How To Be A Social Media Wizz. A Guide For Researchers

In 2015 I undertook a Winston Churchill Memorial Trust Travel Fellowship to look at how dialogues are created about science on social media. On the US and Canada leg of my travels, I met with scientists and science communicators - including those at NASA. I also talked with social media strategists working in universities and museums, asking them all for their insights into how to thrive online. Here are my top 10 take-away messages. I hope they come in useful for any academics, communicators, public engagement practitioners and others that wish to generate engagement via social media in the future. You can read more about my Fellowship here.

1. Set clear goals

Via Flickr: celestinechua

If you only do one thing - do this.

Write down why you want to be on social media and create a plan of how to achieve your goals. Get help from others and advice from those that are already active on social media. This maximises your chances of success and can prevent a lot of time wasted. Although social media can open up many doors and opportunities it's important to remember that it isn't always the answer and might not be the right tool to get you where you want to be.

2. Do what is easy for your audience not what is easy for you

Social media can be deceptively easy to use - and the temptation is to post and generate content whenever you have a spare moment. Tweet from the bus? Simple! Post a quick tweet between meetings? No problem! Facebook in the lunch queue? Done!

But if you are looking to connect with an audience that doesn’t do the same things as you, or perhaps isn’t even in the same time zone, then you might not get very far.

Likewise, remember to ask “What is the right social network to connect with my audience?” Twitter and Facebook aren’t always the right choice for engagement. Have you thought about Instagram or Snapchat?

Your aim is to create posts that will appeal to your audience and post them at times that are appropriate on the right network. You can use scheduling tools like Buffer to make that easier for yourself. You can also monitor engagement statistics and learn what content and times work best for your audience.

3. Work with others to reach new audiences

It’s likely that in whatever area you are working in there is someone on social media who is already influential and has a large audience. Whether that is a mums group, or a leading scientist, look at working with them to generate further interest in your area. You can identify who this might be by using tools like Klout and Topsy but you probably have a good idea who they are already. Their likely traits are: they have a decent audience, they work with a group you want to connect with, they are active online,produce quality content and people respond to what they say.

Don’t forget to reach out to let your institution, grant funders and colleagues know what you are doing both online and offline.

4. Treat people online as you would face-to-face

Via Flickr: 53921113@N02

You wouldn't waltz into someone elses office going HEY, YOU GET INVOLVED WITH THIS BECAUSE I WANT YOU TO. So don't do that online. Approach them in way that is friendly and explains why they would want to work and connect with you. Be helpful. Be nice.

5. It isn't an easy option. It will take time, effort, support (and a plan)

Unless your only goal is to go viral, then building an engaged network takes time, careful curation and effort. It takes commitment and consistency - and you might want to think about employing someone to help you reach your goals or seeing if your institution can offer you some support.

Make sure that person has right skills and training. They need to be able to create and share quality content frequently (and that’s more than once a day!), respond quickly and have a genuine interest in the topics that you’re hoping to connect with others about to stimulate discussion and feedback.

6. Share content from elsewhere. Become an expert and a go-to person for content in that area.

Things that can help you achieve this include - commenting and discussing others’ work, and sharing ‘round-up’ posts of content from your area of interest. Just make sure you credit others appropriately if you didn’t create what you are sharing.

7. Use what is already available. Don't spend time reinventing the wheel

Via en.wikipedia.org

Look at what is out there already and works well. Don’t replicate exactly what others are doing but learn from them for your own social media project.

It’s a similar principal to when you start a business. Don’t steal content either but do share and curate relevant content that is of value to your audience. This groundwork can help you find your space online and generate information that is useful.

8. Watch and learn. The area keeps evolving. Follow those that can help you do better.

By Laitr Keiows (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons

Learn from those that do it well and then apply your own twist. The online environment changes quickly and there are people that follow these changes. Follow these experts and it will help you do better. Make sure you connect with local experts too. There are some really useful tips and case studies from my Fellowship here.

To find others in your area, use Google, and social media search functions to find them. Remember to run some new searches every 6 months or so to see what has appeared.

9. Don't get bogged down in the numbers.

Via Flickr: seanrnicholson

If you are looking to engage with a public audience then what you need to be looking at is engagement. Are people responding to your posts and content? And are these people the ones you want to reach? If not, try something new.

10. Have fun with it. People use social media because it is enjoyable.

Via Flickr: seanrnicholson

Experiment early on with new tools, styles and posts. This is the only way to find out what works for you and your network. You can use stats and tools to monitor your efforts, but social media is helpful in that it’s social and responsive so if you are getting it right, you will know.