10 social media tips for local news organisations

Experts in social media for local news share their tips and advice in what
works on a regional level
Posted: 4 June 2014 By: Alastair Reid
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Credit: Thinkstock
The role of social media in delivering news and engaging with readers has become more important
than ever. omepage traffic is declining as increasingly readers find news via social networ!s "
coming in through the #side door# " and news organisations continue to e$periment with ways to cater
to this change in audience behaviour.
%or local news outlets& which tend to have smaller teams and fewer resources& responding to this
digital turnaround may be more of a challenge.
'o we spo!e to some e$perienced digital (ournalists about what has wor!ed for them on a local level.
1. Facebook vs Twitter
There are important differences between %aceboo! and Twitter& both in what the platforms offer news
organisations in terms of distribution but also " perhaps more importantly " in how readers use them.
We're always mindful that people are reading [stories] alongside pictures of
their kids, so we try to ear that in mind when we're posting on
!aceookMaria Breslin, Liverool !cho
)aria Breslin& the *iverpool +cho#s digital editor& said two thirds of visitors from social media platforms
to the oulet#s website are from %aceboo!& where the +cho has more than 400&000 li!es& and the other
third from Twitter& where the outlet currently has 142&000 followers.
,-t is the human stories and the stories that people can relate to that have some sort of engagement -
thin!&, Breslin told Journalism.co.u! of the +cho#s %aceboo! following& which is by far the largest of
local ./ news organisations. ,-t#s less the hard news and we#re always mindful that people are
reading 0stories1 alongside pictures of their !ids& so we try to bear that in mind when we#re posting on
%aceboo!.,
-n general& harder news stories are posted to Twitter& she said& but the team is !een to ma!e sure that
it is ,not (ust a news feed,& !eeping the feeling of community central as it is ,the locality that people
li!e,.
'ean Bradbury& social media editor at the +cho& said that readers tend to ,open up a lot more on
%aceboo!, when (ournalists as! for co2operation or input around issues.
,Things li!e anti2depressants and social issues&, he said& ,and it#s remar!able the ta!e up 0we1 have
on that& as!ing people to send in their stories if they#d li!e to spea!.
,-t#ll be in confidence and we#ll put various caveats but we#ll often find do3ens of private messages
from people saying they#d li!e to get involved.,
The +cho is e$perimenting with -nstagram and 4interest but as the core social media audience arrives
from %aceboo! and Twitter " ,where you can develop a community and have a two2way process in
engaging with people&, Bradbury said " the focus remains there.
". Timin#
The timing of posts can have a large effect on the level of engagement posts receive. %aceboo!#s
-nsights tab shows page administrators when most of their followers are online& therefore pointing to
the best times to post& but Twitter can be a little more ephemeral.
,5 couple of years ago we would have been geared around a lunchtime des!top spi!e around social&,
said Bradbury& ,but the pace has changed. )obile is becoming dominant and it#s not far off mobile
first& so a lot of sites are reporting more uni6ue users from mobile than from des!top at various times
of the day.,
We wanted to in"ect personality into the live reaking news, where it's
appropriateMaria Breslin, Liverool !cho
'o instead of thin!ing about when ,people are going to be sat at their des! with a sandwich& loo!ing
for a bit of lunchtime news,& he said& the more pertinent 6uestions is in as!ing when people might be
pic!ing up their phones to loo! at the relevant social networ!s.
7hen Trinity )irror announced their #newsroom 8.1# model in )arch& editorial director 9eil Benson
told Journalism.co.u! the publisher had identified eight traffic spi!es across the day& including a large
proportion of mobile users in the evening& so social media teams will be regularly wor!ing towards
those times to push content on social media.
$. Tone
:iving the publication a voice that people can connect with is (ust as important on social media as it is
in the publication itself& and Breslin said the +cho#s team had wor!ed hard to develop a consistent
tone.
,-t#s obviously easier to do on %aceboo! because we#re not limited&, she said. ,7e#re not (ust posting
lin!s& we may have an opinion and say it#s sad news or #this is outrageous#.,
That personality has been central in how the +cho#s social media presence has grown& she said& and
using that same voice to engage with the audience around !ey times& stories and topics has proved
fruitful.
;ne way this has been realised is in a permanent live blog on the front page of the site& updating
readers with stories and involving social media as much as possible.
,5gain we wanted to in(ect personality into the live brea!ing news& where it#s appropriate&, said
Breslin. ,The philosophy behind it being #we#re a laugh& (oin us#.
,0<ecently1 4aul )c=artney called for everyone to eat fish for the day and then we as!ed people if
they could thin! of any fishy Beatles songs. Those !ind of punny things. 7e#ve used social to put that
out and it does phenomenally well. -t#s not 7atergate but it#s good audience interaction and it#s fun.,
Bradbury gave another e$ample& based on a story about >&000 chic!ens falling off a lorry and bloc!ing
the )>2 motorway& in which a call out for puns and (o!es had received a large response from readers.
