Many Brands Fail to Heed Social Media During a Crisis; Your CSR Efforts Can Go Straight to the Bottom Line

Leveraging Social Media During a Crisis:

More than half (57%) of companies are not using social media as a communications channel during a crisis, according to the latest Business Continuity Insight Survey by PwC.

The survey asked roughly 300 companies about their business continuity practices and how they are adapting to a rapidly changing communications landscape. For the remaining 43% of respondents that do use social media, Facebook and Twitter are the primary platforms for crisis communications.

The study also revealed:

▶ Thirty-eight percent of the respondents who have used social media in a crisis said they have not necessarily seen qualitative improvements as a result of using the social networks. Just 8% believe that social media has been an effective crisis-management tool.

▶ Sixty-four percent of the respondents said they are using one or more parties to help manage business continuity, while 83% of those respondents are involved in identifying and planning for a loss of a third party.

▶ Forty-four percent of companies are looking to centralize their vendor programs, as it is being integrated with their business-continuity management.

Source: PwC

Giving Back Sells Products and Services:

Half of global consumers are willing to pay more for goods and services from a company that gives back to society, up 5% from last year (45%), according to recent survey by Nielsen.

More than 29,000 individuals responded to the survey.

The results yielded some interesting findings about consumer behavior.

▶ Geography plays a vital role, as 75% of respondents in Asia stated that social responsibility would lead them to pay more for a product, whereas only 36% of Europeans stated this.

▶ There is a marked difference between willingness to pay and what consumers actually pay: 43% of global respondents have actually spent more on a product based on a company’s social responsibility, compared to the 50% who state they are willing to. PRN

Source: Nielsen

The use of Pinterest among surveyed companies has fallen, down 3% between May 1 and August 1, according to an exclusive study conducted by Simply Measured for PR News. Facebook, Twitter and Tumblr have remained flat, while Google+ is down 1%. There is a 1% adoption uptick with Instagram. Still, the latest numbers show that Facebook and Twitter have become primary channels for social media communications, while others remain ancillary tools.

This article appeared in the August 26 issue of PR News. Subscribe to PR News today to receive weekly comprehensive coverage of the most fundamental PR topics from visual storytelling to crisis management to media training.