How to use Social Media for a personalised approach at advocacy.

Discover how to use social media effectively in the context of advocacy by personalizing your approach and leveraging the power of social media.

As you know, this month, The Beubble focuses on Media relations and influence in the context of public affairs and advocacy.

So far, I left aside the question of social media to focus on traditional media, most of them online newspapers like Politico or Euractiv. Why is that?

As a digital native whose professional experience has been shaped more by Social Media than any other kind of media, I consider there is a specific difference between the two.

There’s no denying that both are deeply connected and that an effective media strategy should go hand-in-hand with a social media strategy.

Nevertheless, it is important to distinguish the two when attempting to understand how the media in Brussels work.

The difference between social media and the other kind of media is twofold.

• The audience is not the same. One does not visit newspapers the same way one goes on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

• The authors and publishers also are different. Journalists reign in newspapers, and this status gives them greater credibility by respecting the rules of the job. On the other hand, as anyone can post on social media, the news there isn’t as accurate or sourced as a newspaper’s would be.

As such, strategies and objectives are fundamentally different.

Yet, in the book How to Work with the European Institutions, Jon Worth treats the media regardless of this fundamental difference. As such, the chapter on Media relations is not as insightful as it could have been.

In this article, I will explore specifically how to use social media in the context of advocacy.

Social Media for a personalised approach

The advantage of social media is the possibility to directly call the interest of your ideal target audience, and perhaps even to direct your message to a handful of stakeholders.

Jon Worth, in How to Work with the European Institutions distinguishes between general vs personal approaches, and proactive vs reactive engagement. It looks like this:

The vertical line refers to how you will engage with the public. Will it be a general message (“Here’s what we think”) or a personalised one (”Readers of The Beubble, what have you read this month?”)?

The horizontal line is your degree of reactivity. Do you follow trends (“Organisation X said Y”) or do you try to create them (“Our organisation is launching project X”)?

Let’s add examples. Here are some ideas for social media posts:

Of course, the key is to use all for types of posts on a rotating basis and when the opportunity presents itself. Some are easier than others (think general-reactive), but the harder to do get the best results (proactive-personal).

As lobbyists, the key is to leverage the power of social media to convince stakeholders. If your communication carries data and interesting stories, referring it directly to the stakeholders involved is the best course of action. Twitter works wonders in that regard since you can tag people in your posts for greater effect.

On the other hand, if you want to pressure policymakers using public opinion, your strategy will be to use a generalist approach to convey your message to the many. Facebook or Instagram then will be the platform to go, thanks to their broader and more popular reach.

With this in mind, I hope you can target better your communications to advocate for your ideas.