Can you harness the crowded news agenda around Covid-19 to tell important stories and build your reputation as a thought leader?
You’d have to be sitting under an exceptionally large rock at the moment not to realise that the biggest story going around is Covid-19.
Wherever you look there are conflicting reports, rumours spreading like… well… Covid-19, and incredible amounts of uncertainty.
While many businesses will have internal communication plans, there is a question about how you do two things:
First: how do you communicate with clients? Will the virus and potential containment measures affect your ability to deliver products and services?
And secondly, and without wanting to sound callous, how do you promote your products and services? After all, businesses still need to function, attract and convert new client leads even in a virus crisis. It’s just a simple economic fact.
Without wanting to diminish the importance of this topic, I do think businesses can be creative about how they both get important information into the public sphere, while still promoting their expertise and capabilities. As for how you do this, I have a couple of small tips:
Industry-specific thought leadership: what commentary can you offer which relates to your specific area of expertise? If you are an accounting firm, can you offer commentary to journalists on the economic flow-on effects of the government’s stimulus package? Could you offer critique about the efficiency of businesses receiving the cash grants for small and medium businesses? There’s always an angle to offer commentary on, particularly when the governmental announcements are as huge as the one offered yesterday.
Fact sheets and infographics: there’s going to be a lot of companies and individuals concerned about what the virus means for them. If you are an insurance firm, using infographics and fact sheets to communicate clear information will help make your advice digestible, but it’s also great for trade media. They might even copy and paste your fact sheet onto their own news coverage.
Agenda surfing: are you following the news? Are you seeing the latest developments and looking for an opportunity to get on a journalist’s radar? For example, you may work in the real estate sector and you notice that the Italian government has suspended the requirement for residents to pay their mortgages. Could this be something the Australian government may consider for those on low incomes? This is now an angle you could pitch to an economics journalist who could then quote you in their article on the matter.
Overall, this is where a good PR agency or communications adviser is critical, because they could help you find an opportunity amidst the crowded news agenda to help you get important messages out to the public. And, incidentally, position you as a thought leader as well.
So, what stories can you contribute to? Feel free to get in touch if you’d like some help identifying some story angles and discussing how you can build your reputation and credibility as a thought leader.
