The challenges of using social media to communicate about research projects

In 2022 alone there were 817,000 pieces of content (videos, blogs, memes, etc. etc.) available to watch on streaming platforms. Every minute, 167 million videos play on TikTok, 4.1 million on YouTube, 70,000 hours on Netflix and 40,000 hours of music on Spotify. In the same year, we spent an average of approx. 2.5 hours a day on social networks. 

In 2007, one study estimated the number of ads we’re exposed to at 5,000+ per day. 

Today, that’s more like 10,000.

That’s a lot of people competing for our increasingly limited attention. 

The “attention economy” is worth billions ($853 billion to be exact). Brands, corporations, and content creators invest a lot to win a slice of that pie and give the public what they want: “magnetic” content, clickbait, memes, viral videos, etc. etc. 

Who can compete with that?

Certainly not research scientists who aren’t experts in digital marketing and don’t have stratospheric budgets. Communicating your progress and achievements in a way that makes them attractive to social media users is a huge challenge. Whether you’re trying to reach the general public or a very specific audience, the key is knowing how to communicate in a way that speaks to each one. However, many research projects must measure and report on their impact, including on social media platforms. 

On top of all this, the way we consume content on social networks has changed a lot in the last three years. More content is consumed all the time, but we interact with it less and less. 

A study by Social Insider found that TikTok is the only platform with more than 1% engagement, and even that’s fallen by 35% in the last three years. That means that not even a brand’s followers are interacting with it. 

Let’s take a look at the current situation more in depth. 

Learn more about the challenges facing European climate research projects.
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1. More and more accounts are churning out a high volume of high-quality content on all networks. For example, amateur users, content creators, companies or institutions. Every day, some 7.5 million blog articles and 95 million Insta posts are published. On YouTube, it’s as many as 720.000 videos per hour!

That’s a lot of noise you need to shout over to be heard. 

2. Instagram is the leading network in Europe in terms of active users. However, it’s undergone many changes in the last three years, meaning people no longer follow accounts, despite consuming their content. This is because the algorithm already knows what users like and serves it up to them without them having to follow an account. So they can consume content without having to engage with a brand or a research project’s profile.

That means no matter how good your content, it may still not win followers. 

3. There’s a growing amount of auto-generated content on Instagram Reels, TikTok and YouTube Shots. Again, users can consume this content but rarely follow the profile that created it. 

4. You used to have to follow an account on social media to get followed back and boost your own numbers. This is no longer the case, resulting in a drop-off in the number of people following profiles.

Well, it used to be possible to grow your followers by investing in paid advertising campaigns. However, this has also become more challenging. 

Here’s why:

1. Not so long ago you could create campaigns on Meta (Facebook and Instagram) to get visits to your website (traffic) and brand recognition. There was also the option to create campaigns to attract followers. However, those types of campaigns disappeared two years ago. That means it’s now more complicated to rely on Pay Per Click campaigns for this purpose. 

2. After the Cambridge Analytica scandal and accusations of Russian bots meddling in US elections, it’s increasingly difficult to run ads during election periods. Any content that Meta, Google, and other platforms deem political (including climate change) may face restrictions or blockers. For instance, France does not allow posts relating to social or political topics up to two months before the European elections.

These restrictions are designed to prevent the spread of misinformation and bias, but they often also penalise well-intentioned content, mistaking it for “political” messages. Even if your content isn’t “political,” the increased scrutiny at these times may result in your experiencing delays in the ad approval processes, more manual reviews, or outright rejection.

Even if your ad is accepted, the surge in political spending leads to increased costs and competition for ad space. 

Taken together, all this means that creating valuable, accessible content that’s attractive to your target audience is no longer enough to achieve dissemination of your research project. A few years ago, it took several years to reach a critical mass of followers. Now, in 2024, you need a lot more patience and the timescale may even triple. 

So what can you do about it? Well, you could start by reevaluating what you track. 

Let’s look at that next. 

In the context of today’s social media landscape, the challenges of gaining followers may mean you need to rethink the significance and influence of Followers and Reach as relevant key performance indicators (KPIs). 
 
The paradigm shift we’ve experienced in recent years has far-reaching, deep implications. For scientific projects, it’s especially important to be aware of the impact on how we measure the effectiveness of social media posts, especially when it comes to Reach metrics. The debate between prioritising follower count versus impressions continues to rage, as these are key indicators of a post's reach. 

Given that follower numbers are becoming less important for algorithm-driven platforms, it seems rational to shift the emphasis from followers to impressions in measuring Reach. 

However, how we approach this shift may vary across different social networks. According to Taylor et al., we can measure and understand the concepts of Preference Algorithm Rate (PAR) and Preference Algorithm Insensitivity (PAI) on various platforms, although these don't apply to YouTube and LinkedIn. 

PAR refers to the frequency with which a platform's algorithm aligns content with user preferences. PAI indicates the frequency of the algorithm acting contrary to user preferences.

The high PAR observed on TikTok suggests that followers remain a reliable Reach metric on this platform. Conversely, on platforms where the algorithm does not align as closely with user preferences, the importance of followers diminishes in favour of impressions. 

