Report: Crisis Communication and Social Media - CIPR

Discussing the main findings of the latest Crisis Communications Network report.

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Dear reader,

In this week’s edition of the Wag The dog Newsletter, I look at the findings of the latest report from the Crisis Communications Network (CIPR) entitled "Crisis Communication and Social Media "1.

With over 900 members in 40 countries, the Crisis Communications Network aims to share best practise and promote excellence in crisis communications. The latest publication looks at the changing landscape of crisis communication management, particularly given the enormous speed and reach of social media.

As some of you may know, I'm currently working on a new model for crisis communication — what I call the Universal Adaptive Crisis Communication (UACC) Framework. This framework aims to integrate adaptability, cultural awareness and comprehensive stakeholder engagement into crisis communication strategies.

So, in this edition, I've compared the findings of the CIPR report with the (draft) UACC framework to see how they align and where they support each other.

It's an exciting project and I look forward to sharing more about this evolving framework in the next edition of my newsletter. 

PS: this is just a short summary of the CIPR report - make sure you download the full version here. 👍

Table of Contents

The Crisis Communication and Social Media Report

CIPR Best Practice Guide from the CIPR's Crisis Communications Network

Social media has changed the way crises evolve and how organisations need to respond. It has reduced the 'golden hour' for crisis response to a matter of minutes and requires organisations to be faster, more agile and more transparent than ever before.

This report from CIPR presents practical strategies for the effective use of social media in five different phases of crisis management: Mitigate, Prepare, Arm, Manage and Recover.

A big congratulations to the members of the CIPR Crisis Communications Network Committee for compiling this very useful guide: Felix Östman, Chris Tucker, Katherine Sykes, Rod Cartwright, Sara Naylor and Rosie Hamilton.

Let’s dive in!

A practical five-step approach for crisis communicators

1. Mitigate: Prepare for the storm before it comes

Key action: Implement robust social media monitoring systems.

To be prepared for a crisis, communicators need to actively listen to what is being said on social platforms. Use tools such as Sprinklr, Brandwatch or X Pro to gain real-time insights into audience sentiment.

Proactive monitoring allows you to recognise early signals of potential problems before they turn into crises. As I wrote in the report, integrating AI-powered predictive analytics can even help you predict problems so you can be proactive instead of reactive.

Supporting UACC insights: 

The Universal Adaptive Crisis Communication (UACC) framework emphasises inclusive stakeholder and audience engagement. This means that organisations need to identify and understand their stakeholders and actively engage them through tailored communication strategies. By using social monitoring tools, you can make sure that you recognise stakeholder sentiment early on, which is crucial for targeted and comprehensive communication.

2. Prepare: Prepare a strategy

Key action: Integrate social media into your crisis plan.

Avoid separating social media from the rest of your crisis communications planning. Make sure your crisis plan includes not only the content, but also who will execute it and when. Practise with simulations that simulate real-time crises with social media, taking into account global time zones and cultural contexts for multinational organisations.

Preparation includes both strategic content and training. Chris Tucker emphasises how important it's to be prepared for crises in order to be able to manage them.

Supporting UACC insights: The UACC framework calls for balanced proactive and reactive communication. Preparation means finding a balance between prepared content and the flexibility to adapt in real time. By incorporating social media into your crisis plan and training your team, you can seamlessly transition between proactive planning and real-time adjustments.

3. Prepare: Recognise early signs of trouble

Key action: Identify and assess emerging threats.

The build-up phase is about recognising signals on social media that could escalate into a crisis. Whether it's a viral post on a controversial topic or a negative comment from an influencer, these early signs should trigger pre-planned action.

Deciding when to intervene or remain silent is crucial — intervening too early can exacerbate the problem (waking up the sleeping dogs), while remaining silent can exacerbate the perception. Use scenario planning to assess the risks and benefits of your response options.

Supporting UACC insights: The UACC framework includes the integration of permacrisis and intertwined (polycrisis) crisis concepts, i.e. recognising the overlapping nature of modern crises. By understanding the early warning signs in social media, you can better prepare for cascading crises and integrate these insights into your overall response strategy.

