds of success were against him. Don’t you want to be the Han Solo of your office?

5. “Do or do not, there is no try”: You thought I would ignore the second most well-known quote from a movie franchise that spans generations? As if. Here is a moment of truth, I always hated Yoda. Yep, there it is, I said it. Yoda, to me, was the equivalent of the kid in school who always messed up the curve and reminded the teacher about homework. Again, with age comes a whole new perspective.

Was Yoda the best character in the series? No, absolutely no (keep in mind I have met and spent time with the creator of Yoda and still feel this way). However, his wisdom, while frustrating, is simply unparalleled. There is no such thing as a participation trophy in the professional world.

When it comes to your professional life, you either do what you have to do or do not. That can be a hard pill to swallow, especially for those in my generation who grew up getting a pat on the back for trying their best. Now, please don’t misunderstand and think I am saying trying is wrong. Yoda wasn’t saying do not try, do not go out, and try to be the best you can be. Yoda wanted all of us to commit.

“Do or do not…” Everything you do needs to be done with conviction and confidence. Present your ideas with strength, submit work that you stand by with everything you have. Yoda was pushing each of us to be the best we can be. In that dark swamp, Luke was trying, but he didn’t honestly believe what he was doing and when things got complicated, he gave up. Instead of doing, he tried and failed.

Each of us tries our hardest to be the best at whatever we do every day. For some of us, though, we don’t understand why. Why do we need to be the best? Why do we need to present the best report, close the best deal, or run the best company? Because it makes us money or gives us praise? If those are your only reasons, then you are trying not doing. Do something every day you believe in, even if it isn’t where you want to be. Do it because it makes you better. Do something with passion or simply do not.

So to all my friends, family, and contacts, a very happy Star Wars day. May the Force be with each of you always!

What We Can All Learn from Trump & Syria.

Late Wednesday night, I stumbled over to my phone, which had been buzzing off the hook all night. Instead of the typical emojis from my friends, I saw countless breaking news alerts. A barrage of missiles had hit the war-torn country of Syria, all property of the United States.

While not a declaration of war, President Trump had given the approval to violate a country’s sovereignty located in the powder keg we know as the middle east. In the hours that followed, the White House and its allies repeated the message that this breach was in response to the devastating chemical attack that occurred a few days prior.

However, despite the Trump administration’s effort, their story never stood a chance. Instead, the 24-hour news stations picked up tweets, interviews, and TV clips in which Donald Trump aggressively insists that the US has no business intervening in the situation in Syria.

The tweet in question appeared in 2013 among a group of Trump-style tweet barrages. As the situation in Syria began to gain coverage, so did the tweet.

So why is this important to professionals like you and me? Throughout my life, I have had the honor of serving as an educator for teenagers all over the country. A subject that we also address is social media. We as educators repeat over and over again that once something is online, it remains there forever.

As professionals, social media becomes even more contentious. Despite many professional advocates’ efforts, nothing is stopping an employer from looking at what you post, what you comment on, even whom you follow online. What is worse? Some companies have chosen to use this as a pre-screening opportunity for potential hires.

So now here we are. The President of the United States is being chastised because of a tweet he sent three years ago. But can your professional identity change, like your opinion over time? How can we hold others accountable for what they said 3, 5, or 10 years ago? Here is the big lesson!

The truth is not if we changed but how we did it! As professionals, we each need to tell our own story, show how we grow and develop. When we get “called out” for our online presence, our first reaction is to deny, deflect, and jump to anger. It is our professional fight or flight instinct kicking in.

As professionals, everyone from entry-level to C-suite needs to learn how to tell our story instead of ignoring it. When an employer or the public condemns what you did, show them instead what you are doing! Show them how you have developed, how you have learned.

Of course, there is always the other option, censor yourself. But I believe that part of being successful is about being authentic. Yes, your words or ideas may not be at the center of a war, as a president’s but being authentic means living without boundaries.

If you can live without boundaries, accept your mistakes, and show how you have grown from them, then your success will be just as authentic. Your online identity is permanent, but the story it tells is constantly changing!

