News

The Centers for Disease Control have been aggressive and on-message in their communications to (and with) the public about swine flu.

Watching their communications unfold the past week or so, I’ve seen myriad crisis communications “best practices” that would help communicators at all levels in nearly any industry or company.

Pete Blackshaw posted an excellent piece yesterday at AdAge.com that presents the “Ten Tips Marketers Can Learn From the CDC’s Response to the Swine Flu Epidemic.”

It has numerous real-world examples that should find their way into any crisis communications plan you have – he spends a good deal of time on how the CDC is using social media sites like Twitter.

And if you haven’t yet updated your crisis communications plan to include social media, you need to do so without delay.