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Social media platforms and practices evolve at a rapid rate, but a number of best practices have emerged for managing social media channels. Here are a few:
Create objectives that specify what you want to achieve. Decide which audiences you will target. Put your objectives and target audiences in writing, and ensure that your team members have the same understanding about your approach.
Before you open a social media account, spend some time on the platform listening to conversations that are relevant to your objectives and audiences. Make a list of insights about community members' topics of conversation, types of interactions, popular posts, prominent users, and community norms. As you begin sharing your own content and engaging with other users, monitor the account's analytics. Be prepared to adjust your objectives and tactics based on what you learn.
At a party, people will avoid you if you talk only about yourself. Social media is the same way. Share a mix of your own content and other users' content. Before sharing something, ask yourself whether your audience would be genuinely interested in reading it. Remember that your account is associated with IREX, so only share content that aligns with IREX's values. Follow other users, and respond to their questions and comments. Avoid using social media to "blast" your content at other users or to hijack their conversations. If you're not sure whether a certain tactic would be perceived as spam, you should find a different tactic or reconsider your overall approach.
In a spreadsheet, Word document, or calendar template, make a note of important dates (e.g., holidays, internationally observed dates for development, IREX events, project milestones). Decide what content you will share on which dates. Then work backward to determine when to create this content. If more than one person is responsible for the account, specify who will handle each task. You should aim to share a steady stream of relevant content, but quality is more important than quantity.
Establish some basic rules of conduct. The rules may not always prevent users from engaging in abusive behavior, but they will allow you to specify the consequences. See this example of community standards. Banning or blocking users should be done only as a last resort; however, if a user continually breaks the rules, you have every right to ban or block the user. If you have questions about how to handle inappropriate comments or difficult users, please contact [email protected].
See the gov.uk teams "Social Media Playbook" for more best practices and advice about social media.