How to Get Your Social Post Right, Every Time
It’s time for balloons, streamers and cake—maybe even a glass of bubbly.
In today’s pretend scenario, your organization has been working on a policy change for months—and you just won! You want to share the news on your social media accounts. But you’re short on time and wondering if you can drop the same exact message into all of your social media accounts…
I have to be Forthright with you here—the answer, sadly, is no. We’re often asked about ways to save time when prepping social media—and we get it!
But we also know that customizing your social media is one of the best ways to speak directly to your audience.
The extra time is worth it, we promise.
Start Here: Think Through Your Target Audiences
Without deciding who you want to reach—and what you want to accomplish with that audience—you can’t create an effective social media strategy.
That’s why ANY time I start a campaign with a partner, we begin by identifying our target audiences first. We create a list of who can help the organization reach its goals, from donors and coalition partners to policy makers and area parents.
We recommend always starting there!
Once you create your list of target audiences, it’s time to identify “where” you can reach them.
For example, many critical donors may be active on LinkedIn, but not on Twitter.
On the other hand, policy makers might spend most of their time on Twitter, but ignore LinkedIn. (Yes, yours truly *does* have a favorite policy Twitter handle.)
Parents, especially millennial parents, on the other hand, flock to Facebook.
The list goes on.
By identifying your target audience—and then matching that audience with the right social outlet—you can target them exactly where they spend time online.
Step 2: Think Through Your Goals and Outlets
So back to the victory you want to promote. Here’s an example of how you can set goals for your social media outreach, as well as decide on your target audiences for each platform:
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Goal 1: Impressing donors with what your organization has managed to achieve
Target audience and social outlet: You know your donors are on LinkedIn and Facebook
Tone: LinkedIn is all about building professional connections; Facebook, on the other hand, invites you to show more personality—for example, with images and videos.
Goal 2: Publicly recognizing your coalition members to further build your relationship
Target audience and social outlet: Your coalition partners are most active on Twitter
Tone: Less formal, just as much impact!
And Finally: Three Social Outlets, Three Targeted Posts
We know many of you are “example” learners. (You’ve told us so!) That’s why we drafted three sample social posts—one for Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn—for your celebration post. You can find these posts here!
Twitter (Target Audience: Partners)
Today, we want to celebrate every member of the @EveryStudentLearns Coalition, including [TAG ORGANIZATIONS HERE]. Without your help, the #EveryStudentLearnsAct would never have passed! We’re lucky to have such amazing partners. [INSERT bit.ly link leading to info about the victory]
Tip: Ensure your tweet is 280 characters or less. You can make this a thread as well!
Facebook (Target Audience: Donors)
Why yes, that is our executive director high fiving our policy associate Millie. Why? Today, the #EveryStudentLearnsAct of 2020 was finally passed, unanimously! Our team of child advocates worked tirelessly for 6 months to ensure this life-changing legislation—one that will help eliminate the school-to-prison pipeline—would pass. And we couldn’t have done it without our amazing supporters like you. Thank you.
Tip: Include a short photo album of your team hard at work and then celebrating the victory. We find that photo albums perform well on Facebook.
LinkedIn (Target Audience: Donors)
You—our donors and supporters—are passionate about eliminating the school-to-prison pipeline. Your support is one of the reasons our team was able to advocate so fiercely for the #EveryStudentLearnsAct of 2020. This critical legislation ensures children have much-needed support in schools, from access to mental health resources to one-on-one time with mentors! Thank you. You can learn more about the legislation here. [Insert link to the blog post your organization wrote about the victory].
Tip: Psychology Today shares that as humans, we’re hardwired to focus on ourselves. By making a post like this “about” your target audience, you’re more likely to pique their interest!
Taking these steps and customizing your messages helps ensure your audience sees your message—and that that message resonates.
As for next steps? We’re glad you asked. We’ve created a fill-in-the-blanks, printable cheat sheet to help you stay on track with your goals, outlets and audiences as you move forward with your thoughtful, targeted social plan.
How are you speaking to your target audiences on social media? What other questions do you have? We would love to hear from you!
