Multiple Vantage Points

As part of your analysis of dangers and opportunities, consider getting input from these vantage points to understand what they think of your company, organization, or celebrity client: 

• people doing similar work in your area of business;
• key company or organization officials (to see where they think opportunities and vulnerabilities exist);
• your customers, suppliers and employees;
• your competitors (especially for their perceptions of your strengths and weaknesses);
• the professional news media and smartphone-toting amateur social media observers;
• key donors if you work for a nonprofit (to determine what they think of your operations and goals; and
• volunteers if your organization depends on them (to determine how committed they are and whether they plan to stay engaged and remain supportive).

We live in a huge social media world in which there are never enough good strategic communicators. With a billion people feeding comments, photos and videos on to Facebook pages night and day, there has never been a greater need for good communications advice. Add to that the hundreds of millions of Twitter users; others posting information to YouTube, Vine, Vimeo, Tumblr and Flickr; thousands of bloggers; and scores of other popular social media platforms that rate professionals, businesses, hotels and airlines, and it is easy to understand how important quick, accurate and responsible communications can be to keep a reputation in good shape.

Let’s assume you work for a company that understands the importance of expecting the unexpected. Let’s also assume you and your team know how to develop the framework for good communications decision making.