Well-being, your digital brand – and telling trolls to jog on
07 May 2019
Our Senior Social Media Coordinator, Alistair Beech, reports back from the CASE Europe Social Media and Community Conference
Our Senior Social Media Coordinator Alistair Beech attended the CASE Europe Social Media and Community Conference in Brighton last month. Here’s a recap of the sessions he attended – and, in this first example, delivered.
Positive well-being and self-care for social media professionals (Alistair Beech, UoM Senior Social Media Coordinator)
A 2018 PRCA and PR Week survey showed 60% of UK PR professionals have suffered from poor mental health, with 52% arguing that the PR industry is not accepting of professionals prone to depression or anxiety. Alistair ran a session focused on how social media professionals (and wider communications and marketing staff) can manage their own well-being and practice self-care in a 24/7, ‘always-on’ digital world.
Four main themes were discussed, with delegate groups asked to brainstorm solutions to common problems they encounter. These were:
- Switching off – managing out-of-hours requests, juggling personal and professional social media use.
Solutions: If you find yourself constantly checking work feeds on your phone, sign out of accounts when you’re not required to check them. If you use your phone as an alarm, buy an alarm clock!
- Overcoming imposter syndrome – for example, ‘as a non-academic, am I contributing to the University’s overall goals and targets?’
Solutions: Make sure you acknowledge the importance of your work to demonstrate and communicate the impact of academic research at your organisation. Academic colleagues often experience self-doubt too.
- Managing expectations – those of colleagues, and also our own expectations (difficult for perfectionists!)
Solutions: Treat internal requests in an agency style, allocating and prioritising tasks in a workflow system and dedicating time to them. Manage colleague expectations by offering regular surgeries and masterclass sessions and ensure they know what’s realistic.
- Supporting others – how to do this professionally and get the balance right.
Solutions: Instead of taking a ‘fix-it’ approach to colleague well-being, explore coaching techniques or existing buddy systems within your organisation. Be mindful of personal boundaries – if in doubt, offer support and to listen.
Delegates were encouraged to make a well-being pledge at the end of the session with an action to take back to their workplace.
Alistair’s was: I pledge to switch off after work by making the most of the cultural events at the University and in the city; turning the phone off and taking notice of things.
To view the slides, visit:
Jog on (Tim Watkins, Social Media Manager, University of Reading)
Tim demonstrated Reading’s switch from tweeting out links to press releases and generic recruitment messages to a more human, engaging and conversation-driven strategy from their corporate Twitter channel @UniofReading.
He cited research which shows that only 7% of Twitter mentions that are directed to brands and organisations are being answered, at an average response time of ten hours. With a new, customer-centric approach on social media, Reading improved sentiment around their brand and increased engagement metrics within their online communities.
Tim discussed the importance of promoting the benefits and results of social media internally, particularly to academics and senior staff. He cited examples of ‘news-jacking’, utilising academic experts to counter false narratives, and his work alongside the Museum of English Rural Life whose Twitter account grew from 9,700 to 100,000 followers in eight months after adopting a new tone of voice and engagement approach.
In 2018, Reading’s ‘Jog on’ thread, which challenged negative comments towards the University’s refugee scholarships was seen by five million users, and received 184,000 engagements, including 15,000 link clicks. The clicks contributed to a fundraising initiative run by the University’s alumni team, which raised enough money for an additional student to receive the scholarship.
Why personal brand matters, and how digital can help (Howard Lake, digital fundraising entrepreneur)
Howard Lake opened the conference with tips on how delegates can build and maintain their own digital, professional brand. He emphasised that “skilled, networked individuals are assets to their organisations, and the sectors they work in.”
He encouraged delegates to follow a 5-3-2 rule when posting to professional social media channels. That is:
- five pieces of content from external sources, such as news sites and blogs, known as curation;
- three pieces of content you’ve created, which drive traffic to your website or online profiles and have specific goals or calls to action;
- two pieces of content that offer a personal opinion or view on a topic and encourages conversation with your audience.
Surviving social media in a small team (Katy Duddell, Social Media and Conversion Coordinator, York St John University)
Katy discussed ways she’s survived managing corporate social media channels in a small team (in her case, a team of one). Katy spoke of battles with management to gain approval on basic equipment such as a smartphone and how she’s accepted that not every social media post she publishes will be ground-breaking – but should serve a need and purpose.
A survey by Katy into out-of-hours monitoring and customer enquiries within the sector showed that 91% of social media practitioners check their University channels out of hours, with only 14% stipulated to check within their job descriptions. In addition, 57% of practitioners are not compensated for their out-of-hours work. Delegates talked about their own experiences; Imperial College London recently approved on-call remuneration for communications staff, in line with staff in other departments.