As for the president, only time will tell if public opinion will accept his story or if he can tell his own authentic professional story. For us, we can continue to watch as the news proves our teachers, parents, and mentors correct; words can never be taken back.

5 Things I Learned About People From Being A Recruiter

Since becoming a Legal Placement Consultant or what is more commonly known as a recruiter, I am frequently amazed at the different looks of disgust and shame people greet me with. It seems to be that the mere question of “what do you do for a living,” is a gateway to judgment and sometimes contempt.

While I had always heard the stereotypes about recruiters, I have become part of an incredibly caring and professional group of individuals since joining the fast-paced industry. Despite my parent’s horror at the idea of their smart college grad becoming a recruiter, I think I have learned more in my first six months than many of my peers learn in a lifetime. As a recruiter, I have seen and dealt with people at both rock bottom and on top of the mountain; these are some of the things that I have learned to keep in mind.

Humility vs. Pride– This is a big problem in any industry and, frankly, a big problem with my generation. For so many years, we are told to be humble, that self-praise is only a step away from arrogance. I see this all the time with candidates who come to me after years and years of successful careers. They begin to apply for anything because that is the humble thing to do. When did we stop teaching people that it is ok to be proud? A graduate who was the first in their family to graduate college should scream that from the rooftops because they aren’t just another resume. Pride can be dangerous, but pride also leads to self-confidence, something so many of us come out short on.
The Danger of Attachment– Anyone who is a recruiter will know the soul-crushing feeling that accompanies a client’s decision to turn down one of your favorite candidates. It is simply human nature to get attached. While I would never encourage anyone to cut off all attachments, the way we handle attachments says a lot about who we are as people. We tend to get attached to things that are comfortable. Your favorite pair of underwear isn’t your favorite because it is the best; it is your favorite because you have worn them so often they have become baggy and comfortable. Getting attached isn’t bad, but how we handle attachment can change everything.
The Sky Isn’t Falling– Being a recruiter, you are forced to quickly get used to the “chicken littles” of the world. We all know these people. They are your friends, family, colleagues, etc., who always believe that the world is coming to an end because of X, Y, and Z. There are two things to always remember when dealing with people. One, the whole world may not be coming to an end, but for an individual, their world is. Even the most selfless people in history (I’m looking at you, Gandhi) had to consider things in the framework of their lives. Think about it this way as the famous quote says, “to the world you are one person, but to a person, you are the world.” Second, to me, this is the most important, we as people live in the moment. I am a planner; every step of my day is planned out down to the minute. However, the moment something goes wrong, my whole schedule disappears. Don’t be so quick to dismiss a “chicken little,” because when the sky is falling, you may be the one ally they have
Everyone Has a Story– This one may seem a bit obvious, but it is essential not only for my job but to being just a good person. You would be amazed at the types of people I meet every day. From the classical pianist with a law degree to the Belarusian rebel who is escaping a violent dictator, everyone has a story. Unfortunately, for so many of us, we become so wrapped up in our own lives that instead of seeing the world as a weaving tapestry, we only see it like trains moving on a track, always passing but never meeting. Trust me, this isn’t a love your neighbor kind of article, but I can tell you that the last time someone cut in front of me trying to get on the subway, I was able to stop myself from cursing like a real New Yorker.
It Takes a Village– In full disclosure, the mature, professional young writer/recruiter is only 60% of who I am; the other 40% is thanks to the team I get to work with. As I tell people in interviews, you will never find a more professional and dedicated group of crazy people in the world. No matter if we call them our family, village, squad, besties, or crew, the people who support us determine so much of who we are. We fail to realize that not everyone has a village, or sometimes the village looks to them for guidance. When was the last time you acknowledged your village? If you can’t remember, stop reading and make a dinner reservation, hate to say it you are paying. Being a recruiter means that I am in the business of people. While most of my generation will spend the day sending emails or posting tweets, I spend every day from 9-6 on the phone. Sometimes my conversations are great and positive; other times, they are sad and quiet, but more commonly, they are angry and desperate. Trust me, I’m no guru, but this business has taught me to think about the world in a whole new way.