3 Healthcare Lessons Public Relations Agencies Learned From The Pandemic
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The COVID-19 pandemic has had a profound effect on the healthcare industry. And while the impact has been felt by everyone from hospitals and insurance companies to patients and families, there are also important lessons to be learned by those in the public relations field.
Los Angeles healthcare PR firms and other PR players across the globe have been forced to adapt and innovate at a breakneck pace over the past year. They’ve had to navigate uncharted territory, deal with new challenges and find new ways to reach and engage their audiences.
In this article, we are going to look at ways public relations shaped the pandemic as well as three key lessons that healthcare PR agencies learned from the pandemic.
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Public Relations During The Pandemic
From the very beginning, public relations has played a vital role in shaping how the world perceives and responds to pandemics. In fact, PR agencies were some of the first to sound the alarm about COVID-19 back in January 2020. They were helping their clients navigate the ever-changing landscape and providing guidance on how to respond. They did this through:
Educating
PR agencies played an important role in educating the public about the pandemic. They did this through traditional means such as news releases and media relations, but also through newer channels such as social media.
Informing
PR agencies also served as a valuable source of information for their clients. They provided them with up-to-date data on the pandemic, helped them understand the latest research, and advised them on how to best communicate with their audiences.
Assuring
Finally, PR agencies also played a vital role in assuring the public that their clients were taking the necessary steps to protect them. They did this by sharing information about the measures their clients were taking, such as increased cleaning and sanitation efforts, and by highlighting the importance of following safety guidelines.
3 Key Lessons Healthcare PR Agencies Learned From the Pandemic
The pandemic has been a challenging time for everyone, including healthcare PR agencies. They have had to adapt the way we work to keep their clients and staff safe, while still delivering results.
Here are three key lessons we’ve learned during the pandemic:
Flexibility Is Key
The first healthcare lesson PR firms learned from the pandemic is the importance of being flexible. With client meetings and events being canceled at short notice, we had to be adaptable to the way we work. This has included moving to virtual meetings and events, managing remote teams, and finding new ways to pitch media and connect with different audiences.
Most importantly, we learned that being flexible is key to delivering results in a rapidly changing environment. This will be an important lesson for PR firms going forward, as the world continues to change at a rapid pace.
Throughout the pandemic, clients appreciated agility and adaptability in these challenging times. The pandemic has shown that healthcare PR firms are able to be nimble and adapt to change quickly, which is a valuable skill in an ever-changing world.
The Importance Of International Communication
Healthcare PR firms learned that international communication is key during a pandemic. When the COVID-19 outbreak started, many healthcare organizations were caught off guard because they did not have protocols in place for dealing with a global health crisis. As a result, these organizations turned to PR firms for help in communicating with the public and the media.
With countries going into lockdown at different times, and with different restrictions in place, it was important for healthcare PR firms to be able to communicate effectively with their clients around the world.
This meant having a good understanding of the situation in each country and being able to adapt their communications accordingly. It also meant being able to provide support and advice to clients in different time zones, as well as dealing with the challenges of working with teams in different countries.
Re-Evaluate Crisis Plans
Los Angeles healthcare PR firms and other healthcare communicators had to re-evaluate their crisis plans in light of the pandemic.
This has meant looking at what worked well and what could be improved, as well as thinking about how to respond to future crises. Crisis communication is an important part of healthcare PR, and the pandemic has shown that it is possible to adapt and improve plans quickly during a crisis.
Final Thoughts
The COVD-19 pandemic has been a tough time for everyone. Healthcare PR firms are no different. They had to adapt the way they work, think, and operate. However, there have been some silver linings. The pandemic has taught them many lessons that will make us better at our jobs moving forward. It has also inspired us to be more creative and innovative in our work.
If there’s one thing that we can take away from this pandemic, it’s that healthcare PR firms are resilient. We’ve been able to weather the storm and come out stronger on the other side.
Founder and President at The Hoyt Organization
With over 25 years of experience, Leeza’s campaigns have garnered over 150 awards from top public relations organizations nationwide. Additionally, THO serves as the Los Angeles area partner of the Public Relations Global Network, granting clients access to over 50 global markets. The agency was also named to one of the top 200 firms in the country by Forbes magazine in 2021, and she has been named by Globest.com as a Woman of Influence and a Woman to Watch, among other designations.
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