The following is a guest piece by Scott Parker, CEO of digital agency Social Factor. Opinions are the creator’s own.
The political divide within the U.S. is well-documented. The Pew Research Center says a growing variety of Republicans and Democrats view people in the alternative party as “more closed-minded, dishonest, immoral, and unintelligent than other Americans.” In 2020, we saw how this divide played out on social media, as political echo chambers led to significant ideological segregation in news exposure in the course of the election.
Now, with the 2024 U.S. presidential rematch looming, brands should be extra mindful of all areas of their social media operation. In navigating the pre-election chaos, brands should place an emphasis on 4 primary areas, all of that are essential for weathering the approaching social storm: strategy, technology, engagement and intelligence. What follows are specific guidelines to assist brands avoid the 2024 election minefield.
Strategy
For brands, strategy is at all times the perfect place to start out. Because without it, the hills may come alive with the sound of a social media crisis.
Start now
Don’t wait until the peak of the election cycle to develop a plan to your brand. Bring stakeholders together now to create clear, comprehensive guidelines and processes.
Identify risks and opportunities
Scroll back to 2020 on your brand’s timeline to see what parts of your social media strategy worked (and what didn’t). Then, research current trends to anticipate challenges and opportunities related to the election cycle.
Dust off your crisis communication plan
You never give it some thought until you actually need it. But when it’s time to “break the glass” on your crisis communication plan, be sure that the instructions are current, comprehensive and clear. Ensure that your brand’s plan accounts for responding to negative comments, misinformation and other potential situations that might arise. And don’t forget to update your contact list to maintain your internal team informed of any escalation.
Refresh channel guidelines
Loads has modified on social media in 4 years. Twitter is now X. Facebook is now Meta. TikTok users proceed to rise (at the same time as a possible ban looms). And your online communities have modified, too. Take time to know who follows your brand on each platform and tailor your content with the understanding that some platforms could also be more liable to misinformation and negativity than others.
Be aware of the corporate’s political leanings
If your organization or executive leaders are politically energetic, it’s essential that your social media strategy accounts for his or her public political stance, campaign contributions and PAC donations. Transparency is vital to maintaining trust and avoiding backlash.
Technology
Have you audited your systems and software these days? If the reply is not any, then it’s time to attach along with your technology leaders to make sure your brand has the essential systems in place for the 2024 election cycle. Much like voting machines must not sleep to this point to make sure election integrity, so do your social media operations.
Refine social listening tools
If you aren’t repeatedly updating your social listening queries, now’s the time to regulate to capture evolving issues, memes and online conversations. By taking a proactive monitoring approach, your brand can avoid potential controversies and anticipate opportunities to capitalize on key moments.
Optimize moderation workflows
Similarly, in the event you haven’t taken a peek under the hood to make sure your moderation tools and workflows are operating efficiently, connect along with your team to refine workflows to administer the increased online activity in the course of the election cycle. While leveraging automation can help create scale, remember, there’s no replacing the human touch for complex and nuanced situations that may likely arise during this time.
Strengthen security
Small things can make an enormous difference. Audit who has access to your brand channels and ensure multifactor authentication and other security measures are up-to-date and dealing properly. Check that security updates are in place for software, systems, web sites and devices. Every brand needs to organize for potential hacking attempts, especially in the event you maintain a big online following.
Engagement
Don’t let every little thing you’ve just read scare you away. You wouldn’t climb Mount Everest without arriving at base camp prepared with every little thing you have to make it to the highest and back. With preparation within the rear-view mirror, let’s speak about tracing your path to the highest.
Take a strategic and proactive approach
Your strategy should define the way you’ll engage in election-related conversations online, whether that’s proactive, reactive and even entirely faraway from the narrative. If your brand chooses to interact in election-related conversation, it’s essential to be proactive in cultivating positive conversations around your brand, helping to maintain negativity from spiraling uncontrolled, together with any subsequent consequences.
Stay true to your brand
It’s easy to get caught up within the moment. That’s why people engaging and responding on behalf of your brand must understand your identity, values and strategy. With a consistent approach to engagement across the team, your brand can construct community and turn into a unified voice. This includes clear definitions of the brand’s political positions on relevant issues.
Offer something precious
Don’t wait for a golden opportunity to strike in the course of the election cycle and ignore your overall content strategy. Continue to share content that engages and entertains your audience.
Use humor (rigorously)
Being truly funny on social media is a quick track to engagement. But being culturally insensitive and offensive is a one-way ticket to an unfollow or block. If humor isn’t already a component of your brand’s DNA, tread flippantly. You want people to interact due to what you say, not the way you say it.
Be responsive (to each good and bad)
It’s likely you won’t be manning your keyboard when misinformation strikes or a negative comment goes viral. That’s why it’s vital to have a transparent escalation process to handle these issues. Be sure your team is ready to act quickly and transparently when a crisis occurs. In the identical way, be quick to interact with brand love, praise and positivity out of your online community.
Enforce community guidelines
Just like “no shoes, no shirt, no service” is an ordinary rule of engagement for restaurants, online spaces need guardrails. You can help ensure a secure environment by having clear community guidelines and consistently implement them across all brand platforms.
Protect your community
At the identical time, be mindful of how moderating election-related conversations can potentially be perceived as censorship. Review your community guidelines for areas that need adjustment. That way, you can allow for an open exchange of ideas while still ensuring your community is a welcoming place where people can share their thoughts without hateful and harassing discourse.
Know when to disengage
Avoid stepping into debates or arguments that can damage your brand’s image. Sometimes, it’s best to say no a chance to interact in a conversation you realize is needlessly inflammatory. Don’t forget, the hide button is your friend when leveraged appropriately.
Intelligence
The special sauce that may take things to the following level is an analytical approach to the insights you have gained from every little thing you’ve done up up to now. Much like a gourmet cheeseburger dripping with deliciousness, your social media operation will likely be something you look ahead to biting into, provided you’re consistent with evaluation and optimizations.
Stay informed
Track key issues, public sentiment and potential flashpoints for engagement to remain informed in the course of the election season. Monitor competitor activity and emerging trends to stay adaptable, strategic and opportunistic.
Think outside the box
By embracing creative solutions, you can mitigate the impact of a crisis and capitalize on opportunities as they arise.
Monitor community performance
Beyond standard social performance, reminiscent of likes, comments and shares, be sure you measure which content drives community engagement. Are most of your comments spam or single, non-engaged comments (e.g., cool, okay, agree)? Determine in case your users are thoughtfully engaging along with your content and with others.
Make data-informed adjustments
Analyze your data and performance to optimize your social media strategy throughout the election cycle.
Preparation, flexibility and transparency are the keys to navigating the social media landscape during an election cycle. Be proactive, address potential issues and authentically engage your audience. With planning and an actionable strategy, your brand can maintain a positive image and thrive during one other sure-to-be-tumultuous election season.
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