Tag Archive for: social media

Sharing is caring: Focusing on making sharable social content

Recent posts by Twitter/X owner Elon Musk and the head of Instagram Adam Mosseri have revealed a shift in what is important when we’re thinking about our next post: make your content sharable.

Instead of “posting and hoping”, or just “broadcasting” by telling users about an announcement or story, we need to place far greater emphasis on triggering an emotional reaction, or making it feel practical, new or relevant to that audience.

As you’ve probably seen, be it with ‘for you’ tabs on Twitter/X, pages on TikTok, or mixed up in your feed on Instagram and Facebook, all social platforms are moving towards more algorithmically-driven approaches as a way to try to increase the amount of time you spend and engage on that app.

That’s partly because we have generally stopped being so public in our reposts and commenting, preferring to share posts privately on direct messages or messing apps like WhatsApp.

Both Musk and Mosseri have publicly emphasised how important sending a post can be as a signal to the mysterious algorithm, to boost its visibility and increase its reach.

Twitter/X on what the algorithm sees when you share posts

Elon explained it in his trademark way – partly in response to the backlash over the type of content appearing in users’ for you tabs:

Elon Musk tweet on sharing/sending tweets: The X algorithm assumes that if you interact with content, you want to see more of that content. One of the strongest signals is if you forward X posts to friends, it assumes you like that content a lot, because it takes effort to forward. Unfortunately, if the actual reason you forwarded the content to friends was because you were outraged by it, we are currently not smart enough to realize that.

Read: Should my company stay on Twitter/X – or leave?

Instagram explains why you should focus on sendable and sharable content

And this is how Adam Mosseri explained the importance of “thinking about creating something that people would want to send to a friend”:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Adam Mosseri (@mosseri)

Read: What young people think of as ‘news’ on Instagram

How to make your social posts and content more sharable

So rather than focus on telling followers and viewers something, focus on making them feel something: for example, happy, sad/empathetic, angry (though I would be careful to not overuse this), entertained, informed or something that helps them in their lives.

You may see this as just an extension of the old adage of “don’t make boring content” – which is true! But on social, as in the rest of the media environment, where there is so much more content than ever before, and the competition for people’s attention is greater than ever, it’s important to really think carefully how it would appeal to your target audience – beyond those that already follow you.

 

 

Lessons from the Labour government on presenting new leaders on social

Making good first impressions with staff and target audiences, and landing key messages with them, are rightly important for new CEOs or senior leaders – and although these organisational changes are major events, they are often rare.

But for those working in government, changes in prime minister and secretaries of state are more frequent, and civil servants tend to have a lot more experience in showcasing their new bosses to those important target groups (especially in these past five or so years.)

So what can we learn from these first seven days of this new government in terms of how to present new executives on their social and digital platforms?

Audiences are more willing to engage with content from new leaders (at the start, at least)

Lessons from the Labour government on presenting new leaders on social: New PM Keir Starmer and wife Victoria in Downing Street

We all know how we are living and working in an era where we are overwhelmed with content on our phones, on the TV and in our inboxes.

But when there is a new major organisational appointment, stakeholder audiences are more keen than usual to see and hear from that person and company.

With Labour coming to power, this is the first change of political parties in No10 in the truly social media era, so it is slightly unique in that both key stakeholders and the public are more interested and receptive to what ministers have to say.

But despite this more positive and welcoming environment, the government has needed to work hard to capitalise upon this opportunity, with engaging, relatable and sharable content.

Have clear, simple messages to land on social

From Keir Starmer’s first address outside No10 to the stream of social posts from ministers, there has been a common set of messages repeatedly landed, as part of the new government’s comms strategy:

Change, fixing broken institutions, focusing on economic growth, resetting international relationships and a return politics to public service.

Take a look at this video from No10’s digital comms team announcing the Prime Minister and his new Cabinet, which has similar vibes and soundtrack to Rishi Sunak’s new PM video from a couple of years earlier:

 

In all his media communications so far – not just online – Health Secretary Wes Streeting has hammered home his claim that “the NHS in broken” and setting out what he will do to “fix the NHS”.

Lessons from the Labour government on presenting new leaders on social media: Health Secretary Wes Streeting tweet: To fix the NHS

Demonstrating that leaders have taken clear, immediate decisions that benefit the target audience on issues they care about can be impactful.

It’s not a surprise that this tweet announcing “tough action” on cleaning up rivers, lakes and seas after the Environment Secretary’s meeting with water bosses (while the regulator Ofwat announced that water bills were going to rise) was popular – 900,000 views, according to Twitter.