The rationale is that users are more inclined to follow content that aligns with their preferences, as dictated by a precise algorithm.
When considering YouTube and LinkedIn, where the concept of followers is either less relevant or more complex, we need different strategies.

YouTube's model is heavily reliant on advertising and viewership, making views a more pertinent metric than followers. LinkedIn presents a more complex challenge, with various interactions (connections, group memberships, company and profile follows, etc.). This makes followers even less applicable as a KPI. 

Without clear objective equivalents, one approach is to increase the weight given to impressions proportionally to the reduction in emphasis on followers.

It's impossible to define an objective value since this depends on the social platform and the audience of the scientific project, but one logical inference is that 1 follower = 200 users reached (ratio 1:200). 

This approach can offer an alternative method to measuring the impact of research projects that allows us to navigate the challenges posed by recent changes. 

Here’s some general advice to make your social media strategy a success: 

Know your audience: Research and understand your audience to create relevant content. You can do this using analytics tools to gather demographic data and behaviour, and invite their feedback on your posts. Check out similiar channels and communities to yours to see what people talk about. The aim is to determine what they’re struggling with or interested in so you can create content that answers their needs. What do they care about? How does your project contribute to solving their problems? What is your project's expertise?

Think about the solution: Next, think about how you solve the problems you’ve identified. What is your expertise and your value proposition? I.e. if your research or project was a product or service, what are you ‘selling’ and why would they ‘buy’ it?

Create high-quality content: There’s no one answer or magic formula here. The key is to deliver value to your audience. Invest time in creating original, high-quality, valuable written and multi-media content (blogs, videos, inforgraphics, etc. etc.) that resonates with your audience. This is more important than focusing on volume of content alone or frequency of publications. As far as possible, create ‘evergreen’ content that stays relevant over time so you can reshare it from time to time. This might be a webinar or series of tips, for example. Remember to also update, recycle and repurpose old content whenever possible. 

Collaborate with peer researchers or influencers: Identify influential individuals, peers, or organsations in your field and explore collaboration opportunities. Guest blogging, joint webinars, or social media takeovers can help expose your content to a wider audience and attract new followers. Connect with other scientists and researchers in your field through social media. Engage in discussions, like and share each other's content, and collaborate on joint posts. Building a strong professional network can enhance your visibility and attract followers who share similar interests.

Optimise your content for the algorithm: Social media algorithms are programmed to do one thing and one thing only: to get people to spend as much time as possible on their platform. They’re experts at recognising the content that’s most relevant to your audience; the content they enjoy most. And how does your audience recognise the value of your content? Well, if it educates, inspires or entertains it’s likely to resonate with them. Stay updated with algorithm changes and optimise your content by researching and using relevant hashtags that your target audience follows. You should also post when your followers are most active, analyse your top-performing posts and create similar posts to theirs.

Use visual content: Incorporate visual elements like images, infographics, or videos into your posts. Visual content tends to attract more attention and is more likely to be shared, increasing your visibility and engagement.

Engage with your audience: Actively participate in conversations, ask and answer questions, share polls and surveys, and reply to comments. Engaging with your audience shows that you value their input and helps foster a sense of community around your content. Leverage user-generated content like community forums, Q&As, and discussions, etc. Remember that platforms like Instagram and YouTube are more entertainment platforms these days, while LinkedIn is still a networking platform, so try to use them appropriately. Whichever platform you’re using, be sure to respond to comments and messages promptly and encourage participation through questions, surveys, competitions, etc. Your aim is to create an active community where followers feel valued and included.

Monitor and adjust: Use monitoring tools to track the performance of your posts and see what’s working. Analyze key metrics such as reach, engagement, and conversions and adjust your strategy accordingly. 

There’s no quick fix for social media engagment; it takes time and effort to create and nurture communities and grow your follower base. However, by understanding your audience and creating quality content that resonates with them, you can start to get their attention and position yourself as a trusted authority. 

Once you have it, engage with and speak to them on their level. Whether your audience is business, educators, civil society or other researchers, authenticity and consistent effort will go a long way. 

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References:

Taylor, S. H., & Choi, M. (2022). An Initial Conceptualization of Algorithm Responsiveness: Comparing Perceptions of Algorithms Across Social Media Platforms. Social Media + Society, 8(4). https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051221144322
Ľudovít Nastišin (2022). Research on the most important KPIs in social media that should be tracked. https://jogsc.com/pdf/2017/3/research_on_the_most.pdf
Forbes, Globally, in 2024 Magna Forecasts Ad Spending to Grow 7.2% https://www.forbes.com/sites/bradadgate/2023/12/04/globally-in-2024-magna-forecasts-ad-spending-to-grow-72/?sh=6cbd796d3c2f 
Social Insider (2004). Social Media Benchmarks https://www.socialinsider.io/blog/social-media-benchmarks/#insights
https://getfollowerup.com/get-more-instagram-followers/
https://wwwhatsnew.com/2021/09/03/por-que-ahora-es-mas-dificil-crecer-en-instagram/