As an increasing number of millennials join the community of researchers and authors, journals need to adjust their marketing strategies accordingly, which includes a heavy focus on social media. But social media marketing, with all of its nuances, can be pretty intimidating. So…where to start?
Define the purpose of social media for your journal.
The most important step for any scholarly journal should be to ask:
“Why exactly do we even need social media accounts in the first place?”
Defining the role that social media plays is crucial for informing your entire digital marketing strategy and what content you post and how you post it.
For example, do you want to attract more prominent, reputable authors to submit work to the publication? Or are you looking to increase your readership levels? If the goal is high-caliber authors, your social media pages should attempt to answer any questions prospective authors might have about the publication; on the other hand, if you’re looking for greater readership, you might be better off promoting the novelty of your articles, highlighting impact factors, or closely tracking altmetrics.
When drafting your journal’s social media page, think about what researchers and authors are looking for and what they’re not. Taking selfies at conference events for your social media page might be fun for your staff, but it’s not going to engage the target audience (more on that in a bit) in the same type of way as a teaser from an article about cutting-edge technology.
Make sure your content aligns with your purpose so that you’re engaging with your target audience effectively.
Once your journal has defined a target audience and purpose, the next question becomes:
Are we reaching that audience and are they engaging with us?
Based on the answer, you may find your social media content needs tweaking, or maybe even a total makeover.
When trying to attract that audience, journal leaders should follow several key steps:
- Use analytics programs to define your current audience. In addition to the built-in analytics programs most major social media platforms offer (e.g., Tweet Analytics for Twitter), several third-party programs can help your journal “take the temperature” of your current audience, which will provide a baseline to adjust who you want to be reaching. For example, with Google Analytics, you can find extensive information about your current audience, such as their geographical location and acquisition type (that is, whether more visitors are finding the page through other social media channels, organic searches, or direct hits).
- Use the information you receive to make necessary adjustments. If your social media page is tailored toward a general American audience, but your research via Google Analytics determines that a high number of your visitors are from academic institutions in Asia, you might want to fine-tune your page to be geared more toward an Asian reader base (e.g., consider translating important information such as author guidelines, website pages, or even articles).
- Use tags when appropriate to make yourself visible to your target audience. Hashtags aren’t just for fun—they’re search tools that allow the right people to find your journal’s page. So when creating hashtags for your posts, be as specific as you can. Think about your audience—what are the terms they’re most likely to search to find information?
When it comes to digital marketing and social media, consistency is essential. Make sure every piece of content you post is relevant, interesting, and value-adding to your target audience. The above considerations will help you set the overarching strategy for your journal’s social media accounts, and the graphic below lists some other online best practices.
When managing your social media pages, what other best practices are your go-tos? Share your stories below!
