Managing a municipality’s social media presence requires finding a balance between what will be engaging for the audience, and what will read as “professional.” The goal, many times, is to encourage community involvement while avoiding an excessively public political back-and-forth — and it often requires a deft touch.
“Typically, government social media accounts are boring,” said Ryan Johnson, economic development and public relations director for the City of North Charleston. “You have to get people’s eyeballs on what you are doing, because generally civic engagement is tough.”
This includes encouraging residents to participate in their local government, whether it’s attending city council meetings or providing public comment on city initiatives.
“You have to get creative sometimes, have really good, engaging content and invest in the quality of your images and video,” Johnson said. “And levity helps get eyeballs on what you’re doing.”
For Johnson, this can mean posting content that is not necessarily related to the city’s mission.
After Hurricane Ian, North Charleston used social media to spread the word on how
city inspectors were handling damage inspections, and how residents could report damage.
Photo: City of North Charleston.
“We’ve done silly stuff or off-the-wall stuff just to get people’s eyeballs on our accounts,” he said. “When a hurricane rolls around and you need to get a message out about sandbags and road closures, those 10 followers you might have gotten from that silly ‘Friday’ GIF or unrelated ‘Monday’ image, that’s 10 more people that know about your road closure or hurricane message.”
In a recent example of using humor to inform, Johnson reminded residents ahead of Hurricane Ian’s arrival that floodwaters from storm drains was not safe to wade or kayak in.
“That’s poo water,” his post read, along with a photo showing how sewage rises up from a sewer in a flood.
“As someone who has managed social media for a long time, you have to have fun in doing what you are doing, and posting about mundane things all the time isn’t very fun,” he said.
Johnson joined the City of North Charleston in 2006 and launched the city’s social media presence in 2009. He has added a content coordinator who specializes in video content that gets the most views and comments. The city does not pay to boost its content, but all its stories and video live on its website or YouTube channel, so residents can find the information even if it doesn’t pop up in their feeds.
North Charleston has a presence on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube. It aggregates its best content for email newsletters and even plays its videos on televisions around city hall.
“You can’t just put out your post and be done with it,” he said.
Providing essential information in an entertaining way is a longstanding skill for Lynnsey Baker, who joined the City of Forest Acres as the public information officer in 2022 after more than 15 years as a broadcast journalist.
“I basically take a news approach to content for social media, which is taking complex subject matter and trying to break it down to a level the average viewer can understand,” Baker said. “I try to do that for our budget — why we are spending your tax dollars on certain things. I essentially write it how I would have written it for news.”
She also uses her experience to “break news” on her social channels rather than waiting to repost something local media might cover, especially on the Forest Acres Police Department’s social platforms that she also manages.
“I write those posts like mini-news articles,” she said. “I don’t feel like I have to wait on the news stations to come cover us. I can cover us for our audience.”
Baker also uses the city’s platforms to promote new businesses or other celebratory events and those posts get some of her best engagement numbers, such as when she made an Instagram reel for a new restaurant opening and got 7,000 views — strong engagement that can keep the city’s posts in resident’s feeds.
Baker said another way to boost their presence in residents’ social media feeds is to respond to questions.
Forest Acres used the occasion of six property owners annexing in as a chance to
highlight its services to enclave property owners. Photo: City of Forest Acres.
“If someone takes the time to write a question, I try very hard to go find that answer for them,” she said.
While that can lead to some negative comments or posts, she said she endeavors to answer those in a positive way. Residents might complain about increased traffic and difficulty parking because of new business, so she reminds them that the new business keeps the city vibrant.
“Nine times out of 10, someone who comes at something in a combative way is really just looking to be heard and wants an answer,” she said, adding that some complaints are simply beyond the city control, like potholes on state-owned streets.
She said she uses complaints as an opportunity to gently educate residents and give them ways to voice their concerns with the correct government agency.
“There is an art to taking a comment, validating someone’s concern and educating them without sounding preachy,” Baker said.
Learning how to answer potentially negative commentary while remaining positive has been part of on-the-job training for Onye Cosom, who has been managing Blythewood’s social media channels since May 2022.
“What I realized is when you don’t say anything, it can make our social media presence not look reliable or strong,” said Cosom, who is also the town’s marketing and special projects manager. “I think it’s important for us to be that place where people can ask questions and get answers publicly, and see that we are paying attention to what they’re saying and that we value their opinion.”
The town is primarily active on Facebook and Instagram. Cosom also uses an every-other-week email newsletter to keep residents informed.
Cosom mixes in information about livestreamed council meetings, but her analytics have shown her audience is more interested in event information and in-the-moment images.
“When I first started, I did some analytics and figured out what people want, what are they looking for, what gets engagement and what doesn’t,” Cosom said, adding that each channel is different even though many of the same people follow the town on multiple channels.
“On Instagram, people love real-time pictures and video, they want to be in the moment with you,” she said. “On Facebook, people want to know what’s going on in a more formal way, especially events. So one of my tactics is to pin upcoming events to the top of our page.”
A big content driver is promotion of local businesses — everything from jewelry stores to nail salons to restaurants — including any specials they might be offering.
“I try to promote pretty much everything I see that is directly tourism-related,” she said — “everything that spotlights our businesses and encourages people to
visit here.”