5 ways to fortify your crisis response for 2021

The pandemic has broken down silos between external and internal communications—with crisis communications now part of the job no matter where you sit on the org chart.

So how can you best prepare for what’s ahead when everything seems in flux—including your role?

“We can move forward by looking back,” says Lesley Sillaman, executive vice president with Havas PR and former deputy press secretary of the Democratic National Committee. “Hindsight lets us pinpoint trends to help strengthen our future communications, regardless what department we’re in.”

Here are five trends she’s been tracking and how to incorporate them into your work in 2021:

1. Tap into the P2P revolution. 

“We’re seeing a shift from traditional B2B or B2C to P2P (person to person) communication,” Sillaman says, “and it has accelerated since our lives changed in March.”

Put simply, pandemic-era consumers expect more from technology now as a result of the crisis.

“This has had a profound impact on companies when it comes to delivering services, experiences and products to their audiences,” she says. “Audiences expect to hear directly from brands via the communication channels they’re using—with a heavy emphasis on direct and social.”