At the end of 2020 we ran a busy Twitter-Chat to break down the barriers to what it takes to deliver great social content in the public sector. Here’s what we learned.
by Andy Lambert
Along with our friends at comms2point0, we had contributions from Doncaster Council, NHS Digital, Transport for Greater Manchester, Surrey County Council and Derbyshire County Council.
We wanted to break this challenge down into five key questions and gain the community’s input on Twitter. And we’re glad we did - the contribution and collective insight was incredible - and it’s this insight we will highlight in this blog.
1 Who delivers great social media content?
Immediately, Katie put forward @MyDoncaster, which was backed up by Sara saying; ‘Agreed! So funny - sometimes actual belly laughs - but getting across important messages. Proving council comms doesn't mean stale/boring’
Anna chimed in with; ‘@MyDoncaster of course! The recent Friends post was genius. Get audiences engaged with fun content and a strong tone of voice = more people seeing your organisation's news and update.’
@MyDoncaster‘s content resonated with others too, with Natalie saying ‘Totally agree! I'd love to speak with their comms team about getting the balance right between humour and authority. Sometimes when the public sector tries to be funny, it flops, but they've got it mastered.’
Kirsty suggested @falkirkcouncil, saying that they ‘deliver great social content - witty and humorous, interactive and engaging. Seems to resonate well with residents - levels I aspire to!’
Humour had clearly been a key factor in these recommendations so far, but Joe had an alternative take on the question, saying; ‘I'm going for anyone who actually talks to people and doesn't just broadcast stuff. Being part of your community is really important. @RNLI are very good at this - they get it.’
This was backed up by Anna; ‘Agreed. Knowing your audience and being human! Absolutely key.’
Anna added; ‘I look to Transport for London a lot to see what they are doing. Their Twitter feed uses really strong visuals (lots of user generated content) and the copy is clear and accessible. They also use games to engage audiences.’
Joe agreed, saving that personality goes a long way. ‘There are many who have tried to copy @innocent's approach and for me, it doesn't always work unless that is your *culture*. They can do it because it's who they are, and they've very good at it.‘
2 Where do you get your ideas for content?
Julie opened question two with; ‘ Genuinely listening to feedback on our channels - what works, what doesn’t, what people want to know. Boring but it works! Also, get out of the office (or house now!) - go to your communities , see what’s there. And go to places that inspire you - nature, galleries etc.’
Helena suggested that collaboration was key to coming with the best ideas: ‘When we are given space to brainstorm and be creative, it's amazing what people can come up with. Often it's hard to carve out the time, and even more difficult in current circumstances’
This point resonated with Sophie: ‘Love brainstorming & bouncing off of people - other comms people AND colleagues within services as they can help with making something true to life.’
Natasha picked up on the theme of creative collaboration, calling out an important point; ‘....creative thinking space with colleagues shouldn't be a luxury...It's vital for us to do our jobs effectively.’
Clearly, this was a point that was shared by others in the chat, with Anna adding; ‘Yes! It's odd to me that having the time to sit back and think, or have an hour of brainstorming each week, isn't prioritised more within communications teams.’
Natasha also suggested a potential solution; ‘Our design team started taking a day where they took time to research projects/brands/best practice. It's amazing what thinking space can do. In comms, we're constantly on alert and having to react. Booking in thinking time could get trumped by a media enquiry!’
3 What are the barriers to delivering great social content?
Roly opened the floodgates on this question with an honest and somewhat controversial list of; ‘Time, Politics, People with outdated opinions about tone of voice , Support from comms, Images from service.’
‘People with outdated opinions’ struck a chord with others chiming in for advice as to how to manage this situation, until Georgia suggested; ‘Don’t ask them!’
This was a point that was echoed by Anna, ‘That's how my colleague Graham got permission to go ahead with his funny traffic signs (https://themanc.com/feature/meet-the-man-behind-tfgms-hilarious-traffic-signs/ ) . Ask for forgiveness, not permission!’. This statement was met with a round of virtual applause.
