Your company is suddenly mired in a negative situation with potentially serious repercussions. While a chill grasps your heart, a slew of questions assault your brain. What’s your first step? Who are the decision makers? When and how should you respond to the media? Who should do it? Then what?

Most organizations likely will be confronted with some sort of a crisis communications challenge, whether internally or externally. With thorough preparation and an efficient response, however, you will be able to shape the appropriate, successfully navigate challenging times and maybe even come out the better for it.

Following are some core principles of crisis communications. The biggest takeaway, however, is this: Be prepared. That is, don’t wait for a disaster to strike. Look deep into the organization, acknowledge vulnerabilities and honestly confront them. Time-consuming? Yes. Painful? Most certainly? Necessary? Absolutely.

C – Choose the Right Tools
While the resources you employ will differ with each situation, make sure you always have: a core team of leaders to vet strategies, share insight and provide approvals; established communications channels and methods through which you’ll relay messages to internal and/or external audiences; and a messaging document approved by leadership and stakeholders. Other tools, such as support resources for staff, can be added as necessitated by the crisis.

R – Reveal the Facts
Before you act, you need to assess the particular situation to fully understand the crisis at hand. Knowledge is power, and gathering intelligence is crucial to your success. Fully understanding the facts, the players involved and any outside influences will help you objectively create meaningful conversation and collaboration. Once the facts are gathered, you’ll need to develop a communications strategy to address the issue in a timely manner.

I – Instill Trust and Tell the Truth
Demonstrating your ability to objectively listen and make informed decisions in a crisis communications situation will develop trust, both within your organization and with the public. If you respect each internal and external stakeholder’s position and perception of the situation, you are more likely to resolve the issue in an expedient and proficient manner. This also will ensure that you address all concerns and offer timely, effective and valid solutions that will cultivate sustainable results.

You don’t have to share every irrelevant detail, but what you say must be the truth. If you don’t know what that truth is yet, say so. Don’t guess. There’s usually no going back once you’ve said the wrong thing – intentionally or unintentionally.

S – Streamline Processes
Crises easily can get worse, so you’ll need to act fast. Make sure every step of your reaction plan is concise, clear and detailed. Each person involved should be aware of his or her responsibilities, the actions they need to take, to whom they will report and whom they should or shouldn’t contact. Checklists are an efficient way to keep team members on track. Craft your media responses in advance, even if the chance of reporter inquiries is small; if the issue does make it into the spotlight, you’ll be able to respond quickly and consistently.

I – Institute Change
Your job isn’t over when the media moves on to the next story. Crises test core organizational responses, procedures and culture, and it’s a communicator’s job to help drive transformational growth. Debrief after the event to address and identify issues that emerged. Consider alternative scenarios and establish effective action plans that address weaknesses.

S – Sustain Confidence
As an organization, it’s important to follow through on promises made during a crisis. Committing to needed change and effectively communicating it to the audiences involved can instill trust and restore confidence in your company.

There is so much more involved, of course, and so many specifics among the generalities.

Preparing for, and learning from, crisis communications situations benefit us as professional communicators, leaders and team members in any organization. Though crises always will impose an element of chaos, preparation and a solid communications plan provide the anchor you need to make the right decisions and create the groundwork to sustain the conversation and continuously grow.

Contact us for additional insight into how your organization can successfully and effectively manage crisis situations.

Nowadays, having a dynamic social media presence is critical for success. However, in order to reach your desired level of success on social, you must have a specific strategy to ensure your content reaches the largest audience possible. Whether you’re new to the world of social media marketing or not, it’s no secret that getting noticed on social media can be tough. Even the world’s most clever marketing content won’t do you or your business much good if no one else is seeing it.

Thus, here are our top 4 ways to increase content exposure on social media.

1. Fully understand the platforms

Before you start to look for one-size-fits-all ideas and tactics that you can start implementing, it’s important to focus on the unique nature of each individual platform. Content shouldn’t be promoted the same on Instagram and Twitter because they aren’t always going to be perfectly compatible. Your audience doesn’t use them the same way, so you probably shouldn’t either.

2. Utilize visual content

There’s a massive amount of potential being wasted by a lot of business owners when it comes to content creation. Adding a visual component to your content is going to get it more views, period. The only thing that you need to be thinking about at this point is what kind of visual content you’re going to use. For instance, live videos are a great way to create content with an authentic, intimate feel built right in. And if you’re operating with a humble marketing budget, live videos have the added benefit of being a low-cost option.

3. Monitor the Metrics

While it may not be the most exciting topic, it is one of the most important. Without a heavy focus on metrics, your marketing efforts essentially amount to using your best guess at what’s working and what isn’t. If you’re looking for ways to increase your content’s exposure, the process actually becomes pretty simple. Try out a variety of different styles of content. Then track the data on each separate strategy using platform specific tools, focusing on metrics like exposure and reach. Once you’ve collected the data, create and publish more content that’s designed to capitalize on what your audience is engaging with.

4. Consider Paid Advertisements

Ads on social are not like any other ads online. Why? Because they have massive upside. Facebook and Instagram ads have some of the best returns in the paid advertising game. You get access to plenty of people who actively engage with your brand. It’s essentially a way to hijack a curated list of people in your demographic who want your product/service. It’s hard to think of anything that’ll offer your content more exposure than that.

Why not take every step possible to increase your content’s exposure on social by building a marketing strategy that prioritizes data, industry understanding and execution. If we can help you with your social strategy, let us know!

Unlike many marketing disciplines, professional healthcare marketers have a unique opportunity that extends beyond traditional marketing strategies and tactics. Healthcare marketing communications campaigns may very well change – or even save – a life.

With this opportunity comes an important and profound responsibility. Healthcare marketers must embrace this responsibility and align their efforts with the mission of their healthcare organization. Creativity, innovation and metrics all matter to healthcare marketers, but they must be motivated by the values of the institutions they represent.

If you’re a healthcare marketer, here are some things you must consider:

Know your mission. It’s critical to understand your healthcare organization’s mission and how it translates to your marketing communications strategy. Every message you curate and every campaign you lead should be driven by purpose and a true sense of responsibility for the people who are cared for or work at the healthcare organization you represent. It is critical to understand how your mission impacts lives and builds a connection to your audience.

Establish responsible thought leadership. Thought leadership in healthcare marketing goes far, wide and deep. Whether you’re promoting a subject matter expert or a C-suite leader within the healthcare space, you must be accountable for the persuasive message, creative intent and information presented. Content must then be disseminated through a cross section of channels that best align best with your publics. Whether it’s a blog, social media post or a comprehensive whitepaper, consider which medium will best drive optimal engagement with your targeted audience.

Empower creativity. Creativity is the cornerstone of any marketing communications effort, but in healthcare marketing, it comes with a unique and inherent responsibility. Before launching any marketing communications initiative, professional healthcare marketers must transcend the creative process to understand the breadth and scope of their message. Creativity is a useful tool, but one that should be employed only after measurable objectives and strategy are determined.

Demonstrate value. As organizations downsize and make challenging financial decisions, healthcare marketing is still core to the success of that organization’s mission. Whether it’s pharmaceuticals or publishing, when healthcare marketing budgets get cut there is a risk that it will impact the greater mission. Healthcare marketing leaders must work hard to sustain their budgets at all times, continuously communicate their purpose and demonstrate their value to better serve their market. It is important to manage healthcare marketing initiatives using metrics that clearly communicate the value of the project including projected ROI and other metrics.

This article by Joseph Grano was published on Forbes.com.