Social media is now widely accepted as a crucial part of any organisation’s comms strategy.
But what does ‘good social media’ look like? Not just on particular platforms, but across all of them?
It’s a question I hear a lot and it might be something that you, your team, or, perhaps, your whole organisation struggle with.
At The British Forces Broadcasting Service, we’ve been broadcasting around the world for nearly 80 years. And that includes across social media. We’re a charity that also regularly trains organisations in how to use this powerful tool in the most effective way.
Here’s our top pieces of advice that you can try in your organisation’s social media approach to help you reach new audiences and engage those you already have.
Don’t just broadcast at people
It’s easy to forget the social in social media. And as a result, unfortunately we often see it used for broadcasting at people.
All charities want to break through the noise, tell people about the great work they do, and find new ways to have a positive impact on the world around them. Social media is a great way to do all of these things, but you have to engage people. And, quite frankly, you don’t do that by posting the same stuff over and over again.
Engage with people. Ask them questions, respond to their comments, and get a discussion going. No-one likes a one-sided conversation, and many people are delighted to receive a personal response on social media. For your audience, just knowing that someone has taken the time to read what they have to say and really reply to it properly, can make all the difference.
Tell a story
There’s a famous sales quote that comes to mind here: “Sell the good night’s sleep, not the mattress”. People understand the world around them through stories.
Here is an incredible example from Doncaster Council:
It would be very easy for them to just put angry posters up everywhere saying “stop stealing the drain covers” or posting the statistics on how many are stolen each year. But, to capture their audience’s attention, they were able to turn this unusual subject into a compelling story that just works.
Diabetes UK also use people’s individual stories on social media really well:
The next time you are planning on making some sort of announcement on your social media pages, why don’t you give this a try? Don’t just focus on the details of the announcement, tell the story around it. The why, the who, and the where.
Be personal
Don’t default to formal, stuffy language. The content you share on social media should sound natural, conversational, and — above all else — human. A useful tip is to read your planned social media posts out loud before posting. Yes, your colleagues may give you some strange looks but, if it sounds very formal or clunky as you read aloud, then it is.
Here’s an example from our channels of how we told a story around a piece of news and used more personal language to do so:
None of these tips will cost you or your organisation money to implement, so give them a try.
Think about the nuances of the platform you are using
When it comes to choosing your social media platforms remember this golden rule – go where your audience is. You can easily spend a lot of time, energy, and money trying to be on all of the available social networks. This takes an awful lot of resource that your organisation may not have.
Think carefully about who your specific target audiences are and choose social media platforms that match them.
The tips I have shared so far apply to all social media communications.
However, once you have chosen which social networks are right for your strategy, you need to avoid a one size fits all approach with your content.
Some organisations will plan or commission one piece of content and then post it in exactly the same way across all their channels. This won’t work.
Instead, try to tailor your content to each network.
For example, if using Instagram or TikTok you need to focus on short video content produced on a smartphone (rather than lengthy, fully produced videos). It should feel relaxed and organic rather than scripted.
If using LinkedIn then text posts, potentially with some images attached, currently work very well.
On Twitter you may want to use threads to tell your story thinking about how each element adds up to the whole story (see the previous Doncaster example).
How to measure if your social media strategy is working or not
The good thing about social media management is that you have stats that will show whether it’s working or not. I recommend keeping an eye on whether these new changes bring you an increase in positive engagement, such as comments or shares, or attracts traffic to your website, if that’s the goal. Over time you should see your audience grow, too.
I hope that you’ve found these tips useful. I’d really love to hear whether they work for you or not. You can find me on LinkedIn or tweet me @waters_adam.
Banner Image: Designecologist on Pexels.