'creenshot from a 'torify put together by 'ean Bradbury of chic!en puns from readers
,'o we try to be chatty& to be witty& to have a bit of attitude and remain authoritative without
preaching&, Breslin said. ,7e wor! 6uite hard on our tone and for us it#s (ust another publishing
platform. -t#s not a means to an end& it#s an end in itself and another way of publishing the content that
we create.,
%. !n#a#e
This engagement can " perhaps should " be of a more serious nature as well& and often encourages
story leads and ideas from the audience.
,/ey elements of what we try to do is treat the %aceboo! page and the Twitter feed li!e a community
and a publishing platform in its own right&, Bradbury said. ,;ne aim of any newspaper brand#s
%aceboo! page and Twitter feed is to try to drive traffic bac! to the site but it#s about much more than
that. -t#s a conversation.
,'o we will do our best to engage with people as much as possible and do our best to respond to tip2
offs and to encourage general interaction. ?iewing it as a two2way process tends to reap the most
rewards.,
-n 2018& the *iverpool +cho was ran!ed second in the ./ for publishing and media brands on social
media by social agency eadstream& based on the level of interaction on social networ!s.
This put them way ahead of the BB=& '!y& the :uardian and other much larger publications by
eadstream#s criteria& and Breslin believes this is due to their willingness to regularly interact with the
audience.
,-t is still our intention to never let comments go&, she said& ,and try to gauge what we post with the
mood of the audience.,
5s the number of followers on social media has grown it has become harder to respond to everyone "
a feat made almost impossible for larger publishers who may have followers in the millions " but
responding to posts where possible and encouraging interaction is good for both reader and publisher.
,7e try not to limit it to (ust content on our site&, Breslin continued. ,7e#ll share beautiful pictures. Try
to drive engagement with that feelgood factor.,
4ost by *iverpool +cho 9ews.
5lthough hard news is the staple of news organisations& and should not be dismissed& there are
certain types of stories that often receive the most engagement on social media.
&. Personal stories
,4eople and community stories& on %aceboo! particularly& tend to do very& very well&, said Breslin.
5s an e$ample& she offered the heartbrea!ing story of 'ophie Jones& 1@& who was diagnosed with
cervical cancer after previously being denied a test because she was deemed to be too young.
Jones died in )arch and the story of her death became one of the most engaged with stories on
%aceboo! for the +cho& Breslin said.
The outlet subse6uently led a campaign to review guidelines on cervical cancer screening& which
reached 7estminster in )ay.
,That was very interesting for us as our demographic is 6uite male&, she said& ,and it made us realise
that we need to loo! at many women of a certain age who are on %aceboo! and ma!e sure that we#re
catering to their needs as well& and grow that part of our audience.
,But it#s definitely human stories first& community and human and things which people can tap into.,
'. The weird and wonder()l
Bradbury noted that it can be the more bi3arre or amusing stories that also draw readers in through
social media.
,- suppose the 6uir!iness comes into it& which could be a factor that comes into the shareability of a
story&, he said. ,Ta!e today. ;ur top two stories that have been shared today& and the ones driving
most traffic to the site.
,;ne is a video purporting to show a orb2li!e shape that is a ghost in a pub beer garden. -t#s been
shared and speculated upon. The other one& is the !ind of thing that ta!es on a life of its own and that
might ma!e for the paper& but because of the nature of it it#s done very well online today.,
That other story was the >&000 chic!ens on the )>2& which fostered engagement in a number of
different ways. The digital team reacted 6uic!ly and wrote a 6uic! nib& as well as updating the
brea!ing news live blog& as well as finding video from AouTube and Twitter pictures from the scene.
,;ther stories that have done well on %aceboo! or Twitter of late are those that are a little out of the
ordinary& hopeful stories& ones with an upbeat message or 6uir!y ones&, Bradbury continued.
,;bviously you don#t get >&000 chic!ens spilled onto the motorway every day but when you do it#s one
that people are going to want to tell their friends about and want to be able to share& ta!e part and
engage with.,
*. +ri#inal, ever#reen content
-n late Becember last year& 7ales ;nline decided to e$periment with shareable content alongside its
traditional output.
-n January& their 1C things +nglish people won#t !now unless they#ve lived in 7ales article received
over 8.D million page views within five days of going live. The outlet has continued to e$periment with
light2hearted lists and other types of shareable content& with an open :oogle doc gathering ideas from
around the newsroom& and the e$periments continue to be successful in engaging local readers.
,5 lot of them revolve around 7elshness and 7ales and things that ma!e you proud to be 7elsh&,
4aul <owland& head of web for )edia 7ales& told Journalism.co.u! at the time& ,whether that#s great
places in 7ales or things that only 7elsh people do.
,-t#s all about our readership identifying themselves as being uni6ue to +nglish people& or people who
don#t !now 7ales the way they do.,
'pea!ing at Journalism.co.u!#s news:rewired conference in %ebruary& <owland identified eight !ey
principles which )edia 7ales learned from creating shareable content& and that could apply to other&
local media organisations:
.nderstand what your audience identifies with
'hareable content re6uires every bit as much effort as ,conventional (ournalism,
*earn from successes& apply those principles widely
BonEt get greedy
'tay true to your brand values
Bon#t be discouraged by negativity
*ists: theyEre part of the mi$. 9othing more& nothing less
Bon#t lose sight of the content mi$ your loyal readers e$pect
,. !vents, listin#s and (ood
<ecommending events and local business can also prove to be popular for local news outlets on
social media& as it can often be the place where readers plan their own social lives.
