Social Media for Politicians in 2020

By: Johana M. Caba
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Social media is always evolving and policies are always changing. The political campaigns of prominent politicians and political parties are likely going to change in 2020 with various platforms banning or restricting the types of political advertisements that are allowed.

For a brief recap, Twitter and Facebook have taken different stands on the situation involving political campaigning on their platforms. In terms of paid advertisements that are promoted to people based on micro-targeting, Twitter has banned all political ads unless they meet certain criteria. Some of the promoted content that is still allowed  includes social, economic and environmental issues from organizations such as non-profits. On the other hand, Facebook has decided to continue to allow politicians to advertise on their platform. Furthermore, they will not be fact checking which means that politicians can continue to advertise lies. 

What does this mean for political campaigns? How can less prominent politicians get ahead of the game? There are a few ways politicians can take advantage of social media without the use of advertisements. Thus far, they will not have a problem with Facebook considering that they can still promote their ads as usual. Below are recommendations on what politicians and their teams can do to still reach large audiences on Twitter:
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1. Re-Analyze Your Audience: The first thing that needs to be done in order to reach larger audiences on Twitter without the aid of promoted content is to analyze the audience. What is the target audience for your political campaign? Which demographics are you trying to reach? Who are the crucial groups that will make an impact in your campaign? Answer these questions in order to get a better picture of your overall target audience. 
2. Think About Content: The content for your campaign will depend on various social, economic, political and environmental aspects. What is your campaign trying to achieve? What content appears to get the most attention? Think about the various posts that have gotten you the best results in the past. You should also think about the length of your content considering that most people have a very short attention span.
3. Think About Content Types: Content types goes hand-in-hand with the second recommendation. What types of content work best for Twitter? Here you should think about incorporating video, if you have not done so already, and other types of content that work.
4. Think About Hashtags: We all know that hashtags are a powerful force, especially trending ones on Twitter. So, for your campaign, think about the hashtags that will represent your campaign. Make sure to use the hashtags on your posts, but also share them on marketing materials, commercials, other social media platforms and during speaking engagements. Having the right hashtag and sharing it with friends, family and followers can help the reach of your posts. 
5. Metrics: Set up metrics to track in order to determine if the campaign has been successful. For example, you can set a metric to determine the growth of your audience within a certain number of months. You can also set a metric to track the reach and engagement of your posts.
6. Re-Evaluate: The final part is to re-evaluate your goals and your metrics. Take a look at the overall campaign every two weeks to ensure that your posts are working and reaching a larger audience. If you notice that your posts are not reaching your metrics, then re-evaluate your audience, content and hashtags.