What to listen for to safeguard your reputation

When responding to a crisis that threatens your brand, media monitoring and social listening are essential tools. With today’s technology, the ability to get direct insights into consumer sentiment is unprecedented—yet, more important than ever.

Not only do consumers expect you to listen to what they have to say on social media, they expect you to take action on their complaints. However, not all of your audiences are listening closely—or demand the same response.

Shannon McClendon, public relations manager for the American Nurses Association and panelist for Ragan’s Crisis Communications Virtual Conference on June 10, offered a blueprint to think about how to monitor your different audiences.

McClendon’s advice on creating media monitoring lists: “Keep it very simple.” She broke down your overall audience into three groups of expanding concentric circles:

Panelist Mark Weiner, chief insights officer, Cognito Insights, added to the conversation that this audience segmentation should be complete well in advance of a potential crisis.

“We have to understand who out target audiences are,” Weiner said. “The more work you can do in advance, the faster you can move.”

Preparation provides context