This article is part of The Measurement Advisor’s IPRRC coverage. Here’s more:
- Can We Talk? 5 Lessons for CEOs from the Newest Public Relations Research
- Internal Communications and Managing Millennials: Research from IPRRC on What Works
- IPRRC 2015: Is CSR Still a Thing?
- Scandal? PRSA Silver Anvil Award Winners Ignore Barcelona and Measurement Standards
- IPRRC 2015: A Treasure Trove of Ideas, Research, and Information
- IPRRC 2015: What Do You Think About These Proposed Standards for Content Marketing, Influence, and Transparency?
Dear CEOs,
Can we talk? I’m writing this as one of you. I’ve been a CEO three times and still am one. I’ve spent over two decades balancing budgets and managing people. So I come to this with much of the same perspective that you have. And it’s time we talked honestly about a few things…
1. First and foremost, it’s about your approach to communications. Seriously, you need to get out of your corner office and talk to the world. You and only you are going to get your desired messages across to your customers, employees, investors, and the community. Sure, your comms team can help, but without your authentic and consistent voice that they can amplify, your messages never make it off the memo pad.
Now let’s talk about social media. We all can probably agree that social is an important medium with which you can deepen connections and build relationships with stakeholders. But you seem to think that shrouding yourself in mystery is a better strategy. You either don’t want to be talking to your customers, (in which case you might want to rethink your line of work, I hear they are desperate for more Trappist monks these days) or for some reason you don’t think it’s worth your time.
Think again. According to some excellent research by Rita Linjuan Men of Southern Methodist University and Sunny Wan-Hsiu Tsai of the University of Miami, your authenticity and your relationship with social media is critical to the success of your organization. They studied 332 social network users who actually follow CEOs. It turns out they don’t follow CEOs because they like the organization, they follow CEOs for their thought leadership. (Public Engagement with CEOs on Social Media, 2015, IPRRC)
Come to think of it, that’s probably part of your message: Thought leadership. Isn’t that how you like to be perceived? And that’s what these followers want. Not how great your current product offerings are, but rather where you think your industry is headed, your views of the future, and your solutions to the industry’s problems.
So listen to me: If social media success is measured by increasing engagement and expanding your social networks, then you, as CEO, are better at it than all those social media “experts” you’ve been hiring. And if you don’t want to participate, you had better change your measures of success.
2. Then there’s that “minor” part of your job called “communicating in a crisis.” It turns out that authenticity and transparency are critical there as well. In study after study and crisis after crisis, organizational leaders and how they communicate are the single most important determinators of how a crisis ultimately unfolds and how long it lasts.
Rosie Jahng and Celine Hong studied studies thousands of tweets to determine whether a more human voice or a corporate voice was more effective in a crisis. (How Should You Tweet? The effect of organizational voices, response strategy, and prior brand attitude in social media crisis communication, 2015, IPRRC) Not surprisingly, human voices won out by an enormous margin. You can apologize all you want, but if your voice isn’t human and authentic, then no one will believe you. And if the customers and your stakeholders don’t find you authentic, then their interpretation of your brand performance, your reputation, and their purchase intent all decline. Interestingly, they also found that your loyal customers expect you to defend the brand, while those unfamiliar with your brand expect you to be to be more apologetic.
3. Then there’s the media. I know, I know: Most of you can’t stand them. But that’s no reason not to give yourself a fighting chance. Ask any editor, as Mikkel Soelberg Christensen of the University of Missouri School of Journalism did, and you’ll find that media and customers are much more likely to believe and defend you in a crisis if you appear authentic and transparent. (Authenticity in Crisis Communication, 2015, IPRRC)
4. And, since transparency leads to trust, you might want to read up on the latest Edelman Trust Barometer that shows that trust is a key factor in fostering long-term business relationships, according to Alan VanderMolen of Edelman and MichaelA. Cacciatore, Juan Meng, and Bryan H. Reber of the University of Georgia. (The Drivers of Trust and Their Stability Over Time: Evidence from the Global Trust Study, 2015, IPRRC)
5. By the way, when you do have a crisis, you’re well-advised to make sure it has a presence on your website. According to the most recent data from W. Timothy Coombs and Sherry J. Holladay of the University of Central Florida, 53% of you don’t do that. (Corporate Use of Social Media During Food Product Harm Crises, 2015, IPRRC) Which means that the media and your your customers are getting information from websites that could well be sponsored or paid for by your competition, or the lawyers for the opposite side.
Sincerely,
Katie Paine, CEO, Paine Publishing
∞
Thanks to Live Ngaskus for the image.
