I recently came across this rundown of how the Obama Administration has approached social media over the past eight years, and aside from being amazed at how far digital communications have evolved since 2008 (imagine, if you can, a pre-Instagram world), there are also a number of great takeaways from how the President and his staff have embraced social media during his two terms, and what we can learn from their efforts:
- Have a purpose, or tone for each platform and stick with it. For instance, Obama’s YouTube presence includes weekly addresses, while he mainly uses Vine for short, often humorous videos.
- A willingness to experiment. Did you know the President is on Medium, Tumblr, and most recently, Snapchat?
- When possible, use original content on all of your platforms. Despite the number of social platforms the President’s staff is managing, each platform has its own unique content. From high quality photos on Instagram, to entertaining GIFs on Tumblr.
- Allow your brand personality to come to life. Some of the President’s most engaging content has come from letting his presidential guard down and laughing a little. (Thanks, Obama)
- Don’t stop evolving. Just because you or your company has used a particular social media platform for one purpose historically doesn’t mean you can’t expand your efforts on that same platform to evolve with the times, and with your audience’s needs.
Most of us don’t have the luxury of Presidential-level content, but a lot can be learned from how a “buttoned up” office has approached, and succeeded in using social media channels to engage with its audiences.
