PR Responsibility: Educating C-Suite on Power & Perils of Social Media

 

Social media and public relations experts warn that high-level corporate executives fail to appreciate both the power and the dangers of social media.

Senior marketers polled by Useful Social Media reported that only half of all boardrooms believe social media offers value, and a survey by social media consultant Brandfog found that 64 percent of CEOs do not use social media and only 5 percent of Fortune 500 CEOs use Twitter.

PR and social media experts urge executive leaders to embrace social media. While posting on social media poses risks for top executives and their companies, ignoring social media poses a larger risk.

If corporate leaders don’t define their digital presence, others will do it for them and executives might not like the results, Shannon Wilkinson, chief executive of Reputation Communications, told The Wall Street Journal.

If CEOs lack significant digital footprints and are not active on social media, what others write them about fills the top of Google search results, whether or not it’s factual or favorable, said Wilkinson, author of “How to Look Better Online: Online Reputation Management for CEOs, Rising Stars, VIPs and Their Organizations.” The longer CEOs wait to complete online profiles, the harder it will be to replace others’ top-ranking posts.

Executives Rush In

While many executives ignore social media, others rush in. Top executives typically undergo extensive preparation for media interviews and press conferences under PR guidance, yet some casually tweet and post on forums without any preparation or controls. Ironically, social media can be more dangerous than old-fashioned press conferences since they have greater immediacy and reach.

The reputation risk management landscape has changed substantially in recent years. The problem typically isn’t what CEOs and other C-level execs post on social media. It’s what others post about executives’ actions and comments. Because top executives are continually under scrutiny, those actions or remarks can be easily taken out of context.

How PR Can Manage Social Media Risks

PR departments can take steps to decrease reputational risk caused by social media and prepare for a crisis, according to experts.

• Offer training to executives on how people use social media, especially Twitter, including how people organize and mobilize on social media. It’s critical for executives to understand that social media is like an open press conference. Anything they say is scrutinized. Anything they post is public and can spread rapidly to the media, analysts, competitors and regulators.

• Promote greater internal opportunities for women and minorities to lessen the chances of reputational crisis. “Probably two of every three social media backlashes against a CEO have been initiated by women,” Wilkinson said.

• Encourage C-suite executives to participate in social media either through their personal or corporate accounts. Be sure to provide support and training to avoid any faux pas.

• Simulate a potential crisis that could hit your brand to show executives the damage they may ensue if they don’t invest in social media.

• Research the company’s website traffic sources for vulnerabilities. If traffic over-relies on organic search results, growing social traffic can diversify sources and help protect traffic if the company is hit by a Google penalty or algorithm update.

• Determine your organization’s risk appetite. Decide what risks are critical and which are acceptable. For instance, does the company care more about customer comments, its products, operations, or company privacy issues?

• Employ social media monitoring tools to listen to social media conversations, such as what consumers are saying in social media forums about each product.

• Create “listening posts” to closely monitor specific risk areas. That requires the right technology, including big data analysis. Determining how much information to send to top management can be challenging; many top executives complain that they receive too much information. Listening posts can help overcome that challenge by capturing crucial information for the particular industry and company.

• If a crisis does occur, act rapidly to prevent damage. For example, if social media monitoring finds that an employee is posting damaging content, the company can remove the content by acting quickly.

• Train executives to use video as a crisis management tool. Video allows company leaders to quickly respond to a crisis, appear empathetic, apologize, and explain actions they’re taking. Videos can be published on Facebook and other channels, bypassing the media and giving companies greater control.

Bottom Line: Surveys as well as anecdotal observations indicate that top executives don’t understand the reputational risks social media poses to them and their companies. PR is best positioned to demonstrate how social media can damage their brands as well as how companies can benefit from it. By training executives, preparing for crisis, and monitoring social media, organizations can profit from the power of social media.

Resources

Why the C-suite Don’t ‘Get’ Social Media Marketing – and How to Change That
The Guardian

C-suite Risk: Managing Social Media Risks to Reputation
The Wall Street Journal

CEOs Face Reputation Pitfalls if They Avoid Social Media
The Wall Street Journal