Tips for Successful Government Social Media Marketing

Social Media

Government social media marketing is vital to promote their products, services, and initiatives. It can also help them create awareness about the issues they have been working on. Governments rely on social media for communication, outreach, and education.

Social media provides an excellent way for the government to stay in contact with its and potential constituents. Social media has also become an effective tool for governments to share information and provide public service announcements.

Content and Information on Social Media

Providing information through social media can be a cost-effective way to reach more people in a shorter period than traditional channels such as television or radio could achieve alone.

Many government agencies are using social media to connect with the public and get feedback on issues. These agencies have emerged as some of the most engaged and transparent organizations on social media.

A successful government social media strategy will help attract citizens and engage voters through these platforms while providing an avenue for them to voice their opinions and concerns. 

Social media users with a negative opinion about a government agency or its policies can be engaged by highlighting what makes the agency unique or what sets it apart from others in its field. 

  • Have a clear strategy. This will help in establishing a brand and clear objectives. These tactics are also helpful in measuring the success of the campaign.
  • Make sure that there is proper transparency on social media. Government agencies must give people a fundamental understanding of what they do and how they do it.
  • Make sure that public relations strategies are established on social media sites themselves. These need to be in line with other channels like TV ads, print ads, internet banners, and traditional PR methods like press releases, press conferences, and more.
  • Encourage discussion, not discourage it – whether this discussion is good or bad for the organization. Respond publicly, thank people for their feedback, and answer questions where appropriate.

Governments should focus on generating content that will appeal to a broad audience, which is what they are looking for when they come across the information in the first place. They also need to maintain a consistent message so that no matter who comes across it or how many times they see it, it has the same feeling and intention.

TikTok Is Becoming Political

Social Media

TikTok

 

Is TikTok suitable as a political medium? Political editor Jarne van der Poel talks about it with Emmelie Valkenburgh van @groenlinksoptiktok and Sanne Kruikemeier, assistant professor of political communication.

With a week to go until the elections, there is a lot of campaigning going on. Due to the coronavirus, the candidates cannot fly on the street and so the attention is more than ever on social media. Several political parties have therefore ventured into the relatively new medium TikTok (politicians can click here to boost their presence on TikTok as well). The VVD and GroenLinks – their accounts together @vvdoptiktok and called @groenlinksoptiktok – are now the biggest players there with 36 thousand and 24 thousand followers respectively.

According to Emerce, a total of 4.5 million Dutch people use the app, mainly people in their twenties and teenagers. TikTok is known for short and often musical videos. Playback or imitation of other videos is encouraged, creating viral trends.

An example of this is the trend where users are to the rhythm of Where Is The Love? of The Black Eyed Peas hopping around the room, accompanied by witty lyrics (‘on the way to a break after 10 minutes of studying’ or ‘subserviating the room if you have to do the dishes). Political parties do not want to be left behind: VVD MP Martin Wörsdörfer (‘on the way to a new debate’) and GroenLinks leader Jesse Klaver (‘on the way to our first post on TikTok’) jumped rhythmically through the House of Representatives building.

Commentators immediately talked about it. In De Nieuws BV, campaign strategist Anne Stokvis said that Jesse Klaver is missing out here. She wondered what exactly he has to look for on TikTok, and felt that he underestimated the target group. ‘Toe-curling and embarrassing’ was the verdict at Editie NL. “If you as an older man or woman are going to do a dance for young people of 15 or 16 years, then you miss the mark,” one analyst scoffed.

Positive influence underestimated

The statements in the media fit into a broader trend in which social media is portrayed in a bad light. The public discourse on social media is defined by discussions about damnation, relocation, invasion of privacy, and the spread of fake news. These concerns are entirely justified, but the balance is sometimes lost.

It becomes painfully clear that the – somewhat older – commentators on television do not fully understand the value of a social medium like TikTok. In addition to fun trends, it is also a place for political activism, education and commentary. “During the U.S. elections, TikTok seems to have had an encouraging influence on young people,” says Sanne Kruikemeier, a lecturer at the University of Amsterdam who has conducted research on online political communication and its effect on citizens’ political engagement.

