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<\/a>The Hootsuite social media strategy template is a good starting point for aligning objectives and social goals.<\/p><\/div>\n
Pro tip: ‘get loads of followers in a month’ isn’t a good goal to set. Why do you want people to follow you? What do you want them to think and feel? What’s the outcome of engaging and interacting with them?<\/p>\n
Keep asking yourself ‘why’ until you get to the real objective.<\/p>\n
When it comes to public engagement and thought leadership, we often want people to read our blog posts, watch our videos and download our papers. That’s consumption, and we can measure it.<\/p>\n
But we also want to engage people in debate, spark discussions, and create conversations that resonate with people. So engagement on social platforms is another goal.<\/p>\n
Once you have the objectives and goals, you can identify the metrics you’ll measure success with. Consumption is measured by click-throughs, time on page, video views and PDF downloads. Engagement is measured either in terms of number of likes and shares, or in the sentiment and relevance of the replies.<\/p>\n
I’ll illustrate the use of social media metrics with an example later in the post.<\/p>\n
Your online identity<\/h4>\n
By thinking about your objectives, and putting them down on paper, you start to shape your use of a social media platform. Maybe one of your objectives is ‘get some conference gigs’. By writing that down, you can start to develop a plan that will help you achieve that goal.<\/p>\n
Along with objectives, think about your values. Do you value freedom of academic expression, evidence-based public debate, or the principle of lifelong learning? Write these things down as well. They will form the basis of your online identity. You can reflect these values in your Twitter bio, your tone of voice online, and the kind of things you talk about on Twitter.<\/p>\n
Most people are concerned about the divide between the professional and personal identity.\u00a0How much of yourself are you allowed to put into your Twitter account? Should you have separate accounts? Is a disclaimer necessary?<\/p>\n
<\/a>Professor Chris Husbands’ Twitter account is a good example of a thought leader who’s actively engaging and sharing, not just broadcasting<\/p><\/div>\n
My take on this is that you should be yourself. By writing down your objectives and values early on, you’ve established a clear purpose for using social media. People will want you to deliver on those promises, but they’ll also switch off if your account has no personality.<\/p>\n
So be professional, and\u00a0be yourself. It’s okay to be human (and that means that yes, you can tweet about politics, food or football) as long as you’re delivering on the strategic stuff.<\/p>\n
Put the audience first<\/h4>\n
We’ve covered the concept of peak content <\/a>before on this blog, and it’s always going to be a consideration.<\/p>\n Think about how many messages, adverts, broadcasts and images you’ve been exposed to today \u2013 on the way to work, in the cafe, on the street. And on the numerous devices you use.<\/p>\n There are more videos, photos and articles online than there have ever been, and we’re struggling to make sense of the sheer amount of content we have access to.<\/p>\n As a result, engagement is declining. People are scrolling and swiping past posts without stopping to like, comment or share.<\/p>\n It’s the ‘so what?’ factor. But if you can focus on making quality, relevant and engaging content that resonates with your audience, you can cut through the noise.<\/p>\n Remember that too much self-promotion will earn you an unfollow, so always aim to give your audience something that’s either for<\/em> them or\u00a0about<\/em> them.<\/p>\n The annoyance factor is real, and can earn you an unfollow<\/p><\/div>\n University marketing and communications teams are always looking for good research stories, and researchers that can help them tell those stories in engaging ways.<\/p>\n Here’s an example. The objective for this post back in April was to raise\u00a0the University’s reputation in healthcare technology to a national audience. Our goal on Twitter\u00a0was to reach a broad range\u00a0of people in the UK, and for the story to resonate with those people, leading to shares, likes and replies.<\/p>\n Our researchers are using 3D printing to help babies with respiratory conditions to breathe properly. pic.twitter.com\/GigPC68JIp<\/a><\/p>\n — Sheffield Hallam Uni (@sheffhallamuni) April 4, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/a>Work with your marketing and communications teams<\/h4>\n
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