Keeping Your Cool on Social Media in a Boiling Hot Year

On social, emotions can run pretty hot. And in a big election year, the temperature often hits triple digits. To succeed in this heated arena, brands cannot operate with a status quo strategy. We posted previously about how to win the media strategy game during an election year. Now it’s time for a deeper dive into social media. Here’s how to adapt and flex to maintain engagement, avoid controversies, and stay aligned with your core values in this noisy and uncertain year.

Is your brand at risk?

Political content and activity keep increasing on social media platforms, particularly among younger audiences. Nearly half of all US adults say they use social platforms to consume the news, and social users are more likely to participate in political conversations than nonsocial media audiences. This environment can affect how users perceive all messages, including brand content, and can create three key challenges:

1. Audience alienation. One of the primary risks is the potential to alienate audience segments. Perceived bias can lead to customer backlash, whether justified or not.
2. Misinformation. During polarizing times, misinformation can spread easily. To maintain credibility, diligently ensure that your content is accurate, trustworthy, and written in a way that avoids misinterpretation.
3. Increased scrutiny. Consumers scrutinize brands more intensely during election years, and they expect clear, consistent, and value-aligned messaging. This predictable scrutiny might motivate you to either be issue agnostic or to take a stand, both of which have risks.

Four keys to effective election year social strategy

You’re (hopefully) reviewing your organic and paid social content and channel strategies on a regular basis. But in a big election year, it’s even more important to create a thoughtful and effective plan. Here are four ways to ensure that you continue engaging with key audiences and avoid potential brand dilution or misrepresentation:

1. Prioritize content. Review all content and prioritize which messages and platforms should be the focus for organic and paid efforts—and which areas should be deprioritized due to timing, budget, or messaging conflicts. It is better to focus on a few platforms and do it well than to be on all social networks and potentially dilute the impact of promoted messages.
2. Focus on core values. Consistency in messaging is important. According to NISM, brands should emphasize their foundational values without veering into political commentary—unless that is the direction the brand wants to lean into. Sudden changes in the type of messages or content you share may lead audiences to feel that your brand is being disingenuous.
3. Avoid taking sides—unless it is part of a core value. Staying issue neutral is important to avoid alienating existing and potential audiences, per Dixon Schwabl. However, if your brand has a stance on a potentially divisive topic, a firm stand might be preferable or even required to stay true. This might cause some potential customers to avoid your brand, but it also could help establish your position and attract those who agree with you.
4. Prepare for crisis management. Be ready to respond swiftly to crises and mitigate potential fallout from unforeseen issues or backlash. Start now by establishing a cross-channel crisis management plan to address controversies that may arise.

Community matters: Keep your audience on top of the polls  

With all the election year noise and chaos, the best thing you can do is give your audience the love they want and deserve. So explore these tips on how to foster loyalty through customer care, community-building activities, and targeted messages

• Listen and learn. Monitoring audience sentiment in real time is more important than ever because opinions and feelings can change quickly and unexpectedly.
• Adjust content. Adapt new organic posts or paid promoted content based on what’s happening. This helps audiences see that your brand is paying attention to the issues impacting their everyday lives.
• Schedule content wisely. Where possible, avoid posting around major political events. That way, you can (mostly) avoid getting lost in the flurry of political content and mitigate any potential misinterpretation of what your posts are about.
• Focus on evergreen topics. Develop relevant content that can be leveraged outside the political time frame. This helps you ensure consistent engagement with audiences and could help you avoid the risks associated with time-sensitive political issues.

  Even for brands that have a political stance on certain issues, evergreen nonpolitical messaging is often seen as “content relief” from the bombardment of election-related news.

The more prepared you are, the better. As always, if you put audiences first, you’re more likely to have positive, measurable success. And if you have any questions along the way—or just want to commiserate—hit us up.