Sophie articulated a barrier which seemed to sum up every public sector communication professional’s existence; ‘The sheer volume of things all at the same time and as a small team. being able to really dedicate enough time on everyone’s different priorities, whilst being reactive and proactive in other areas that are still important!
Following a poll run by Darren, these barriers boiled down to a lack of time and lack of trust.
Georgia concluded question 3, with a very important point; ‘Just doing it is the best way. I really hope those in my team would feel they can experiment. They know our online communities best.’
4 How can we overcome these barriers?
Training was the key point for Anna here, saying; ‘Up-skill staff and engage employees throughout the organisation in what you're doing. You may get to a point where employees can curate quality content for you. We use #TeamTfGM on LinkedIn to build employee engagement.’
I agreed ‘Getting a wider team involved is crucial. If social media is the mouthpiece of the organisation, it should include the views of those within it. (Subject to curation, of course!)’
Natasha agreed saying’ ‘ Yep ...you need your own staff to be your ambassadors and to champion your content. If they don't get it, how do we expect our audience to?’
Helena suggested being able to present and demonstrate the value of ideas as well as having a forensic attention to the outcomes is critical; ‘If you can follow the journey of an idea, why you're doing it, how you did it, what the result was...then you have the evidence some people need to trust you to repeat that success.’ Helena added ‘Learn from your mistakes. Try stuff and if it doesn't fly, look at why. Was it the timing or the content, or something else. Learn and adapt.’
Rachael returned to the ever appearing topic of ‘time’ and backed up Helena’s point on analysis; ‘Time for planning and thinking. A manager to deal with the strategic stuff so we can crack on with everything else. Some tools to help analyse our social media would be great.’
5 What resources would help you do more/better in 2021?
Shirah was quick off the mark with the final question, saying that; ‘I'm a big believer in the need for headspace to deliver creative and quality comms. I'm trying to help my team carve time out to better support this, but with to-do lists longer than I am tall, it's no easy feat.’
Natasha was keen to learn from others; ‘More examples of best practice that are easily accessible. I don't just mean screenshots, I mean context, logic and thought process behind it. Helps to inspire me and also shows that it can work when done properly’
Anna seconded the need for inspiration; ‘Staff to be given the time to brainstorm as a group, look at examples of best practice, collate campaigns they love and discuss them, read industry news... this all leads to inspiration, which leads to good work.’
Helena ended the chat on a very popular Tweet ‘ In lieu of time, a place to share resources - ideas, content etc. Social is a big place and so many of us are working on the same things for different, local audiences. Would be ace if we could share more and lighten our collective loads!’
Summary
There was some fantastic contribution in this chat, and whilst there are clear perpetual and shared challenges of time, trust and conflicting priorities, there was some very distinct alignment on what good looks like.
There is certainly collective agreement on what good content should be - relatable, funny and ultimately, human.
The path to get to this recognised utopia is clear too - the need for creative collaboration, having a safe place to share ideas, gain inspiration, develop the concepts and communicate the opportunity to other stakeholders.
This is why the team at ContentCal developed (and continue to develop) tools that foster content ideation, collaboration and planning for remote teams.
Most interestingly, they offer tools that enable a whole organisation to contribute ideas and suggestions - allowing comms teams to curate these ideas and develop them further. This collaborative approach also opens the opportunity of sharing best practice across public sector organisations.
So whilst tools like ContentCal alone won’t solve all of the barriers highlighted in this chat, it could help take us communication professionals one step closer to breaking down the barriers that prevent us from delivering great content.
Andy Lambert is director at ContentCal. You can say hello on Twitter at @Andy_R_Lambert
*Sign up for the comms2point0 eMag*
The comms2point0 eMag features exclusive new content, free give-aways, special offers, first dibs on new events and much, much more.
Sound good? Join over 2.5k other comms people who have subscribed. You can sign up to it right here.
