During a crisis, everyone is riveted. We keep watching the news or scrolling through our Twitter feeds, desperate for a new morsel of information. But, how do you market effectively during a crisis?

If we were on a television show, new developments would break every couple of minutes. But in real life, it’s murkier; progress comes slowly, and initial information may be unclear or inaccurate.

If you find your company and/or your brand in the throes of a serious marketing crisis, how do you “fill the gap” in coverage to ensure your customers, media, etc. are getting enough information to satisfy their insatiable curiosity – while steering clear of risky, unsubstantiated nuggets?

Here are a few strategies you may find useful:

Communicate on a regular schedule

• People prefer predictability; even though they’re on a 24/7 schedule, it’s important for them to know they’ll receive updates at particular times so they can plan for updates (“only four minutes until the company president shares the latest information with us”).
• Of course, if relevant new information comes to light, you should share it immediately. But even if you don’t have new information, your customers will appreciate knowing that you’ll be checking in with them every hour or so (whether it’s through updates on your website, a press conference or a tweet).

Be clear on what you know – and what you don’t

• Don’t make optimistic guesses or speculate. And never shade the truth. Save yourself the trouble and explain what you know, what you don’t, and your plan to reach the bottom.

Go behind the scenes

• When there’s no new information to share, you can often fill time in a positive way by “going behind the scenes.” Depending on the nature of the problem, you may be able to provide facility tours to the media to show them how operations are run and the procedures you have in place.
• The key is to provide context and show that you’re hard at work on addressing the situation.

Provide your own experts

• When political candidates release a policy initiative, they’ll provide reporters a list of experts who can speak knowledgeably about it.
• This can be an invaluable help for the public and your customers who may struggle to locate an expert on the minutiae of a particular issue. It’s also great for getting your brand’s message out. Making it easy for the media to talk to a favorable (or at least neutral) expert is far better than rolling the dice and seeing who they come up with from a cursory Google search.

Know when to keep quiet

• If you’re not involved with the media crisis, then it’s best to say nothing at all. It’s not possible (and may not be desirable) to shut down all social media activity during every single crisis; things happen around the globe all the time.
• But if something major occurs and the world is riveted, even a banal and normally innocuous tweet may seem insensitive. So when news breaks, think through your upcoming mix of social media posts; you may want to hold off on some or all.

Communicating in the midst of a crisis is never easy. But if you recognize the insatiable demand for information and try to fill that void with relevant information, you’re more likely to drown out harmful rumors and speculation.

“Feeding the beast” in the midst of a crisis may not seem like a priority – but if you want to keep the public calm and emerge with your reputation intact once the situation is resolved, it’s essential.