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August 17, 2022 by Lisa Seidenberg

As we enter another election cycle, there’s no doubt that politicians will continue to weaponize issues like climate change, reproductive rights, and the recent economic downturn to curry favor with their constituents. Many will accuse their opponents of spreading ‘fake news’ — all while contributing to the proliferation of misinformation and disinformation themselves.

Compounding this issue is the diminishing trust in news outlets. Our own research shows that credible journalists feel alone in combating fake news as less reputable media outlets seem bound and determined to make the problem worse.

Edelman puts it this way: “We find a world ensnared in a vicious cycle of distrust, fueled by a growing lack of faith in media and government. Through disinformation and division, these two institutions are feeding the cycle and exploiting it for commercial and political gain.”

In a time rife with polarization and confusion, the world needs true authority more than ever. And as a communications director, you have the opportunity to position your firm’s experts to respond.”

Leverage the Trust Your Audience Places in Your Firm

There’s a growing number of people functioning as “news activists” — individuals who are passionate about the truth and who are willing to debunk disinformation when they see it. But there’s only so much progress news activists can make on a person-by-person basis. They need help from leaders with large communications platforms to dispel misinformation more widely.

That’s where your firm’s authorities come in.

Authorities are the players who are best-positioned to suit up and participate on this high-stakes field of engagement. Why? Audiences are more likely to trust your firm than they are to trust politicians, the media, and even nonprofit organizations. In fact, the 2022 Edelman Trust Barometer once again confirmed that business is the most trusted institution in society.

Of the more than 36,000 respondents surveyed:

Only 50% reported they trust the media
52% expressed faith in government
61% stated they trust business
77% said they trust their own employer

By leveraging the trust your internal and external audiences place in your firm’s authorities, you can help cut through the noise of false information and provide a powerful counterpoint to deceptive narratives.

Formulate Unique Positions of Authority on Timely Topics

Your firm’s authorities aren’t responsible for arguing against every bit of fake news they encounter. However, they should be prepared to address the topics and social issues that matter to your firm’s clients, employees, and other stakeholders.

Ask your experts to think about the unique insight they can offer on topics that are most likely to be weaponized by those perpetuating disinformation.

For example:

An accounting firm might develop a point of view on whether or not the recent economic downturn should be classified as a recession
A financial services firm might offer a perspective on ESG investing that helps their audience think about climate change in a more nuanced way
A law firm might hone positions of authority regarding the rapidly changing regulatory environment as it relates to the tech industry

Working with your firm’s experts to identify and fine tune salient points of view takes concerted effort, but it’s incredibly impactful. Well-reasoned, conflicting perspectives can spark conversation, help your audience identify disinformation for what it is, and consider thoughts and viewpoints that differ from their own.

Use Your Firm’s Communications Platforms to Actively Challenge Disinformation

Elevating truth is always worthwhile. But your firm also has a vested interest in joining journalists in the fight against fake news. Your firm relies on earned media coverage in credible news outlets to establish your own authority. When disinformation dominates the public discourse, your firm’s message will have a harder time breaking through.

To that end, if your experts have the opportunity to talk to the media for a news story, help your authorities nail the interview. But beyond that, make it a priority to use your firm’s own platforms to communicate factual positions of authority.

Communicate Positions of Authority with Employees

It’s normal for authorities to feel unsure — even reticent — about publicly combatting disinformation. A good place to start is with your internal audience.

Business is no longer neutral territory. Leaders are being pushed by employees and other stakeholders to speak out on the most pressing social issues of the day. But sharing your firm’s positions of authority involves more than releasing a statement affirming one side over another. It’s about wading into the fray and providing unique insights on complex problems.

Sometimes that means creating tension — even in the workplace. Leaders must be willing to correct wrong information and skillfully engage employees in difficult conversations they may prefer to avoid.

These challenging internal conversations can become the foundation of your external communications strategy.

Share and Promote Factual Information on LinkedIn

Even the most well-intentioned people (including your own employees) can unwittingly spread fake news, especially on social media. They might not understand the role algorithms play in offering up questionable content — or they might simply share stories that align with their unconscious confirmation biases.