‘A bit of Klaver and a bit of Emmelie’

Teens and young adults are increasingly using TikTok to express their opinions and concerns about politics. Emmelie Valkenburgh also sees this. She is an online content creator and manages the TikTok account of GroenLinks. “A bit of Clover and a bit of Emmelie,” the caption of the account reads. “Young people are also on TikTok, because they have an opinion about political and social issues and want to get involved,” she says. In the comments below her videos, young users start discussions on topics such as the climate or the housing market.

Content and personal

“Young political involvement is further encouraged by social media making politics more accessible,” kruikemeier says. “Many young people find politics abstract or boring. Research shows that social media makes politics more accessible by giving it a face and a voice.”

Emmelie also tries to do this: “Our social media are substantive, but I also want to show the personal sides of our leader.” An example of this is the popular TikTok video “Cooking with Klaaf”, in which Jesse Klaver cooks vegetarian boemboe bali. On the other side of the political spectrum, the VVD shared on TikTok the morning routine of MP Dennis Wiersma.

Emmelie rejects the suggestion that these kinds of videos are at the expense of the content. GroenLinks’ TikTok account also contains excerpts from debates and speeches and videos in which she films herself and explains what the party’s plans are. And yes, “a minute remains a minute,” she admits, but you can also make a substantive point in 60 seconds. It helps the 27-year-old that she herself belongs to the young target group: “I think I have more insight into it, that I can translate our policy intentions well into ‘the language’ of TikTok and that I know how the app works.”

 

ALSO READ: How Great Recruiters are Made from Political Science and Law Graduates

 

New target group

Ultimately, the app, which is now used more often by young people than Facebook, is mainly a way to reach a new target group during campaign time. “I actually think that political parties are always looking for new ways to reach citizens. Instagram is mainly millennials and with TikTok you really reach a new, younger target group,” says Kruikemeier. “We think it’s important to reach as many people as possible,” Emmelie agrees. “There is a large group on TikTok that may not get politics on board with the regular news. We take up the challenge of doing that through this route.”

‘In a democracy it is not only important to vote, but also to participate’

“You can try to appeal to a new target group,” said political scientist Peter van der Heide at EditieNL, “but with TikTok that makes no sense, because that target group is not even allowed to vote.” Sanne Kruikemeier can count on a slight surprise at this statement: “For me personally, that is a bit of a limited view of politics. In a democracy, it is not only important to vote, but also to participate, for example. I think it would be useful to involve young people under the age of 18 as well. Political parties are already doing this, for example through their youth departments.”

Small effect on voice choice

Despite all the positive effects on the political involvement of young people, Kruikemeier expects that the final effect on the choice of the vote is small. “We see in research that successful social media campaigns can lead to preferential votes for a particular candidate, but those are small effects.” She also emphasizes that social media is often used by people who are probably already politically involved and are already voting anyway.

In addition, the TikTok algorithm chooses videos that match the user’s interests and offers them on a silver platter: the “For You” page. So there is a good chance that Emmelie’s videos will end up with people who already think the same way. Still, that’s not a problem: “The goal isn’t necessarily to convince people of other political persuasions, but rather to reach young people in general,” she says.

‘Young people are also on TikTok to talk about politics’

In any case, more attention to the positive effects of social media would not be out of place in the public debate. “Older journalists didn’t think our TikTok was a good idea,” Emmelie laughs, “but I think they underestimate young people because they’re also on TikTok to talk about politics.”

Sanne Kruikemeier also thinks that the positive function of social media such as TikTok remains underexposed: “Young people spend a large part of their day on social media. We often talk about the dangers of this, but forget that it can also contribute to democracy in a positive way.”

That TikTok is the new medium for politicians, she would not want to say. “But social media will remain, in whatever form. And that is the future, also of politics.”

 

Youtube as Political Campaign Tool

Politics

Back in August 2019, the Indian rapper Badshah was accused of utilizing a community of servers to the promotion of the most recent music video ‘Paagal’. One day after launch, as many as 75 million views had been attained by this movie a listing, around YouTube. The rapper asserts he employed Google advertisements to achieve audiences. Whatever the fact, the story stipulates cash pushes press prominence.

YouTube is your second-most visited site, following Facebook and the social media together using the variety of consumers, following Google. This produces the platform among the media resources that are most crucial.

