Coronavirus PR Firm Florida

Crisis communications service from an experienced public relations firm will be key for businesses to manage the economic impacts of the coronavirus pandemic as the news media will cover the story for the foreseeable future. 

The coronavirus is and will continue to dominate the news cycle in every media market, national, and internationally. It is the job of public relations professionals with proven media relations (earned media) results to know what stories and when to engage the news media during the nearly wall-to-wall coverage of the coronavirus.

First and foremost a PR agency should focus on consulting with a client about operational procedures and how they may be perceived.

Next, earning positive and impactful media. This will take time and tact. Depending on the industry, certainly in healthcare or health and wellness, there are positive stories related to coronavirus that can be pitched. This is the time where it is essential to work with public relations agency professionals who have a background and history as members of the news media. They have covered crisis as journalists so they know how these news cycles work and have direct lines to contacts in newsrooms to discuss story ideas about your business and what the new media cycle will look like in the months to come. 

Positive story pitching examples can include:

•  Companies collecting or donating materials to families in need that may be in quarantine. 
• While schools ae closed there are stories out there of businesses feeding children who rely on school meals. 

For healthcare, hospitals, and health and wellness businesses utilizing your expertise during this time is essential. Examples:

• Are you a business that manufacturers hand sanitizer, cleaning supplies or coronavirus tests…your PR agency should have you out there front and center. 
• If you are a psychologist discuss what to do to manage depression during this time of less social interaction
• If you are pediatric doctor, share with parents how to discuss the virus with kids and make yourself available to the news media to answer parent questions
• General practitioners, this is a good time to discuss the basics of the virus and if there is a call to limit doctor’s office visits, discuss what is really worth visiting a GP office, urgent care or the hospital
• Hospitals should start a line of communication with local news media ASAP. This Washington Post report makes it very clear as to why this must happen: Surge in coronavirus patients threatens to swamp U.S. hospitals. The coronavirus crisis communications story will shift to a focus on hospitals and operations. Crisis communications professionals who work at hospitals should already have conversations with local news media of how information will be disseminated and what the contact protocol process is when the number of patients increases at local hospitals. In these cases, the news media can’t just have one or two go-to PR team members to connect with.  

 

Brandstory Communications is a Florida-based public relations agency specializing in news media crisis communications. Brandstory’ s is staffed by award-winning news journalists who have covered crisis as reporters for decades. This experience makes Brandstory uniquely positioned to support any business in a crisis that will include news media engagement.

Contact us to learn more about how to handle coronavirus crisis communication or give us a call at 561.995.6560