In general, social media is more suited to ‘headlines’ than to making material announcements or to getting the right ‘balance’ that financial disclosure requires. Outside of controversial examples of statements by Elon Musk, entrepreneur and CEO, Tesla and SpaceX, and Jack Dorsey, Co-founder and CEO of Twitter, it is unusual to find a company using social media to reset guidance or to quantify cash flow impacts of events like the COVID-19 pandemic. It is hard to imagine a company using social media to announce the suspension of dividends.

I worked at a company that helped its clients develop social media marketing strategies and used social media for marketing its brands. Like many companies, we had designated spokespeople, content generators and influencer strategies. Our disclosure policy covered social media use. We had issued a separate document specifically covering social media guidelines for our employees. Like most consumer-facing brands, we had active monitoring and reporting on social media. But we were light users of social media for investor relations.

However, as companies and their CEOs have navigated the last few months and turned to their business continuity and crisis communications plans, social media has come into its own. Social media is a good tool for high-level, multistakeholder messages or multilayer messages that need to be amplified and widely disseminated.

Unlike ongoing disclosure requirements – which dictate a certain rhythm of reporting – crisis communications has no set cadence. Most companies saw a need to communicate several times over the two-month period between March and May and amplified the content they were generating through the use of social media.

These communications were not primarily aimed at investors. They did, however, provide a glimpse into quality of management and the adaptability of the business, as well as how transparent management teams were prepared to be about what they were doing for consumers, employees and how their operations were adjusting.

• In multiple letters posted on social media channels as well as distributed directly, Galen Weston, CEO and Executive Chairman and CEO, Loblaw Companies Limited and George Weston Limited, communicated important details to Loblaw’s customers, and also provided insight into business operations and health and safety.
• Mining and oil and gas provided health and safety and operations updates. Posts regarding donations of PPE (in the case of Gildan) or conversion of facilities to produce ventilators (CAE) highlighted the community contributions of these companies, as well as an ability to pivot rapidly.
• Bell accelerated its rollout of higher speed networks in rural areas, providing critical infrastructure to clients at a difficult time.

Social media allowed for more effective use of video and photos as well as links to content housed on websites:

• CIBC has effectively used video postings with CEO Victor Dodig to amplify its messages to customers; and
• CN has shared videos of its management team commenting on how it is keeping the rail network going.

Another feature of social media is that it has provided an opportunity for CEOs to be personal.

• RBC’s President and CEO, Dave MacKay, has been a repeat poster. His numerous posts included use of a LinkedIn article in early April to summarize points made at RBC’s AGM regarding the Company’s readiness for the new normal (https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-rbc-ready-next-normal-dave-mckay/), as well as a post amplifying the views he had set out in a Globe and Mail editorial about policy options Canada should be adopting in the aftermath of COVID-19.
• Manulife’s CEO, Roy Gori, has also made regular use of LinkedIn. In late March, he used an article to summarize the key points made at a fireside chat with TD analyst Mario Mendonca on a similar theme (https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/virtual-fireside-chat-mario-mendonca-td-securities-roy-gori/).

When things are back to normal, consider setting aside some time to analyze how well positioned you were to use social media. Work with colleagues to review and refresh business continuity and crisis communications plans. Consider whether your disclosure polices and processes adequately cover social media, as well as whether you need to step up your use of social media channels.

As you go about that exercise, here are a few things to consider:

• Is there a better way to build a following for corporate content ahead of when you need it? Unless yours is a widely retail-held stock, investors and analysts will never have the follower numbers to justify the IR department owning the social media channel. In order to build some following for corporate news, find a way to work with the communications or marketing owners of your social media channel to find ways to accommodate some corporate content – or consider separate corporate and consumer accounts.

• Are you making use of LinkedIn? Until the last few years, many investors and sell-side analysts were not on social media platforms. Twitter activity may still be limited but it is now rare to find someone not on LinkedIn. The use of LinkedIn is a good place to start – use it to amplify CEO activity at conferences, to highlight results issuance or to promote a new report. In the last month, my LinkedIn feed has brought SpinMaster’s first ever sustainability report to my attention and an eye-catching video embedded in a post about Telus’ Q4 2019 results (https://www.linkedin.com/posts/telus_telusresults-activity-6633724277373972481-Ut8o) drew my attention to a summary of its 2019 achievements. LinkedIn can also be a good way to remind followers of unexpected reporting or AGM date changes.

• Can your CEO be better positioned? Don’t waste an opportunity to have strong content owned by the CEO, especially in a crisis. Over the last few years, senior management has become more savvy about the use of social media. LinkedIn features a number of CEO influencers and Twitter has its fair share of corporates. A personal communication from a CEO can be highly effective but establish a clear process around how this will happen and who will respond to queries. CEO Michael McCain’s use of the Maple Leaf Foods’ corporate Twitter account in January 2020 (in relation to the death of a Maple Leaf employee) was a controversial statement, igniting a broad media and public response and discussion regarding a policy issue (https://twitter.com/MapleLeafFoods/status/1216529697288355840?s=20). Use of social media channels to promote letters, videos and editorials has strongly positioned CEO leadership in the COVID-19 crisis.

• Is your content sending a clear message? Social media can send a confusing and noisy message if there is no clear policy and too many people are posting a lot. A LinkedIn feed can send a really confusing picture of a company and what it cares about in times of crisis. Ensure someone is monitoring the feed for a consistent message and have a clear policy with respect to who controls posting. Consider whether certain ‘routine’ types of social media postings should be minimized in a crisis to ensure you are getting the eyeballs on the key messages.

• Do you need to step up your game in terms of video and other content? This crisis has proven the use of some pretty cost-effective video for all kinds of communications. Don’t let production anxiety and cost stop you from thinking about whether you can use video to capture more attention.