(Disclaimer: my partner is the head of digital comms there, but I think this is among the best performing posts on government social channels this week.)

Show personality and authenticity

Getting a leader’s personality over on social media and doing so authentically can be tricky at times, especially in the early days.

Although I’m not a huge fan of civil servants clapping in their new ministers, what I really like about this video from the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government is that Angela Rayner feels genuine in her reactions as she enters her new department, seeing her photo already on the ministerial wall and thanking staff for their warm welcome.

 

This selfie by Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds is more engaging to me than a formal ministerial pic in an office – and still lands a clear message in the post wording.

Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds selfie with ministers and Department for Business and Trade staff

And sometimes the best moments that show your genuine personality are unplanned and unscripted!

And Hacker T Dog should be given his own Sunday morning politics show for this grilling of Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy! (My four year old’s takeaway from this was, “They’re closing down the BBC?” 😂)

Corporate social videos don’t need to be formal and filmed professionally

Keeping on the theme of authenticity, I liked this from Energy Secretary Ed Miliband, who has replicated this format a couple of times already on Twitter this week.

Yes, he’s at his desk, but the jacket is off, and he’s talking in a really easy to understand and engaging way (and without autocue) about the lifting of the offshore wind farm ban – and landing messages about the pace of change and helping to deliver on the election pledge of making Britain a clean energy superpower.

And it’s simple, short and snappy – and vertical too. You don’t have to use professional-level kit for corporate videos, especially for the off-the-cuff, ‘breaking news’ feel of this content. And it can be easily posted on other platforms too.

 

Use the voices of beneficiaries, customers and staff to land your messages

Although the new government is enjoying its honeymoon period, this will not last long – and after an election campaign where politicians have been all over our media, many voters are likely to be wanting a break from it all.

So instead of leaders or ministers just talking at the screen, look to see when you can use real, ordinary people – from beneficiaries of policies, projects and services, or even your staff.

This is a far more effective technique to engage the less-politically inclined members of the public, who are not using Twitter/X (and if they do are not following ministers) and do not want to see politicians in their feeds elsewhere.

We haven’t seen enough of the public featured in the Labour government’s social output so far, but that hopefully will change soon.

There was some nice interaction in the Department of Health and Social Care video, where Wes Streeting was in listening mode, hearing from patients and doctors, rather than another direct ‘piece to camera’ telling you what you should think is important to you.

 

Collab with content creators and influencers to land your messages

So far, we’ve seen quite standard social and digital media comms from the Starmer government – but the previous administration had begun to develop relationships with content creators and influencers to help to get their messages out to a non-politics obsessed general public.

This collaboration by the Treasury with Mr Money Jar allowed their news about inflation falling to be told in an engaging, native storytelling format, and wove in soundbites from an interview with the then-Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt.

This week, you may have read about the Biden administration’s work with content creators and influencers and even seen unlikely collabs at the Nato conference:

@mandaround Replying to @ur mom THE COOLEST thing l’ve done in my career to-date – IM AT THE WHITE HOUSE BAYYYBEEEE this NATO summit has taught me SO MUCH already and I’m dying to tell you guys everything that I’ve learned and seen 👀👀👀 The way I was in the same room as THIRTY TWO presidents and prime ministers??????? WHAT I’m doing my absolute best as a hashtag woman in STEM, and hashtag woman in a room full of men in general, to ask questions (to insanely high level officials 😮‍💨) and take up space, and LET ME TELL YOU it’s been a bit nerve-wracking You guys are about to get smmm content from here (and also some cool opportunities for all my scholars interested in geopolitics and other subjects in political science 👀) SO GET READYYY #university #student #canada #justintrudeau #NATOsummit #NATOCanada #ontariouniversities #canadianuniversities ♬ original sound – Amanda | Student life ♡

But giving access and also loosening editorial control can have unintended consequences – for example, Amanda Round’s most popular TikTok was pointing out that only 3 of 37 Nato leaders were women.

And TikTok content creator Olivia Juliana explained to Politico about the backlash facing her and her peers to posting Biden content on the app.

Email is effective

Like any comms plan, there should be a multiplatform approach to landing messages – and more ‘traditional’ approaches like TV, news websites and email are still important.

