A behind the scenes look at our social media strategy

Michelle Browne, Digital Content Manager at London Borough of Tower Hamlets, shares invaluable insight into their social media strategy, reflecting on what’s been working well for them and sharing successes.

With the rise of AI, dwindling attention spans, the emergence of new platforms, and increasingly more mysterious algorithms, it sometimes feels impossible to keep up with the evolution of social media.

For those working in the public sector, with limited time and resources, it’s more crucial than ever to focus on what’s driving positive results.

Now that we’re a couple of months into the new financial year, it feels like a good time to reflect on what’s working well for us at Tower Hamlets and share some insights from our social media strategy.

We all know that video content is the best way to engage audiences online. Just over a year ago, we switched to exclusively publishing social-first videos on our social media channels. By ‘social first’ we mean videos that are a maximum of one minute long and filmed vertically or in portrait orientation.

These vertical videos provide a more convenient and immersive viewer experience on mobile devices, especially for younger audiences (we’re the youngest borough in the UK, with a median age of just 30). This format is prioritised and often promoted by algorithms, increasing visibility and brand awareness. It gives our content the best chance of being seen on Facebook, Instagram, X, and YouTube Shorts.

It’s worth mentioning that it’s essential to ensure any vertical videos you create have a strong opening hook and that they tell a compelling and fast-paced story to keep viewers engaged until the end.

Since we made the switch, our organic video views have tripled to over 223K views each quarter.

In this new era of emerging AI, the desire for authenticity among audiences has never been stronger, so this year, we’re showcasing the authentic personalities that make up our thriving community. B-roll is out, and instead, we’re putting the faces, voices, and views of local leaders, small business owners, service users, and even the odd employee at the forefront of our social media content.

In recent months, we’ve interviewed everyone from café owners and market stall holders to youth workers and a local imam. We’ve shared their stories via – you guessed it – those social-first videos we’re prioritising.

We’ve found that featuring interviewees’ faces on video covers and thumbnails attracts the most engagement, as these images compel users to stop scrolling and connect with the content meaningfully.  

These spotlight videos receive overwhelmingly positive comments, with one video alone generating 48,892 views.

Paying close attention to our analytics and re-posting our best-performing content across different social media channels saves us time and effort. It boosts our reach and impact and helps us to maintain consistency, which is crucial for continued growth and engagement.

There are two key things to remember if you feel nervous about repurposing content on social media:

1. Only a small percentage of your followers will see everything you post every time you post it.
2. Repetition is key to getting your message across.

We often use Orlo’s “copy” function to repurpose content quickly and easily across channels. To achieve optimal results, we make sure to adapt captions, update or remove hashtags, and amend any seasonal references, etc., in our posts to suit each new channel we post to. 

Like other local authorities, most of our content focusses on keeping stakeholders informed about key news and events taking place within our borough. To balance this, we’ve introduced new storytelling campaigns designed to evoke feelings of pride and nostalgia in our followers, to boost brand reputation and improve sentiment.

These campaigns focus on feel-good content that residents can directly relate to and enjoy consuming. For example, our #ShopLocal campaign highlights the assets within our borough that residents can be proud of by shining a light on some of the fantastic independent businesses right on our doorstep. Our most recent #ShopLocal campaign received thousands of engagements, and tens of thousands of video views. 

Our award-winning #TowerHamletsMoments campaign takes followers on a journey back in time by celebrating and remembering key moments from the rich history of London’s East End. Throughout the past ten months, the campaign has amassed 175,853 organic video views. 

No other content we share attracts such positive comments and feedback. Read more about #TowerHamletsMoments here!

The most important takeaway I’d like to leave you with is the advice to try something new, whether that’s experimenting with video formats, embracing new content genres, or trying new channels. Consistency is crucial when assessing results, so commit to sticking with whatever change you make for at least three months. In such a rapidly changing landscape, continuous innovation is the best way to ensure that your organisation keeps moving forward and expanding its reach on social media.