Written by Marcela Balart

Crisis comes in many forms.  

Having recently explored the growing levels of mis- and disinformation online and in public discourse, we now turn our attention to counteracting and taking control of the narrative.   

The approach requires a united front by an organisation and is an exercise in stakeholder management and strategic communication best practice.  

The federal government’s failed attempts to get its mis- and disinformation bill passed through the Senate means that the industry and organisations alike will need to continue to self-regulate. 

We examine eight actions you can take to protect your brand against mis-, dis-, and malinformation. 

1. Build resiliency: Any crisis communications plan (you know, the one you prepare in anticipation of a crisis?) should include a risk assessment of the potential threat for mis-, dis-, and malinformation. 

Asking questions such as ‘What types of mis- or disinformation could be harmful to our business objectives and audiences?’ or ‘What types of mis- or disinformation could undermine the company’s credibility, engagement, or ability to deliver results?’ will help identify areas where misleading or manipulated information could bring significant risks to your organisation.

2. Taking timely action: Like any crisis response, timing is everything. Wait too long and you run the risk of mis-and disinformation spreading. Use all the resources at your disposal to determine whether a response is required in the first instance, and then develop and disseminate the facts to stakeholders using the fastest communication channels available. In today’s world, this is almost certainly through social media, although this might not be appropriate depending on your stakeholder matrix. It’s a fine balance between being fast and being factually correct. 

3. Monitoring + fact checking: In order to address or correct any mistruths, undertake monitoring to capture what is being said about your brand and, if possible, identify the source.  

Social media can often be difficult to determine whether an account represents a real person, advocacy movement, business, or a troll designed to spread certain messages. Patterns in conversations will help you to better understand where to look and what to look for, while also providing early warnings of other potential threats and risks. 

Overlay monitoring with other reporting and insights, such as benchmarks, social listening, SEO reporting, reviews, and customer sentiment or brand reputation reporting.  

4. Stakeholder mapping: Identifying the relevant parties and partners affected by mis- and disinformation is a critical step to understanding its potential reach and how much work will be required to resolve it.  

This includes company employees, who have the potential to be your biggest advocates in the fight against mis- and dis-information.  

Using an issues and crisis model, you can pinpoint the channels (how) and the critical moments (when) to effectively connect with your stakeholders.

5. To respond or not to respond? Once monitoring is complete, mis- and disinformation should be analysed to establish whether intervention is necessary. This review will allow you to make an informed decision about responding, particularly if the issue is unlikely to self-correct.  

You’ll also need to determine the potential cost to the company’s reputation, share price, sales and relationships with partners and stakeholders.  

A high – medium – low risk matrix can help qualify the severity of content based on the amount evidence available and its potential to influence others. 

In the case of social media, if an account that is sharing misleading content is willing to discuss, delete or correct false statements, it is a strong indicator of no intent to mislead. However, if there are signs that the account is deliberately spreading false content, trolling, or attacking individuals and organisations, there is a high likelihood of intent to cause harm.

6. Taking control of the narrative: Should you need to act, it’s important to ensure all communications are consistent and messaging is simple and transparent to avoid ambiguity.  

For maximum cut-through, your narrative should align key messages to the drivers, barriers and biases held by your stakeholders.

7. Strategic communications delivery: Whether publishing a statement via socials or holding a media conference, each communication channel will have different requirements in terms of spokespeople and supporting resources.  

 When preparing a spokesperson for a media interview to combat mis- and disinformation, media training is essential. In this instance, the company representative is as important as the message itself to ensure delivery is effective.  

Depending on the severity, it may also be appropriate to enact a temporary blackout period, which usually applies to all company announcements, media activities, and creative campaigns.  This not only helps to reduce the “noise” around your business, but it also helps to keep the focus on your messaging and adds credence.  

For socials, ensure your community managers are armed with the relevant approved messaging and resources.

8. Measuring effectiveness: As with any campaign, it’s important to measure a variety of metrics to understand the impact and effectiveness of correcting mis- and disinformation. These will largely depend on the channels you’ve employed, and the output generated.  

Some examples include: 

• engagement and reach data  

• click-throughs on credible information vs disinformation sources 

• share of voice 

• consumer sentiment 

• surveys measuring stakeholder views, attitudes and behaviours.   

The insights gained will provide a benchmark moving forward but will also help shed light on proactive and ‘pre-bunking’ opportunities in the future.  

Is your brand is at risk of mis- and disinformation? Are you monitoring for these potential threats? Are they built into your crisis plans? To learn more about crisis planning, contact Nicole at nicole@impactagency.com.au.