For example, the new Education Secretary wrote an open letter to the workforce “to make clear the valuable role they will play in the government’s agenda for change”, which was then posted on the Department for Education’s blog on GOV.UK and shared on their social media:

Letter to the education workforce from Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson

While Wes Streeting sat on the This Morning sofa to talk to their viewers about his plans for the NHS:

New Health Secretary Wes Streeting tweet: Our NHS is broken

Be creative, think ‘what would appeal to this audience?’ and go to where they are online

In the excitement to show action and engagement with key stakeholders, there has been a huge volume of content from government social channels. But, generally, less is more.

Where possible, be creative with formats, backdrops and presentation styles – a formal ‘piece to camera’ in an office should be reserved for serious moments!

And think if video really is the best way to get your points across (we still prefer to consume news in written form, according to a respected Reuters Institute report.)

Use insight to inform your strategy on the platforms where your audience are (I’m hopeful that the TikTok ban on No10 and departments will be lifted soon – the parties showed what is possible on there during the campaign and the Ofcom stats that show how many of us now get news from the app).

Also, look at your social analytics to analyse what type of content works best for that topic.

Put yourself in your audience’s shoes: if all your CEO’s content are videos of him or her talking at camera in their office, how is that going to stand out in people’s feeds?

And now social platforms are embracing algorithms over followers and engagement is key to boost visibility, think about how your leader’s content is sharable to reach a wider audience.

But direct comms is still best – have you considered a policy-themed or personality-led WhatsApp channel to share updates direct into your audience’s phones? Think specific and niche, not broad-based.

If you need some help with rethinking your approach on how to land your new CEO or boss on social, get in touch!

And sign-up below to get an occasional email with practical analysis and applicable actions to improve your multiplatform communications!

 

Ofcom admits it’s hard to regulate news on social media

Ofcom seem to admit they’re unsure what they can do to improve the range and quality of news on social media:

“People have limited control over their social media newsfeeds and trying to design interventions to improve the breadth and quality of news consumed on social media is a complex task.”

Their Online News research update, published today, confirms a lot about what we know about how platforms serve the content they think the user would be most interested in.

We have already learned how Meta is now only behind the BBC and ITV in terms of sources of news and in terms of ‘sources of attention’, its even bigger than ITV.

Ofcom reveal its studies into improving what news people see on social media

Ofcom has carried out some trials and detailed some interesting academic studies, on trying to improve the breadth and balance of news in people’s feeds. These include getting people to follow public service broadcast accounts, follow counter-attitudinal news sources, asking them to review who they follow and adding a trust rating browser extension.

But in short, they say these interventions were complex, not user-friendly and that the algorithms still had a large say on what users saw.

Also complicating the issue is how nearly all social platforms, except for LinkedIn, have made it a lot harder for people to access news websites away from the platform by depriortising or not allowing the ability to add in links to posts.

And Sky News for example, has said how poor Twitter referral traffic had been even before the changes imposed by Elon Musk.

BBC promise more personalisation on iPlayer as it competes with Netflix

 

BBC Director-General Tim Davie on competing with social media and Netflix

Is it too late to close the stable door after the horse has bolted?

Not for BBC Director-General Tim Davie, who will warn tomorrow about allowing “US and Chinese algorithms” to shape what we consume, pledging to invest and modernise all of its online products, including iPlayer, to provide a more personalised service.

Other PSBs are investing more time and effort in their own platforms, primarily for financial reasons, but does this mean our feeds will become even more like the Wild West, with For You pages prioritising poor quality, sensationalised content at the expense of an informed society?

You can read more about Ofcom’s research from last year on online news consumption and the rise of Meta here.

 

7 practical takeaways from Ofcom’s Online Nation report

How have our online habits changed this past year? Ofcom have done a thorough exploration of this, with their latest Online Nation report.

I’ve gone through this fascinating study to pull out what their findings mean for you – and how you can be inspired to better reach and engage your audiences.

1. Do you have a good YouTube strategy?

Ofcom Online Nation report survey: YouTube is Top social media services among UK adults

For too many, YouTube is still seen as a dumping ground for TV ads and other unloved videos. But it should really be a cornerstone of your digital comms strategy.

YouTube is now the most popular social or digital media platform among UK adults, overtaking Facebook.

Think about how you can provide helpful and engaging content on your most popular or searched for topics, with clear video titles that include relevant keywords, and interesting thumbnail images.

It’s no surprise that TikTok is popular among younger adults, with 18-24 year olds using it for an average of 55 minutes a day on there, but Snapchat is proving remarkably resilient too, with its users spending nearly an hour a day on there.

