3 Communications Tips to Stay Out of Trouble In Election Season

It’s a general rule that non-political organizations – especially businesses – don’t want to get sucked into political controversies. But this becomes a lot harder during an election season, when your social media accounts are being spammed by people talking about politics, your spokespeople face politicized questioning in interviews and any marketing move could be misconstrued as a political statement. To that end, here are three communications lessons for dealing with election season: 

Be careful of politicized language and buzzwords 

It’s important for an organization to be focused on core values, whether it’s election season or not. These values can include social and environmental stewardship. But it pays to beware of how certain terms that sound politically neutral or positive can fall into controversial territory. Most recently this has happened with “ESG” (environmental, social, and governance) and “DEI” (diversity, equity, and inclusion). Formerly used to emphasize company responsibility and values, they now have political connotations. Your communications team and spokespeople should be careful to (A) use less partisan sounding terms (“sustainability,” for instance, in lieu of “ESG) and (B) emphasize how initiatives tie back to driving value rather than appearing to support one side of the aisle. But what terms are in or out is an ever-changing thing; follow the news – especially social media – closely.  

Be prepared for crisis management 

Ideally, you’ll avoid controversy, but it’s important to be prepared for the worst in election season. Your communications team should have a basic narrative and messaging on hand to deal with accusations of partisanship, or just if a politician or their supporters decide to bring you up as a bad example rhetorically. This messaging should avoid wading into a touchy debate and be aimed at defending your reputation while staying on as neutral a track as possible.  

Be above the fray – but don’t have your head in the sand 

Finally, it’s important to remember that avoiding controversy and partisanship doesn’t mean ignoring that big things are happening worthy of comment. Often your executives, partners or researchers will have interesting takes on events going on in the world, such as the economy or geopolitics; this is an essential part of the “news jacking” which is essential for staying relevant in the media. Avoiding any political issues entirely isn’t necessary as long as you ensure your spokespeople stick to non-partisan language (easier said than done in today’s climate, but that’s what you have communications people for). It’s also important to know your audience, which informs when and if you should say anything about social issues. Returning to the DEI example, despite the term falling out of favor with some, a majority of Americans still support DEI initiatives in principle, so you shouldn’t necessarily jettison all commitments and prior language even if you do become conscious of your terminology.  

And acknowledging that there is an election and that everyone has a civic responsibility – whoever they support – is a crucial message at times if you’re an organization that emphasizes its values. There’s a narrow path through election season, but with good communications support it’s certainly navigable.