Beyond Damage Control: Proactive Strategies for Brands in the Age of Misinformation

We are living in an era of constant information flow, increasing reliance on digital news sources, and rapidly changing digital platform usage, which makes combating misinformation more critical — and challenging — than ever before.

A critical mass of research now suggests that tools such as fact checks, warning labels, prebunking, and media literacy, while well-intentioned, often fall short of fighting the scale of false information that spreads online. Political experts worry that disinformation peddlers, equipped with increasingly sophisticated schemes, will be able to easily bypass inadequate defenses to influence elections and their aftermath. 

If countering misinformation is beyond your brand or campaign’s resources – or just simply impossible to accomplish at the appropriate scale – how do you continue to work in an online environment increasingly overrun by falsehoods? 

Broadly, the solution lies in shifting focus from responding to individual false claims towards proactively controlling your narrative. While this approach can’t solve the entire problem, a few actions can help you get ahead of it:

• • Monitor and understand where disinformation is being spread and where it’s believed
  • Know when it’s worth responding
  • Identify and train trusted messengers
  • Proactively tell your story to the most important audiences

Identify what type of misinformation is spreading and where. 

There are corners of the internet that will always be rife with misinformation. But those are often echo chambers, and the false information and conspiracies spread there don’t always enter the mainstream or reach your key customers — which is when it can get dangerous. 

The key to knowing when misinformation warrants a response is to leverage media monitoring and social listening to actively track conversations about your organization, understand your baseline levels, and identify significant spikes. It’s not enough to spot a new conversation or piece of information. You have to understand how that fits into the ongoing conversation about your brand – which means your work begins long before a problem arises. 

A combination of monitoring tools and manual tracking can help you stay on top of the story surrounding your issue or brand and determine when the time is right to escalate your engagement. 

Know when it warrants response — and when it’s best to let conversations subside on their own.

Once you understand what is happening in the online ecosystem around your brand or issue, it’s critical to define clear parameters for when misinformation is significant enough to require a response. These criteria should be based on the potential impact to your brand and your audience’s trust. Consider the following questions:

• • Is the conversation gaining mainstream traction? 
    • • Has it broken out of niche corners of the internet? 
      • Has it been covered by unbiased, reputable outlets? 
  • If so, does the claim pose a significant threat to your brand or erode your audience’s trust?
  • Is the claim easily refutable with straightforward evidence? 

If the answer to all of these questions is yes, it’s time to consider a response.

Identify and train the right messenger

Crafting a response is only half the task. Equally important is identifying the right messenger, as audiences are often more likely to trust individual voices and people they find relatable over institutions. Use trusted messengers — surrogates through earned media, community messengers, influencers, and subject matter experts — to help you tell your story and clear up misconceptions. Knowing who your audiences view as trustworthy sources will help you develop the right response strategy and build credibility when responding to disinformation.

Consider the platform in your delivery. Different platforms have unique audiences and engagement patterns. A message that resonates on Facebook or Instagram may fall flat on X — this is when platform-specific learnings and best practices come into play. You may even want to keep your response on a single platform where disinformation originated. By tailoring both your messengers and the platform for response, you can ensure your message is credible and visible to the right people.  

Proactively tell your story

Proactive messaging is the key to a successful misinformation defense strategy. Instead of waiting for false narratives to emerge, your organization should be in a constant state of shaping and reinforcing your narrative. This always-on approach to earned and social media allows you to position your brand’s values, successes, and perspectives at the forefront of conversations and create a buffer against the impacts of disinformation. 

Here is how you can build a proactive storytelling strategy:

• • Define your core narrative — the values, successes, and perspectives that you want your audience and stakeholders to know.
  • Consistency is key. Develop an editorial calendar for content and tactics that will help elevate your core messages. This could include spotlighting success stories, highlighting the faces behind the work at your organization, sharing thought leadership, and responding to current events. 
  • Regularly monitor how your messaging and content are being received and be ready to adapt as needed. Pay attention to what is resonating with your audience, questions that emerge, and who your most effective messengers are. 

By taking these steps, you can assure your organization is set up to thrive in our rapidly changing information ecosystem.