5.
Promote your messages on social media
Want to get your campaign off the ground and give it momentum? We’ve mentioned social media several times in this toolkit, but how do you use it your best advantage? Hannah Duncan, Cycling UK’s digital and social media officer, tells us that Twitter tends to be the most effective campaigning platform to widen public support and flag messages to decision-makers. Read on for Hannah’s guide on how to do this, together with some suggestions for Facebook.
a. Reach the right people With almost 80% of the UK’s population on social media, targeting is key. Here are some ways you can reach the right audience: • Follow the accounts of relevant individuals and organisations, including local cycle clubs, politicians and like-minded campaigners. • Jump on relevant conversations, especially those initiated by the accounts above or posts featuring relevant hashtags. Engage by liking, commenting and sharing posts. • Use hashtags which fit your niche to extend your reach. It’s worth including two to three hashtags per post, though avoid more than this as it can appear spammy. We recommend experimenting with generic, cycle-themed hashtags (i.e. #cycling or #cyclists) as well as location-specific hashtags (i.e. #Belfast or #Cardiff). • Tag relevant individuals/organisations in your posts as they may choose to share your content. If there is no space in the tweet itself due to character limit, you can tag up to ten accounts in an attached image. Don’t bombard other accounts with tags, so do this sparingly when there is a shared connection. Numerous politicians are active on Twitter and it’s worth tweeting them directly if there is a specific action you want them to take.
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