Welsh Government: Social media expands government-public engagement

Laura Truelove, Senior Digital Content Manager at the Welsh Government, explains how simple communication, use of humour, and authentic content can build a strong social media platform and foster a better relationship between government and the public.

Entering the role in 2019, Truelove explains how prior to the Welsh Government establishing a social media team, that social media was not utilised to its fullest potential.

“In 2019, we had very few followers – in the tens of thousands – and there was a very much ‘post and run’ approach to the social media strategy. It was a case of posting a press release online and going no further, and there was definitely no engagement like replying to comments.”

Everything Welsh

Truelove has used analytics software, which she believes gives her the opportunity to cater the content of the Welsh Government’s social media to the needs and interests of the people of Wales.

She explains how the Covid crisis, and subsequently more visible role of First Minister Mark Drakeford MS emphasised to her the sense of Welshness among the nation’s population.

“We could see a remarkable political awakening within Wales. We saw people commenting on social media with things like ‘Boris is not my leader’ and ‘we have our own government and our own rules’. It made the First Minister a household name in a way we had not seen before.”

Amid this context, she explains the rationale for the modus operandi of the Welsh Government’s social media account. “We are proud of Wales and its history, people, language, and communities, and we are on the side of the people of Wales.

“We are striving for equality, committed to sustainability, and we are transforming Wales and supporting research, innovation, and creativity. We are laying the foundations now to benefit future generations. It is quite simple, and it goes straight to the point.”

Truelove further elucidates on the use of software such as Meltwater to analyse the demographics and posts which were successful among the Welsh Government’s audience. “We got a really good idea for things like knowing that our audience was, as you may expect, rugby mad. They love anything to do with Welsh pride and anything which is Welsh.”

She continues: “We champion Cymraeg. We have a mission to reach one million Welsh speakers by 2050 and we cannot get there as a government without getting people to come with us on that journey. We very much take a team Wales approach to everything we do.

“We are primarily a rugby-mad nation, but we made sure that people also saw our support for the Welsh football team as they qualified for the FIFA World Cup for the first time in 62 years. It is about getting behind our nation at any opportunity available.”

The opportunity presented by Covid

“At the start of 2020, the Welsh Government had around 12,000 Facebook followers. By the end of that year the number was up to 130,000 and today, we stand at around 180,000,” Truelove explains, adding: “This trend can be seen across all of our channels.”

She adds: “During the pandemic people turned to us for reliable information; they wanted to get information about the pandemic from a trustworthy source, but also, they needed to follow us to know what they could or could not do during the pandemic, and how they could stay safe. The trend can be seen across the channels, particularly with the First Minister’s Twitter account.”

She also states how an unlikely collaboration between Goldie Lookin’ Chain, a comedy hip-hop group, and the Government led to increased interest and visibility for the Government’s message on Covid vaccine uptake. “It was something quite different, people did not expect us to collaborate with them. It got a bit of backlash but that also meant that more people watched the video.”

Authenticity and no jargon

Strong and authentic social media content can succeed in creating a relationship between governments and the public, according to Truelove.

She cites a viral video of the Welsh First Minister, where he was asked by retired cheesemonger, Joe Bangles, about his favourite type of cheese, and his response gaining notoriety on the internet.

Indeed, an opinion poll released at the time even showed a temporary uptick in support for Welsh Labour (which Drakeford leads) from 7 per cent behind the Welsh Conservatives to a 14 per cent lead in May 2020.

“After it went viral, we were a little worried people might think it would not be appropriate for the First Minister of Wales, but many people came out to say that it was nice to see this side of him and that it makes him more relatable. It was our realisation that we had something special in our First Minister and that we should take more risks.”

Concluding, Truelove states that, in addition to analysing your social media audience with software, that the key to continuing interest is avoiding commonly used government jargon and acronyms. “You need to speak to the people in their terms and their language; we speak from our government in a way which is informal, chatty, and inclusive.”