In spite of conventional media, the choice and marketing of articles onto YouTube lie not at the hands of some, but instead in an opaque internet of celebrities incentivized to the algorithms of leveraging YouTube for their own intentions. Music content marketing may be innocent, but not causing any injury. There is absolutely no reason against boosting articles, such as misinformation and opinions. This penetration was subject to debate because the Cambridge Analytica scandal, that aimed to encourage political views through advertisements.

While platforms also have vowed to execute modifications, in maximizing choice for promotion spending as opposed to consumer gain, YouTube’s conflict of interest remains hierarchical. The stage continues to influence politics, even together.

YouTube affecting politics’s example is Volodymyr Zelensky the president’s campaign as they buy youtube views. Formerly a comic and actor, Zelensky profited in the recognition of the popular TV series ‘Servant of the people’, along with also the widespread discontent with all the modifications following the 2014 Ukraine revolution. The thing concerning the effort of Zelensky was its insufficient manifesto. Zelensky topics were taken on by neither nor put forward a strategy of action. His goal was to eliminate the regulating elite from electricity.

His effort has been conducted through his YouTube station and comprised pictures of a ‘presidential’ movie website revealing this candidate’s lifetime, along with his encounters with opinion leaders that were youthful. From the conclusion of the effort, the YouTube station of Zelensky had drawn over 680,000 followers. Petro Poroshenko, competitor, and the president accumulated a secretary of. The avoidance of media stations of Zelinsky made him the president ‘an entirely’ effort.

Another illustration of the rising role in the politics of YouTube is discovered in France. An interview was given by the president Emmanuel Macron into some YouTuber a couple of days before the EU elections 2019. YouTube affected politics in this new president’s effort.

The replied Travers’ inquiries reside followed by an audience of over 350,000. President Macron highlighted the significance of voting, among other subjects, regardless of the position that was the person. Macron’s movement was widely interpreted as an effort to boost the involvement of their young and also to oppose the party ‘Rassemblement federal’.

The election results showed an increase in the turnout of respondents by 12 percent. Media may have had an impact on those Republicans, is their principal source of info. Likewise, the illustration of the effect on the politics of YouTube revolves around the video manufacturer Rezo. He rose to fame through his movie ‘Destruction of the CDU’, published around precisely exactly the exact identical period as Marcon’s EU election meeting, the week before their EU elections 2019.

Rezo’s movie attempts to disassemble the top celebrations. The video ignited an unprecedented discussion on politics regarding the effect of networking and reached over 10 million viewpoints. The CDU, the Italian party announced a movie. The celebration needed to reverse their statement.

The elections turned out as a catastrophe for the regulating coalition, attaining just 20 percent, and just 45 percent of the votes amongst voters. YouTube may have had an effect on this result. In the wake of this election, the chief of the CDU declared to govern online manipulation of remarks (‘Meinungsmache’) before elections, prompting questions regarding her belief in the liberty of language and familiarity with internet platforms. If anything, the situation illustrates a disregard by politicians and parties of the effect of media. The situation suggests a disparity in the comprehension of older voters and younger, in exactly the resources of the information are. Each example demonstrates how YouTube could be instrumentalized to induce shift. We might see these cases.

YouTube’s effects are tough to see. In contrast to Facebook, these networking programs and Twitter, it doesn’t primarily revolve around the communication between people but instead around data intake. Profiles don’t supply a record of the content and comments are shared with ‘stations’, whose source could be anonymous, albeit movies have been proven to be some of their most articles on the internet.

Then a representation of remarks might prosper, favoring, as an instance, the extremes across the floor, if we do not alter the principles of YouTube. Whilst it has ever been the situation, that rise is given by remarks this result is amplified on networking, also subject to human supervision.

You will find chances to tighten the principles of politics tack on YouTube. There are loads of alternatives to tighten up the rules. As an example, an individual could oblige the stage to deactivate their recommendation calculations for material, to prevent people from being enticed into intense and more spectacular views. An individual could confine advertisements to political parties that are registered as well as prohibit specific kinds of advertisements.

How will we manage the rising influence of YouTube? We, as consumers of platforms, should inquire if to take those politics is becoming driven by marketing spending. Only after that can we reply, what impact we would like to provide platforms that are online.