10 Ways To Maximize Social Media Before Election Day

As analysis continues to pour in from Tuesday’s primaries, there’s one statistic that we as the grassroots need to note. According to a CNN blog post, candidates with more fans on their Facebook page were more successful in their primary. Whether or not this is a chicken or egg scenario isn’t the argument, but instead it highlights that social media will continue to play a role in elections. Users continue to flock to these places for relevant and up to the minute information.

With Election Day right around the corner, here are 10 tips to maximize your social media presence.

1. Create! If your campaign or organization doesn’t have one yet, building a Facebook page and creating a Twitter account is where you need to start. Check out our video tutorial on creating a Facebook Page here.

2. Update! Posting relevant content at least once a day will keep fans interested in your page. Ideas include posting event information, relevant news stories and polling place information (as it gets closer to Election Day). Your page should be a hub for activists and voters to learn and share information. But avoid repetition! “Updating” and “Reposting the same link every morning” are not one in the same.

3. Engage! Social media is designed to be just that, social. Thank friends and followers for their feedback, answer questions and use social media as a platform to share your message one on one. (Or one on 1,000, depending on your page.)

4. Share! Sharing content from other like-minded campaigns and organizations can save time without losing your message. There’s no need to reinvent the wheel with every post. If someone else has said it already or said it better, share it! ReTweeting content with your comments can gain you credibility in the long run as an information source.

5. Filter! Quality is superior to quantity. Rather than posting 10 articles on the same topic, choose one or two with the best coverage. Your fans and followers are counting on you to find gold in all of the muck.

6. Friend! Again, it’s called social media for a reason. Be friendly! Like other pages on Facebook, follow other accounts on Twitter, and they are likely to return the favor.

7. Proofread! This might seem silly, but taking an extra beat to ensure accurate spelling or the correct form of there can be the difference between dozens of RTs or a post sitting dormant.

8. Tag! Not #every #word needs a #hash tag. Use Twitter tags appropriately to categorize posts. Words without # will still appear in search results, so no need to # every word in your post. Instead, use tags to join a lager conversation. For example, using #majority and #tcot for a post related to your beliefs. Tags for specific races are also relevant, for example, #desen to track posts related to the Senate race in Delaware.

9. Be Real! No one enjoys following robots. Making your account personal humanizes the content and makes you and your candidate more relatable. But be cautious of over emotional posting. If you think you’ll want to remove it later, don’t post it.

10. Adapt! Social media is constantly changing, with new trends, products, and uses emerging every day. They key is to stay on top of these trends and be open to shifting strategies. We certainly don’t hear much about MySpace anymore, but what is the next medium we’ll find our voice on?