4. Manage: Take control of the narrative

Key action: Use social media to communicate transparently and empathetically.

When a crisis occurs, social media should be used to get your organisation’s most important messages directly to the public. Transparency and empathy are important — be honest about what's happening and how your organisation is responding.

Slack’s response to the 2022 outage is a perfect example of how clear, human communication was able to alleviate customer frustration. Maintain a consistent tone, customise messaging to your platform and ensure your crisis team is able to handle an increased volume without losing their cool.

Supporting UACC insights: The UACC emphasises emotional intelligence and psychological support. To effectively manage a crisis, it is important to be empathetic. When you genuinely care about the feelings of those involved, you can build trust and reduce tension. By communicating transparently and empathetically, you reflect the core values of emotional intelligence that are essential to maintaining positive stakeholder relationships.

5. Recover: Long-term follow-up is important

Key action: Evaluate and rebuild trust after the crisis.

Recovery does not end with the crisis. Organisations must actively work to rebuild stakeholder trust. This means communicating what has been done to resolve the issue and prevent future incidents.

It is also important to evaluate the entire crisis management process and determine what worked and what did not. Shayoni Lynn emphasises that understanding patterns of misinformation, for example, can improve future crisis responses and protect communities.

Supporting UACC insights: The UACC framework emphasises inclusive stakeholder and audience engagement and post-crisis evaluation. Stakeholder engagement throughout the recovery process helps to build trust and understand the long-term psychological impact of the crisis. Consistent and thoughtful follow-up with stakeholders also enables lessons learnt to be integrated into future crisis preparedness measures.

Summary

The report emphasises that social media increases both risks and opportunities, but that being proactive, prepared and adaptable makes all the difference.

For crisis communicators, it's important to follow these five practical steps to ensure your organisation can weather the storm with greater confidence and effectiveness.

Whether it's using predictive analytics to identify issues or coordinating a team across time zones, these strategies provide a modern roadmap to crisis resilience.

The UACC framework supports these approaches by focusing on comprehensive stakeholder engagement, balancing proactive and reactive tactics, and emphasising cultural sensitivity and empathy. Integrating these elements ensures that communication strategies are effective and adaptable to the complexity of modern crises.

Let me know what you think of these practical applications — have you tried any of these approaches?

References and further reading.

1  CIPR. (2024, October 28). CIPR launches new guide on Crisis Communication and Social Media. CIPR Launches New Guide on Crisis Communication and Social Media ; CIPR. https://newsroom.cipr.co.uk/cipr-launches-new-guide-on-crisis-communication-and-social-media/

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What I am reading/testing/checking out:

  • Podcast: Building Resilient Leadership for Crisis Situations with Claudia Van Den Heuvel - The Resilience Podcast

  • Article: Leading In Uncertain Times: How Transparent Leadership Shapes Crisis Communications Post-Covid-19

  • Article: Inside the Bungled Bird Flu Response, Where Profits Collide With Public Health

  • Tool: Perplexity AI wants you to become a curator on their platform.

Let’s meet!

Here are the events and conferences I'll be speaking at. If you're around, feel free to message me and we can meet up for a coffee or a Negroni.

  • 🇬🇧 Crisis Communications Boot Camp, 4-5 November, London, United Kingdom

  • 🇺🇸 International Association of Emergency Managers (IAEM) Annual Conference, 7 November, Colorado Springs, USA (remote/virtual).

  • 🇳🇿 Emergency Media and Public Affairs (EMPA) conference, 7 November, Wellington, New Zealand (remote/virtual)

  • 🌐 AI for Crisis Communications: Navigating Turbulent Times - Virtual Training via Zoom - November 21-22, 10 AM - 3 PM (Eastern Time) / 4 PM - 9 PM (Central European Time). Register here.

  • 🇧🇪 AI in PR Boot Camp II, 20-21 February 2025, Brussels, Belgium

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