Your firm’s well-formulated positions of authority can help challenge both intentional and unintentional sources of disinformation and educate your audience about the facts on a variety of issues.

Linkedin is the most natural platform for your authorities to share the position pieces they’ve written or the articles in which they’ve been quoted. Remind your experts that this isn’t mere self-promotion. Each time they promote credible news sources and share legitimate information, they’re actively engaging in the battle against disinformation.

Communicate Directly with Your Clients and Stakeholders

Finally, think about how you can proactively communicate your firm’s unique points of view with clients, potential clients, and other stakeholders. These are the people most likely to trust what your authorities have to say and thoughtfully consider your firm’s position. If they’ve internalized false information and believe it to be true, your message could persuade them to rethink and re-evaluate those messages.

And of course, promoting the owned media assets (e.g. blogs, podcasts, videos) that underscore your authorities’ expertise is doubly beneficial. It helps get truthful and nuanced information in front of your audience, and it’s also a smart business development strategy.

True Authorities Engage in Society’s Most Important Conversations

The threat of misinformation and disinformation continues to rise. And with so much at stake, it’s vital that business leaders take up the mantle of news activism to engage in smart conversations about the issues that matter most.

You can play a key role in helping your firm’s leaders participate skillfully in this crucial battleground. Identify and hone the unique, timely points of view that set your experts apart. Then use all the communications platforms available to you to share messages that elevate truth and promote credible information.

(And if you need a little inspiration in this area, be sure to check out Greengarget’s Manifesto.)

August 11, 2022 by Greentarget

Amidst the Great Resignation, companies increasingly face disruption from the mass exodus and acquisition of employees. The departure of public relations and marketing leadership can prove especially difficult, given their handle of your company’s communication strategy – involving both publicity and reputation management.

Though this period of staffing transitions is poised to persist, it doesn’t require the derailment of your company’s marketing and communications plans. Involving your external PR firm during the off/onboarding process is a great way to keep your communications momentum going.

June 9, 2022 by Greentarget

In March 2022, Elon Musk tweeted: “Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy. What should be done?”

Musk answered his own question a few weeks later when he made a formal offer to purchase the publicly held social media platform and take it private. A self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist,” Musk’s goal is to remove many (if not all) of the Twitter Rules the platform uses to moderate user content. He might even restore the banned accounts of controversial figures like Donald Trump and conspiracy theorist Alex Jones. Some fear changes like these could unleash unprecedented levels of hate speech, harassment, and misinformation.

Of course, it remains to be seen whether Musk will follow through on his offer or walk away from the deal. And sure, there’s a chance he could change Twitter for the better. But regardless, his arguments about free speech and public spaces merit close consideration.

Here’s why Elon Musk is wrong about Twitter — and a few thoughts about how authorities can and should respond.

Historic Town Squares Were Carefully Regulated

Let’s assume that Elon Musk is right — that Twitter functions as a digital town square. Even if that’s true, he’s missing a critical detail. While town squares are public spaces, they are not — and never were — free from government oversight.

Modern town squares evolved out of the British concept of the village green or town common. In the Middle Ages, villagers who didn’t own land were permitted to raise crops, care for their livestock, and buy and sell goods in these public spaces. Many common areas also featured bogs where commoners could cut peat, an important heating source equivalent to modern-day public utilities.

But did villagers have unfettered access to do whatever they wanted? Could they consume public resources without limits? Of course not. Use of the village green was carefully regulated by overseers in charge of distributing this precious shared resource.

That’s because without rules, common spaces risk succumbing to “the tragedy of the commons.” This 19th century economic theory argues that individuals who consume a shared resource by acting wholly in their own interest — and at the expense of every other consumer — will ultimately degrade and endanger that resource. This is especially true when there are no guardrails in place to prevent anyone and everyone from consuming the resource.

Put simply, town commons exist to support commoners collectively. Any single individual’s rights — or that of one group — cannot supersede the common good. As such, community standards must be applied. So if Twitter really is a town square, rules and regulations are a justifiable and even essential part of the equation.

The Right to Free Speech Isn’t Absolute

The second part of Elon Musk’s tweet argues that the limits Twitter imposes on free speech undermine democracy. Again, his thinking is flawed.