It feels too early to make any decisive views on Threads, but despite aggressive promotion on Meta’s other platforms, it’s not quite caught on so far. Like many of us, I’ve dipped in and out of it. But Channel 4 is doing a good job on there!

Don’t write off Twitter (or X) – although its usage has declined overall, it’s still the main place for breaking news, sport and other live events, if that’s what your audiences are interested in, and journalists and opinion formers are still active there.

 

2. The one size fits all social approach doesn’t work anymore

Overall, we’re seeing an increasing fragmentation of social media, with different groups of audiences using a wider range of channels. Just plonking the same post and content on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram is unlikely to work as it may have done before.

You need to examine what is working on what channel for you – even if it contradicts the general findings of this report – and even be bold about focusing on fewer of them.

Diversify your forms of engagement and communication too – we’ve seen how a whim of a social media giant or tweak in the Google algorithm can have a serious impact.

Also, think what you’e trying to achieve – is it to provide information and drive awareness, where social can be beneficial, or is it driving people to your website, which is becoming trickier through these platforms without paying?

Tailoring and optimising content and messaging is so important as well. Generally, we have less time and patience than ever before – if your caption or first few seconds don’t interest them, it’s likely to struggle.

I’ve proven this theory wrong, with some 16:9 videos on TikTok getting hundreds of thousand of views, but the content has to really resonate with, and engage, your followers.

And with the general shift to more algorithmic-based feeds, look into an organic promotion strategy to help boost the visibility of your posts – this doesn’t mean just influential voices, but your own staff too!

 

3. Is your content and site optimised for mobile?

This may sound silly in 2023, but we are using our phones more than ever to go online, with computer and tablet usage declining, according to Ofcom.

Even though those aged 55+ use smartphones the least, this still accounted for the vast majority of their time spent online.

The irony wasn’t lost as I tried to read Ofcom’s PDF-only report on my phone…

 

4. Consider reaching and engaging your audiences on WhatsApp

Apparently, we have an average of 36 apps on our phones – having culled a load recently from my phone that I hadn’t used in ages, this surprised me!

Meta-owned apps were the top ones used by adults, with WhatsApp still the favoured app of the nation.

Have you thought about creating a broadcast channel or explored whether you can gain access to Channels?

Success on there so far has been a bit hit and miss (my assessment is: less link posts, more native chat and content.)

 

5. Think about how AI can help your teams do their jobs better and provide a better service and experience for your audiences

I was fascinated to learn that as many as three in ten UK internet users had tried out a generative AI tool, such as Chat GPT, DALL-E or Snapchat’s AI. There’s an apparent willingness for people to use them, if they’re clearly labelled as such

But as Microsoft discovered, great care is needed when using it to avoid undermining customer confidence in what you do.

AI is also being used to provide great benefit to comms jobs – Buckingham Palace used AI-driven software to help assess the notoriously-tricky-to-measure online sentiment to the recent royal visit to Kenya, and Whitehall is testing their own in-house tool to see how it can help improve tasks such as in press offices.

I recommend following Peter Heneghan who’s doing exciting work in this space.

 

6. We all have a duty as content creators and publishers to protect our audiences

“Attitudes to being online are complex and often ambivalent”, notes Ofcom.

It adds that “adults recognise the benefits of being online at a personal level, but less so for society overall… Although being online provides both adults and children with many benefits, the online environment also has the potential to expose internet users to harm.”

Misinformation is the biggest issue – with those surveyed claiming political or electoral content is the biggest problem. A quarter of users had also encountered hateful, offensive or discriminatory content in the past month.

Think about the steps you can take to protect followers: do you have a clear guide in place? Do staff know about it, from a professional, and also sadly, personal basis?

Worryingly, with the shift to more algorithmic-based feeds, over a third of users said their most recent harmful interaction came for just scrolling through their feeds, or the for you page.

Combined with the fact that less than half of those surveyed were aware of platforms’ rules and safety measures in place, I’d love to see a high profile campaign by these apps, government and Ofcom to raise awareness of how to report potential issues, and also improve media literacy of users online.

 

7. We’re more online than ever – but remember those who aren’t

UK adults spend on average 3¾ hours online – slightly more than this time last year. It’s no surprise that younger people spend nearly an hour more, and 65+ an hour less.

But what struck me was the numbers that don’t have access to the internet at home, either through desire or affordability.

It’s 7% of 16+, rising to 18% of over-65s. Over a quarter of people said this was due to cost.

Despite the race to be more and more digital, don’t forget to include all of your audiences in your communication efforts.

You can read Ofcom’s fasinating Online Nation report here.