Election Day is right around the corner. It’s always a good idea to make sure your social media game plan is ready to go!
Here are some things to consider, as well as how to make the most of the big day.
Secure Your Accounts
Let’s start with the basics: protecting your social media accounts. This is something you should do routinely – especially as folks come and go within your organization – but also right before a major event like an election. Here are some things to check off your list:
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- Set up two-factor authentication for Facebook and X: This process adds an extra layer of security to your accounts. X’s setup allows you to log in with more than just a password, ensuring that only you can log in. Facebook can alert you when there’s an unrecognized log-in attempt and more.
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- Confirming contact information: X recommends confirming the email address and phone number associated with your account. In addition, X has a feature called password reset protection that prevents unauthorized password changes. If you want to use this feature, it’s even more important to make sure that your email and phone number are up-to-date.
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- Don’t forget about Instagram and Threads! You can also turn on two-factor authentication, login requests, and even revoke access to suspicious third-party apps. Read all about it here.
Get Authorized to Post Political Content
Before you start posting about topics around the election (including social issues or political content), it’s a good idea to go through Facebook’s authorization process. This will make it easier to post this kind of content freely.
Here’s what Facebook recommends you have ready to go before you begin the process.
Once you have that under your belt, make sure you’re always thoroughly evaluating each piece of content you’re putting out on social. It’s all in the details! If you’re unsure of something, Facebook offers this guide on content considerations for elections. One example they point out here is how you cannot post organic content that might discourage people from voting.
If your content happens to get taken down, you may be able to request a review or appeal to the Oversight Board.
Take Advantage of SND
Now for the fun part: putting your social media plan into action! Fortunately, Social News Desk makes it easy.
Use templates to post quickly
Why reinvent the wheel each time when you can store and reuse social posts? Prepare templates to edit frequently used texts or hashtags. You can create ones for all of the races in your market or state, plug the numbers in, and you’re good to go!
Monitor hashtags and showcase on TV
Open X feeds on your SND Dashboard to monitor national election-related hashtags, and hashtags you’re using to promote election news and results. You can even add these tweets to your SND On Air playlists and put newsworthy social content on TV within a few minutes.
Keep track of big conversations
Red and Blue stream: You can run a chronological feed of what the candidates and their key surrogates are saying on Facebook. Keep these up and running for easy to find pull quotes from social media for use on SND On Air displays.
Have questions? Want to share how you plan on using SND during this election season? We’d love to hear from you! Email us at support@socialnewsdesk.com.
