Industry Insights: 10 Do's and Don'ts on Social Media for Politicians

By: Johana M. Caba

In this day and age, everyone is on social media! Politicians are among those that use social media to talk about laws, share projects and communicate directly with their constituents. Unfortunately, not all politicians have a good social media strategy. They might have a good team, but some do not want to listen to social media strategy advice. On the other hand, some like Corey Booker do a great job with their social strategy.  

1. Do not overdo it with the posts. Some politicians tend to overdo it when it comes to posting. They over saturate their feeds with irrelevant posts about every single step in a construction project and every single thing that goes on in their daily lives. The problem with this strategy is that the most important posts get lost within all of the unnecessary ones. In addition, it begins to annoy followers that end up muting the accounts or unfollowing. Transparency is good, but people are not interested in seeing everything. It is recommended that instead of sending out over 10 posts in one day, limit it to two or three to ensure that important information does not get lost and that followers do not get annoyed. 
2. Do utilize social graphics. Almost everyone utilizes social graphics because they are engaging and grab the attention of followers. Although a lot of the most well-known politicians have a team that creates graphics for them, local politicians tend to have less innovative graphics. For example, some create posters and graphics on PowerPoint and Word, which is not necessarily bad, it is just not innovative. PowerPoint and Word are great for designing posters, but social media graphics need to be engaging. Using programs like Canva and Adobe Spark allow content creators to utilize new graphics and animated graphics that really grab the audience’s attention. 
3. Do not forget to use hashtags and mentions. When I first started working as a social media manager for a politician, the first thing I did was conduct a social media audit (before the job interview). I noticed that they were not using hashtags or mentioning people and organizations. Hashtags and mentions help you get your posts viewed by a larger audience, not just your followers. After implementing this strategy, the social media growth of this politician boomed and I was able to grow his audience by thousands within a few months.  
4. Do keep your personal profile separate. A lot of people have two separate profiles, one for just family and friends, and one for the public. It is recommended that public figures such as politicians keep their friends and family in a private profile. Not everyone wants to see intimate family pictures nor is it necessary to gain attention. Rather than having the same profile for personal and public purposes, have separate ones and occasionally post about family on the public profile. You can use national holidays like Grandparents Day to post about your grandchildren and children rather than inundating your professional profile with photos of their daily lives.  
5. Do not forget to proofread your content. Proofreading is important in every single industry. We often forget to proofread on social media because it is social media. We may think that spelling rules don’t matter on social media, but they do. It is important to take the time before posting and re-read everything a couple of times. This will ensure accuracy and bring your content to the next level. Sometimes we even try to post so fast to accommodate our bosses that we skip the proofread and later someone will point it out or we will notice and have to go back to edit. Remember, take the time to proofread before sending out every post. 
6. Do utilize features like Facebook Live and other livestream services. When it comes to livestream we tend to imagine random people recording their rants online for the world to see. But, if you are strategic you can use these formats to create buzz around events, press conferences and ribbon cutting events. As a politician, you can utilize Facebook Live and Instagram Live to keep your constituents informed about important events that can affect them. This is also a great way to build a positive reputation and demonstrate the work that you are doing to help the community that elected you. Keep in mind that a livestream is similar to a live broadcast on television, so plan your words ahead of time and make sure not to go off on irrelevant tangents or rants. 
7. Do not engage in social media feuds. In recent years, we have seen social media users actively engage in feuds or post racist comments which later come back to haunt them. Everything that you post lives on in screenshots, archives and shares. Remember to be cognizant of what you post and what you reply to commentators. Sometimes it is better not to reply publicly to comments from critics, rather message them privately or write them a letter. It is not necessarily wrong to comment back, but as a politician it is better to handle serious issues behind closed doors. If the issue is not that serious and the person is just ranting, then do not engage. Often times, it is better to remain silent than to begin replying to every comment that ignites a spark. 
8. Do schedule posts. Scheduling posts is a great way to ensure that relevant information always reaches constituents. Important information such as voting registration, government office information and small business information can be extremely useful to followers. This information can be scheduled to post at times when you know that there are no events or press conferences to use for content. Some government information is not created for sharing on social media, so create engaging graphics to use in order to grab the attention of followers. 
9. Do not be unreachable. What do I mean by this? Simply put, engage with your audience. Don’t just post pictures. You need to be engaging and listen to what people are saying. Don’t be over sensitive and want to reply to everyone, but be aware of what others are saying about you. In this way, there will be no surprises if a journalist asks you a question or if residents are calling your office. A part of this step is to let your team know when you have seen a comment that you do not agree with, don’t simply get angry when your team has not seen the comment because there is no notification once you open it. Sometimes there is a lack of communication between your team and yourself, but it is better to discuss issues respectfully. 
10. Do determine what platforms are best for you. Some platforms don’t suit everyone. Twitter and Facebook Pages are great platforms for politicians, but this does not mean Instagram is right for you. This occurs because you have to understand your target audience and the demographics that tend to utilize these platforms. You might notice that Instagram is not growing fast while twitter is booming. This all comes down to the demographic. In Twitter, there tends to be more political discussion than on Instagram mainly due to the fact that Instagram is a visual platform while Twitter is not. Twitter’s public nature allows for politicians to flourish while Instagram might not grow as rapidly due to the visual component.