Seeking long-term communication success with Coronavirus
I know we all have our favorite email newsletters to start the day. I always read the PRSA newsletter, and I also get Morning Consult, which provides a brilliantly curated look at what's happening in the world. They publish things that I haven't heard and add analysis. Morning Consult is also an expert at the visual communication of data, maybe today's most necessary communication skill.
They had a post a couple of days ago about the Coronavirus. It was the day after federal public health officials went out and made some pretty strong statements about what a pandemic might mean. They included:
"This is an unprecedented, potentially severe health challenge globally."
People should prepare for "severe disruptions" in their lives.
“We are asking the American public to prepare for the expectation that this might be bad,”
Note, just for reference, what "unprecedented" means in a world that saw the Spanish Flu.
So here's the thing, data-driven communicators. It worked. Checking the chart out at the top, you see a 14% increase in concern--not awareness--after these announcements. That's impressive, especially considering that your most aware information consumers were already in the 55%.
The challenge is to keep that going. You can get a sugar high with language like that, but the challenge always is that people get (pun not intended) inoculated to the fear and don't react the same the next time. You've started with your most extreme language...where do you go next? If it takes a week for something to happen, they might write the whole thing off.
The answer is right in the communications playbook. First, I would suggest being more specific. People I talked to said, "so a few people get sick, big deal. The people who die are in poor health already." But when we talk about "significant disruptions," we need to think about (based on the low end of the estimates) 40% of a community calling in sick to work...at hospitals and fire departments and utilities. We need to talk about a shortage of masks in a time of high demand. And we need to share real numbers.
Secondly, we need to stay at it. Repetition is at the heart of communication. There should be briefings every day. And we should communicate like we want people to listen--not like they should listen. We should use video and graphics to make our points. Tell stories. Paint a scenario.
Thirdly, we need to have one consistent message from the government. Enough said about that.
Sometimes we get written off as being superficial as communicators. My belief is that effective communication creates understanding, peace of mind and can make people safer. It's why it is still my career. The evidence is as fresh as today's headlines.