,7e do do a lot of local type guides&, 'arah =ohen& :oing ;ut editor of the *ondon +vening
'tandard& told Journalism.co.u!& ,whether that#s a guide to a particular area& li!e a guide to a
particular festival or type of cuisine& and then we would include restaurants or bars from different parts
of *ondon.,
'haring events previews& reviews and guides to local business and events can lead to a reciprocal
relationship on social media as well& =ohen said& as the business owners share can share the articles
as well.
=alls to action and pri3es around events can also be fruitful& as this tweet about %ield Bay %estival
from the :oing ;ut team shows.
W#$% &' ( !)**)W +, to win a pair of weekend tix to !#E*- -./
!E,'#0.*%
'ermshttp://t.co/8O6AoKYJl1 @fielddaylondon pic.twitter.com/0j
Oerjjd!
1 ,tandard 2oing )ut 34E,goingout5 6ay 78, 7019
-. .ma#es
The use of images in social media has long been heralded as a way to ensure more engagement& and
=ohen said the outlet try to include an image in almost every tweet or post& whether that#s of a specific
story or (ust pictures of what the team are doing around *ondon.
,'o if our team is out and about in *ondon saying #we#re (ust doing this or (ust doing that#& 6uote often
with photos&, she said& ,and 6uite often with things we#ve eaten. %oodstuff tends to do the best& - thin!
people seem to li!e sharing that !ind of content.,
:eat the rainy 'uesday lues with one of these acon and egg
sarnies;;;http://t.co/i"j#$%$K&e @'ewmant(a)ern pic.twitter.co
m/i*a+j,ly-O
1 ,tandard 2oing )ut 34E,goingout5 <une =, 7019
5t the +cho& Breslin also stressed the importance of always using an image when posting to social
media& where it is possible and appropriate.
,7e start the day off with a front page of the print edition& which always gets tweeted out&, she said&
,and there#s something people 6uite love about that.
,The photographers here have gotten into a battle of ta!ing the best sunset picture of the evening
which will be shared on social and they go worldwide which is great.,
Bradbury said that while images are important they should be used with a sense of time and place.
,7ith %aceboo! the !ey thing is to reach the right medium for updates that are going on&, he said. ,'o
if you have a strong story& li!e the chic!ens& we put a lin! and the story and a picture. That#s
encouraged a lot of funny responses to the story and a lot of comments.
,But at times& with a strong video you might (ust lin! to that on the %aceboo! page as a lin! share.
;ften a te$t update itself& if we#re after a lot of comments and views on things& then you put te$t on the
page and you get the most comments.,
-ntegrating small videos into the page can add variety& but the medium used depends on the type of
response you are loo!ing for& he said.
1/. Make the most o( o)lar reorters and celebrities
7hen :race Bent& a regular columnist for the +vening 'tandard& writes restaurant reviews that are
published under the :oing ;ut social media accounts& they say ,a massive spi!e, in engagement
because of her 200&000 followers& said =ohen.
,'imilarly& we have other features written by well respected food bloggers&, she continued& ,so
*ondon#s best burgers by this burger blogger called Burgerac. e& or she& is very well respected and
has a lot of followers and he spread the word.,
'ports writers can also have a large following& said Bradbury& especially in *iverpool& so when some
of the +cho#s popular sports writers tweet about a story it ,shoots up the charts, in terms of
responses.
<ust watched the newly released >illsorough footage on
the@.i)/chonew0 wesite; -raw your own
conclusions?http://t.co/*1)fp02/+0
1 'ony :arrett 34'ony:arret'imes5 6ay 71, 7019
,7e#re loo!ing for not only those with a big following but a lot of the guys are very interactive around
their own timeline and feed&, he said& ,and they#ll respond to people#s 6uestions so they#re a good
source of news and lin!s.,
7riting about people with a large Twitter following can also be effective& said =ohen. 5n interview with
the actress /atherine 4rescott& who was in a new play but had previously been in the television show
'!ins& went ,completely mental, on Twitter& she said& because 4rescott has a large number of
followers.
,Those are fortuitous easy wins&, =ohen added& ,(ust to get our tweets re2tweeted by prominent
people with Twitter accounts and followings.,
Shameless plug: The next news:rewired conference from Journalism.co.uk, on Wednesday 23 July,
will include a social media tool!ox session led !y Wall Street Journal social media editor "#"$
Sarah #arshall and %ichard #oynihan, social media editor at the Telegraph.
The following day, &uke &ewis, editor of 'u((feed )*, will !e leading a course on creating a !u((
through social media.
Tickets are still a+aila!le for !oth, including a reduced !undle option to attend the conference and
training courses the following day.