As most of us can recall, the First Amendment states, “Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech.” The First Amendment is solely concerned with protecting Americans from government overreach. As such, the right to free speech guarantees us the freedom to speak truth to power and hold the government accountable for its actions. It does not give us the right to say anything we want whenever we want to say it.

We can’t yell fire in a crowded building. We can’t spew hatred toward members of protected groups without consequence. And no one has the right to stand on someone else’s front porch and scream profanities.

The First Amendment simply does not extend into the private sector. Plenty of institutions, corporations, and entities can choose to limit speech within their spheres of influence. Universities, private businesses, civic organizations, and religious institutions may all impose limits on what their members and constituents say.

To that end, all social media platforms, including Twitter, are well within their rights to place limits on speech as they see fit. If Musk is concerned with upholding democracy, he should take his quest elsewhere. The government doesn’t own Twitter, and therefore Twitter’s stance on speech has no bearing on the health of our democracy. Elon Musk cannot make Twitter any more free from government interference than it already is.

Why Should Authorities Care — And How Should They Respond?

Elon Musk is right about this much: Important conversations take place on Twitter. And because of that, it’s crucial for authorities to step into this arena and shape smarter conversations.

The challenge here is that true authority is getting lost in the noise, and the public’s respect for bona fide expertise keeps diminishing. Thanks to the rampant spread of misinformation and disinformation in a highly polarized environment, it’s becoming harder and harder to break through the digital clutter and capture attention.

But authorities must try.

Directing a smarter conversation involves putting several elements of our Authority Manifesto into practice, including:

Challenging non-experts with new or conflicting perspectives.
Creating unique positions of authority that cut through the digital clutter.
Participating skillfully in uncontrolled settings to effectively disseminate your point of view.
Reaching your audience effectively by communicating in the places and spaces where they spend time.

Without the influence of authoritative, fact-based points of view, the public could very well experience the tragedy of the commons in a whole new way.

Elevate Smart Conversation on Twitter and Beyond

Time will tell whether Elon Musk will actually buy Twitter and implement a no-holds-barred approach to speech on the platform. Whether he does or not, your professional services firm has a role to play in demonstrating true authority and elevating the conversation for your audience and society at large.

But to direct a smarter conversation, you need to first create and hone your unique positions of authority. We’d love to help.

April 27, 2022 by Diana Dixon

Employee turnover is a disruptive force that can quickly upend your communications department’s best-laid plans. This was true even in pre-pandemic times when it was normal for marketing and communications professionals to seek out new opportunities every two to five years.

But in the midst of the Great Resignation, the reality is even starker. According to a report from PwC, 65 percent of workers say they’re looking for a new job, and 88 percent of executives are noticing a higher level of turnover than usual. Chances are your team will be impacted, too.

You can’t afford to let employee departures slow your company’s momentum when it comes to marketing and communications, especially in this era of rampant noise. The last thing you want is for your executive team to experience a disruption in the normal level of service you provide or for your company’s brand to take a reputational hit.

Leaning on your external public relations firm just might be the best move you can make to keep your communication strategy moving forward in the midst of employee transitions. To that end, here are four things a strong PR partner can do to help you weather the offboarding/onboarding process.

1. Handle the Day-to-Day Details of Your Communications Program

As you’re well aware, communications departments juggle myriad details every day. Press releases, media outreach, internal comms, website updates, award submissions, media mentions, etc. — there’s always something in the works. And when the people who typically handle these tasks depart from your company, one of two things will happen.

You’ll get bogged down by the “tyranny of the urgent” and neglect the big picture communication needs of the business. Or you’ll focus on high-level strategy while the day-to-day details fall through the cracks. Neither situation is tenable.

As a communications leader, it’s crucial that you attend to the strategic business needs of your company.

So, delegating the day-to-day tasks to a PR partner frees you up to do the work only you can do. We saw this play out recently when a client’s entire comms team turned over at the same time. Greentarget stepped in and kept every plate spinning until the new team was in place and up to speed. Meanwhile, we kept the CMO unencumbered so she could continue moving the marketing and business development strategy forward at the executive level.

