Navigating your Business’ Social Media during an Election Year

If you feel somewhat anxious about running your business’ social media account during an election year, you’re certainly not alone. Regardless of where you fall on the political spectrum, your feed will be flooded by ads, heightened conversations, and triggering debates concerning everything from business taxes to healthcare. What organization wouldn’t be stressed out by this? Luckily, we’re here to offer some tips on how to navigate your business’ social media as the 2020 election unfolds. 

Tip 1: Have a Policy

Before doing anything else, have a policy at the ready regarding how your organization will treat political content posted by someone else on your social media. For example, you could say something along the lines of, “Our organization is nonpartisan and cannot engage in electoral activities. As such, we will delete all electoral content posted on our social media,” or “As a nonprofit 501(c)3 organization, we will maintain a general disclaimer on our social media sites indicating that we do not endorse candidates or otherwise intervene in political campaigns and ask that people refrain from posting comments about candidates on our sites.” Decide on a policy that works for you and your organization, and stick to it. 

Tip 2: Be Aware of Heightened Guidelines

The ongoing political tug-of-war about social media and disinformation has forced Facebook, Instagram, and other social media platforms to be more stringent about content that could be deemed political. These guidelines are not meant to censor brands, but organizations that may often post about issues that are tangentially related to a political issue (such as healthcare) will likely come under harder scrutiny as we approach Election Day. 

Tip 3: Stay Away from the Bandwagon 

In our current climate, many social media brands are hungry to involve themselves in political discourse as they rally behind a brand or political action to stay relevant, connect with their audience, and jump on the bandwagon. We recommend staying away from the online political bandwagon altogether. Stick to your key messaging and let politics stay in the world of politics. 

Tip 4: Consider Communications through a Third-Party

Needless to say, the general public is more divided than ever in an election year. That being said, certain messaging on your business’ social media may be viewed as sensationalized and, for some consumers with an eye for political spin, could be distorted. To combat this, partner with a social media influencer that can tell your brand’s story and authenticate it in a genuinely refreshing way. 

Tip 5: Don’t Personalize the Decrease in Organic Performance – Pivot Instead

According to the Pew Research Center, 46% of social media users were already feeling exhausted by political posts on social media more than a year ago! Many people have feeds flooded with political content and are in need of a break from social media as a whole. KPIs like reach, engagement, and followers may see a reduction in both daily active users and time spent on each social platform. See this as an opportunity to focus and expand on social media platforms that are often less congested with politics such as Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok. Just remember, this too shall pass. 

Tip 6: Don’t Rush Into Anything – Think!

Noise in an election year increases, as does the cost of ads. If you don’t have the money to spend on inevitable increased ad costs, consider taking this time to get your digital marketing strategy in order by reflecting on the following questions:

• What platforms can we use this time to explore?
• Could we play off of the current climate in a tactful way that generates interest in our brand?
• Is there a campaign we can use that can focus on a highly targeted segment of our normal audience?
• Speaking of audiences, when was the last time we evaluated ours and really dialed in on our targeting?

It’s not easy to know what the appropriate next steps are to keep a business’ social media presence alive during an election year, but that’s why it’s good to turn to the experts. Upgrade your digital strategy by outsourcing to the experts, and let Influence Digital Solutions help your business today!