Social media is a big risk factor for communications managers

As part of the "Communications Leaders Risk Survey", 100 communications managers in North America and Europe, primarily from companies with an annual turnover of more than one billion US dollars, were asked about their role as risk managers. Against the backdrop of a global pandemic, negative economic growth, social unrest and political tensions, 75 percent of respondents stated that they are involved in their company as a strategic advisor on risk issues. At the same time, 88% of respondents stated that they are increasingly the primary point of contact for such cases.

Lack of technical infrastructure and resources

Companies generally do not have the necessary technology and resources to monitor online communities. More than two thirds of respondents (68 percent) expect to encounter new and unknown risks for their companies in this context.

"Companies today operate in a very polarized environment," explains Vikram Sharma, Managing Director of Crisp. "This means that even those companies that consistently live their values in their day-to-day operations are not immune to public criticism from consumers, employees and shareholders. In addition, there are groups that specifically use digital communication channels to damage a company's reputation, processes or market value. Communications managers need to take every advantage to ensure they are aware of such developments in good time and are able to act pre-emptively, as the stakes for companies are often higher today than ever before."

However, according to the study, many companies are currently not in a position to cover all relevant channels. The communication managers surveyed stated that their companies only monitor an average of 6.4 publicly accessible social media channels. Very few monitor non-public channels such as online forums, messenger apps or alternative online platforms where groups can coordinate.

Concern also at management level

The topic is also becoming increasingly relevant at management level: Respondents stated that the volume (55 percent), diversity (57 percent) and speed (60 percent) of online communication are the biggest concerns for top management. The most serious consequences of risks not being identified and managed in good time were damage to company or brand reputation (93 percent), negative attention (92 percent) and negative effects on employee morale and recruitment (73 percent), customer satisfaction (59 percent) and business results (46 percent).

"The dissemination of information via online media has become massively more important for most companies - this is true for the visibility of a brand, but also for misrepresentations or deliberate attacks on the company and its public perception. As part of our risk management services, we are receiving more and more inquiries from clients who want us to recognize negative information at an early stage, identify the parties behind it and support suitable countermeasures to protect the companies under attack," says Christoph Rojahn, Managing Director at Kroll.

Less reaction time

Almost all (94%) of the communication managers surveyed confirmed that online communication shortens the time window available to companies to respond to risks. For 88% of respondents, online communication channels are also an important source of information for identifying and managing risks at an early stage.

At the same time, 75 percent of respondents are not sure whether their company is in a position to recognize and manage online risks in good time. More than two thirds (69 percent) believe that it is becoming increasingly difficult to do this. 73% state that their company is not investing enough in modern risk intelligence solutions to meet this business-critical challenge.

Problems will intensify

More than two thirds (77%) of respondents believe that the aforementioned uncertainties for companies will intensify over the course of the year. The Communications Leaders Risk Survey thus underlines how important it is for companies to gain a time advantage with the help of intelligent early warning solutions.

Surveyed in March 2021 Crisp and Kroll in cooperation with GLGan insight network with access to more than 900,000 executives, scientists, academics and former employees in the public sector, 100 communication managers in companies in the USA, Canada and Europe. The majority (60 percent) of respondents were from companies with revenues of more than 500 million US dollars, while half (52 percent) were from companies with revenues of more than one billion US dollars.