2. Retain and Impart Your Company’s Historical Knowledge

Every time an employee leaves, they take institutional knowledge and memory with them. And no matter how competent and skilled your new hires are, they simply don’t know what they don’t know. It will take them a minimum of 90 days to get the lay of the land and begin executing those tasks their predecessor left behind. But in truth it can take much longer than that to figure out the nuances of your particular culture.

That’s time you don’t have. When working with executives,reporters, and other important stakeholders in your business, your company needs your team to communicate effectively on its behalf — with no gaffes or missteps along the way — from day one. And to navigate industry and office dynamics without a hitch, your new hires need access to the written and unwritten information about your company.

Preserving this valuable institutional knowledge is one of the most important reasons to consider developing a long standing relationship with a trusted PR partner. A PR firm makes it their business to know who your key players are, which clients require special consideration, and what types of sensitive situations you’ve handled in the past, among other things.

To that end, your PR firm can help your team understand:

Your company’s historic impact on (and current standing in) your industry
Sensitive information about your company and/or its client base
Brand standards and messaging guidelines to ensure every press release, media brief, and internal memo reads consistent
Approval processes and conflict-check procedures that should be followed before releasing any external communication
Company preferences regarding certain media outlets or particular reporters
Ongoing sensitive situations, litigation, deals, or other important announcements that might garner media attention

Without insight into the inner workings of your company, your new employees will feel like they’re operating in the dark. Give them a head start and set them up for success by being intentional about imparting institutional knowledge from the outset.

3. Bring Fresh Perspective and Expertise to Your Comms Strategy

Although you want to win the war for talent and avoid employee turnover whenever possible, it’s important to remember that every change is ultimately an opportunity to grow.

Yes, your departing employees undoubtedly contributed valuable skills and insight to your program. But perhaps they also became complacent in certain areas or were resistant to new ideas. That’s normal. Sometimes the only way to move your program forward is to tap into an external perspective that can help you identify the gaps you can’t see on your own.

For example, your PR firm might:

Help you expand your roster of spokespeople to showcase more diverse perspectives or up-and-coming leaders
Spotlight your company’s work in new industries or innovative service offerings
Offer media training to your executive leaders to help them prepare for high-profile interviews
Suggest a new approach to annual happenings like signature events or financial reporting
Head up a salient market research project to establish your company’s authority and intelligence in a particular area
Launch a content audit to determine what is resonating with your key audiences and where it might be time to interject novelty, utility, urgency, and relevance.
Assist in developing a more consistent owned media program to underscore your company’s expertise in your industry

The lesson here is this. Employee turnover doesn’t have to halt your momentum. Don’t put initiatives on hold or abandon them altogether while you focus on hiring. Rely on your PR partner’s expertise to advance and evolve your organization’s communications capabilities.

4. Counsel Your New Comms Team Through Crisis Situations

Communicating effectively in times of crisis is always challenging. It’s even more difficult when you don’t have a trusted PR partner to help you navigate internal and external communication needs. If you’re experiencing turnover while also handling a sensitive PR situation, you need an ally in your corner.

This is particularly true if you’ve recently hired a new leader to take up the mantle of your company’s crisis communications strategy. They will need support to help them manage the situation skillfully, and consistently with how the company has handled similar situations in the past.

Greentarget has helped several new PR leaders onboard while facing difficult scenarios at the very start of their tenure. Without a steady guiding hand and historical and cultural context, they may have struggled to effectively and efficiently devise the right strategic communications plan for the company at that time.

There are also two important relationship-building opportunities that may arise from times of crisis. First, this is a meaningful opportunity to lean on the PR firm to help your new, in-house communicators build relationships with key decision makers within the company. And second, with a good PR partner, navigating a crisis situation can set the stage for a strong and lasting partnership.

Communications Team Transitions are Inevitable. Are You Ready?

As a marketing and communications leader, there’s no escaping it. Your team will eventually face staffing transitions.

The good news is you can be ready. By viewing a PR firm as a steadfast partner, you can prepare for the likelihood of natural attrition, manage offboarding and onboarding smoothly, and level up your communication program’s effectiveness along the way.

Interested in learning more about the ways Greentarget can help your team succeed? We’d love to hear from you.