Seán Fleming

"What do you do if your digital marketing efforts aren't connecting with your target audience?" Seems like a straightforward question, no? But it needs a bit more context. Not connecting with your target audience is not the same as not connecting with an audience at all. Maybe your target audience have a problem with your product, or your brand (or brand values). Maybe you've accidentally stumbled on the best audience. In which case, quit complaining. Of course, if you're getting zero traction that's another matter.

The first question I'd put to someone who wants to measure their media mentions is "why?" – which isn't purely a glib remark. What's the problem you're trying to solve by being mentioned in the media and by counting your mentions? If you can't define and articulate that, you risk wasting time and money on something that has little or no lasting value. Raw data on the number of mentions can be easily captured by the likes of Meltwater and other tools. But if you don't know why you're tracking mentions and don't know how to interpret the results you get, what's the point? Seriously. You'd do better to invest in a customer review strategy and listen to the folks buying your products/services.

As a writer and former crisis comms exec, my advice is to think seriously about shutting your social channels off temporarily. Your objective ought to be to communicate with those affected by the crisis. That's the thing you need to nail down first. If your customers are experiencing a loss of service, for example, they don't want to see you talking to everyone else until you've fixed their problem.

As someone who has hired plenty of writers over the time I've been in the industry, the saddest thing I have ever encountered is someone who claims they have a passion for writing but who can't demonstrate it with any written material. So, even if you are starting from ground zero, you must have some sort of portfolio. It doesn't need to relate to the role I'm hiring for – I just need to see that you are a writer, that you love to write. If you have the basics and a genuine interest in the craft, the rest will come with time. If you get an interview, demonstrate that you've researched the company, the role, and even the people. And ask questions - the more the merrier!

Humour, like so many things in life, should not be forced. If it doesn't come naturally to you, maybe you shouldn't try too hard. If you do want to use humour, make sure you're not punching down – ever. Make yourself the object of the joke or anecdote, not someone else. That can be an effective way to make yourself more relatable to the audience. Stay away from anything that carries even the slightest risk of causing offence – you knew that already though, right? You cannot assume others share your sense of humour.

Your training and your approach to training should evolve over time. Ideally, you've got a crisis comms plan in place, and a team made up of named individuals. Rather than go over the same ground repeatedly in your refresher training sessions, encourage team members to bring examples of good and bad crisis comms to your scheduled training refreshers. Conduct post-mortems of other organisations' successes and failures. You do have scheduled training refreshers, don't you? Be sure to look at the impact of new channels (ie, social media amplifying a situation). But always keep your focus on what the word 'crisis' means for your organisation.