Before you share business news

Every business has news to share at some point. Sometimes it’s exciting – you’re moving offices, launching a new product or event, hiring someone or celebrating a milestone. Sometimes it’s less fun – your phones are down, an event is cancelled, prices are changing or something has gone spectacularly pear-shaped.

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Good or bad, a little planning can make communicating it a whole lot easier. Before you start typing a Facebook post, run through these four things:

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1. Who needs to know?

Customers are often the obvious answer, but what about your staff, suppliers, contractors, partners or other stakeholders? Make a quick list before you communicate anything, because the last thing you want is an important audience finding out secondhand. Eg your team learning about a major business change on Facebook? Yeah, that’s not good.

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2. What does each audience need to know?

You generally don’t need to tell everyone exactly the same thing. For example, staff probs need the why + what happens next, while customers only need to know what changes for them. Give people the information that's actually relevant, rather than trying to cram everything into one announcement.

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3. What order should you tell them?

For an office move, probs best to tell staff first, then go external – contact key suppliers, email customers, update your website + Google Business Profile, then announce it on socials. There's no magic formula, but thinking through the order can save you from some very awkward conversations later.

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4. What could you prepare now?

This one is especially handy for the not-so-good news. Think about the things that could reasonably go wrong in your business. Phones stop working? Event cancelled? Terrible review? Upcoming legislation change that could affect your customers?  

In PR, we call this a crisis communication matrix – which sounds like a big deal, but it’s just a communications plan for worst case scenarios. You don't need to prepare for every possible disaster – just start with the obvious stuff. Even having a few notes on who needs to be contacted + some draft wording ready means you're not trying to work out what to say while stressed, annoyed or rage-replying to a one-star Google review!

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Which brings me to some good news of my own! In case you hadn't heard, I'm heading off on maternity leave shortly, so this is my last Mackay Life column for a little while.

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While I'm off, my business partner Taren will be taking the helm at Rebel Nation, and you can go to him or any of our team for anything you need. They're more than up to the challenge + will probably enjoy the few months of peace + quiet without me around!

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I'll be back in February but until then – you're in very good hands!

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Make the most of any good business news you have to share – like winning awards! ( L-R Taren McAuley, Jade McAuley, Luke Chetcuti). Photo supplied

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