Social media is no longer optional. It’s where your community gathers, shares and buys. In this comprehensive guide, you’ll learn how to choose the right platforms, define your objectives and voice, create an editorial calendar, produce engaging posts and measure your results. Post Local News goes further by offering a platform to publish across multiple networks and track performance—perfect for councils and local organisations in Bath and across the UK.
Introduction
Posting on social media without a plan is like trying to reach London on foot without a map. You may be moving, but will you arrive? Effective social media marketing requires strategy, creativity and consistency. Done well, it can raise awareness, build trust and drive action—whether that’s informing residents about a council meeting or promoting a shop’s special offer.
Post Local News is more than a local news platform. We provide councils and businesses with tools to streamline their social media presence, schedule posts, cross‑publish content and analyse performance. In this article we explore everything you need to engage your audience authentically and confidently.
1) Selecting the best social networks for your goals
There are dozens of social media platforms, but each serves a different purpose. Consider where your audience spends time and what content works best there:
- Facebook remains the largest, with broad demographics. It’s ideal for community announcements, event promotion and groups.
- Instagram thrives on visual storytelling—photos, short videos and Stories. Great for cafés, retailers, tourism and creative industries.
- LinkedIn is the go‑to for professional networking, B2B marketing and recruitment. Perfect for consultancies, training providers and industry associations.
- X (Twitter) offers concise updates and real‑time conversations. Use it for quick news, service updates and connecting with journalists or policymakers.
- TikTok appeals to younger audiences with short, entertaining videos. Local businesses or councils wanting to reach younger residents can use it to share behind‑the‑scenes clips or community challenges.
- YouTube is the home of long‑form video. Tutorials, interviews, live streams and recorded talks find a durable home there.
- Pinterest is powerful for inspiration and planning—recipes, crafts, travel and event planning content thrives here.
Resist the urge to be everywhere at once. Start with one or two platforms where your audience is active and where you can maintain quality. Expand later if you have resources to manage additional channels.
2) Setting objectives and tone of voice
What do you want to achieve through social media? Typical goals include:
- Awareness – raising your profile and reaching new people.
- Engagement – fostering a community that comments, shares and participates.
- Conversion – driving sign‑ups, bookings or purchases.
- Support – providing help and answering questions.
Once you’ve chosen your goals, craft a tone of voice that reflects your brand and audience. Councils may adopt a clear, authoritative yet friendly style; cafés might be playful and conversational; charities could be empathetic and inspiring. Consistency across platforms builds recognition and trust.
Also define your “personas” – imaginary but realistic representations of your target readers or customers. Understand their age, interests, challenges and motivations. This will inform the topics you cover and the language you use.
Post Local News helps by providing templates for goal setting and tone definition, ensuring that everyone in your organisation follows the same guidelines.
3) Building an editorial calendar
A calendar isn’t restrictive; it’s liberating. It ensures that you post consistently, cover a variety of topics and avoid last‑minute scrambles. Here’s how to create one:
- Identify key dates – national holidays, local events, seasonal campaigns.
- Plan content themes – service updates, behind‑the‑scenes, user stories, educational tips, community highlights.
- Choose formats – carousels, short videos, polls, live Q&A, infographics.
- Assign responsibilities – who will create, review and post each piece?
- Schedule in advance – use a tool (like Post Local News’s scheduler) to set posts ahead of time. You can still adjust for timely news.
Our platform offers an integrated calendar where you can drag and drop posts, cross‑publish to multiple networks and coordinate with your website updates. The AI assistant suggests optimal times to post based on your audience’s behaviour.
4) Creating engaging content
Content is the heart of social media. To capture attention and spark interaction:
- Tell stories – share how your initiative has impacted a resident, a small business or a community project. Stories humanise your organisation.
- Educate and inform – provide step‑by‑step guides, answer FAQs and debunk myths. Short videos or carousels work well.
- Encourage participation – run polls, ask open questions, host challenges or quizzes. People love to share their opinions.
- Highlight user‑generated content – re‑post photos or testimonials from your followers (with permission). It fosters community and authenticity.
- Go live – live streams for Q&A sessions, events or workshops build closeness and trust. Promote them in advance so followers can join.
- Use AI – Post Local News’s AI tools help generate captions, summarise news articles for social sharing and suggest hashtags relevant to the UK market.
Be mindful of platform nuances: vertical videos for Instagram and TikTok, professional tone on LinkedIn, concise updates on X, personal stories on Facebook. Always add alternative text to images and subtitles to videos to ensure accessibility.
5) Measuring success and optimising
Effective social media marketing relies on data. Each platform offers analytics dashboards showing reach, impressions, engagement and clicks. To go deeper:
- Track follower growth and see which content draws people in.
- Measure engagement rate (likes, comments, shares divided by followers). A smaller account with a high engagement rate often outperforms a large but inactive audience.
- Analyse click‑throughs to your website or campaigns. Use UTM parameters to measure how social traffic behaves on your site.
- Review conversion metrics – sign‑ups, donations, bookings. Connect social analytics to your CRM or Google Analytics.
- Adjust timing and formats – test different posting times and content types (images vs. video vs. polls) to see what resonates.
Post Local News simplifies analytics by aggregating metrics across platforms and your website. You see which posts generate the most traffic and what topics resonate with your local audience. This helps you refine your strategy over time.
Conclusion
Social media marketing is a journey, not a destination. By choosing the right platforms, setting clear objectives, planning and producing engaging content, and continually analysing your results, you build a loyal community that supports your mission. Post Local News, based in Bath but serving the entire UK, provides the tools and expertise to make that journey smoother—integrating publishing, editing, AI suggestions and analytics in one platform. Ready to engage? Let’s get social.
