Promote your journal using social media

Social media is an amazing tool for journal editors. Many editors are already are using Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn to create an online community for their journals. This, in turn, is providing them with an ideal platform to raise the profile of their journal and promote their content.

Not all journal social media profiles are created equal though. The secret to a successful online community is planning. You need a well thought out social media strategy to reach the right audience with the right messages to make an impact.

Sounds daunting, but don’t worry – we’ve created a Social Media Guide specifically for editors to help support and guide you. Learn how to market your journal using social media and keep it as your go-to guide as you build your community.

Before you dive into the guide, though, follow these seven simple tips for a successful approach to social media.

7 simple tips for using social media to promote your journal

Let’s start simple:

1. Know your audience

   Use your knowledge of your research community. Talk to colleagues, students, and friends to really understand your target audience, how they communicate online, and what they want to see.

   Gather the following information:

   • What’s their demographic?
   • Are they academic researchers or industry experts?
   • What are their goals? And how can you help them achieve them?
   • Where do they usually go to find journal content?
   • What social media platforms do they already use?

   Answer these questions and it will help you decide which social media platform to use, the type of content to create, and how often to post.

2. Choose the right social platform

   Different people prefer different social media channels. Make sure you go where your audience already is, rather than trying to make them come to you. Similarly, consider if the type of content you want to promote matches with the social media channel.

   Twitter, for example, requires lots of regular posts and interaction, good for subjects that relate to current events and trends like politics or climate science. On the other hand, Instagram is primarily image-based and might be good for promoting the hidden beauty of your subject, like these microbiologists have done.

3. Build your community

   Your social media account is a great way to market your journal. It also allows you to build and maintain an engaged community for your journal. Begin by following and engaging with industry experts, influencers in your field, and professional bodies and societies.

   You also want to spread the word to your colleagues, peers, friends, and board members. Ask them to follow your profile and share your content. This will increase the reach of your posts and boost your journal community.

4. Create a content plan

   Aim to balance your posts so that you aren’t spamming your audience. Try to post a mixture of content that promotes your research and the journal, engages the community, and is shared from other relevant accounts. Similarly, posting a mixture of text, images, videos, and infographics is a good way of keeping things fresh.

   Examples of content you can post:

   • Promote published articles from your journal
   • Provide insight on issues your audience is interested in
   • Share interesting research and news articles
   • Provide academic development advice
   • Host open discussions with your audience

   A good way to ensure you’re posting a mixture of content is to create a content plan. In your content plan, determine the type of content you plan on posting, which platform you will post the content on, and how often you plan on posting.

5. Write compelling posts (of course)

   Make sure your posts are engaging your journal community, as well as promoting your journal to the biggest possible audience. There are a few tried and tested ways to help your posts resonate with your audience, these include:

   •       Use images to make your post stand out
   •       Use handles to directly engage with others, especially influencers
   •       Research and use relevant hashtags to make your post findable
   •       Keep your post short and to the point
   •       Be polite, genuine, and friendly to ensure maximum engagement

6. Listen to the experts

   We recently hosted a Twitter chat on how journals can benefit from social media. During the event, experts and social savvy journal editors gave us their insights.
   
   For the highlights, check out our panel’s top tips for success below:

   • Use great images with a simple message – by nature, journal articles are often complex and the titles can be impenetrable – even for the well-informed!– Miles Richardson, Multimedia and Social Media Editor for Ergonomics, @Ergonomics1957
   • Listen to the advice of experienced and successful social media editors. Also, engage with great ideas and people, and your audience will grow organically.- Emma Maguire, Social Media Editor for Life Writing, @LifeWritingJnl
   • You need to remember the SOCIAL part of social media.- Bethany Farr, Social Media Manager at Taylor & Francis, @tandfonline
   • Invest resources and assign responsibilities on your social media plan. In practice, this means money for time, and money for tools such as @Buffer @Hootsuite @Altmetric– Tepi McLaughlin, Social Media Co-ordinator for Journal of Sports Sciences, @JSportsSci
   • Most journals will have an accidental presence on social media anyway, people are going to tweet and blog about your articles no matter what. Journals should take the opportunity to engage with interested audiences!-  Euan Adie, founder of @Altmetric

7. Download the Social media guide for journal editors

Our team of social media experts have created a full guide for editors that takes you through each step of your social media journey. This expands on the tips in this post and gives you lots more advice and insight.

Download your free copy of the Social media guide for journal editors below (available in English and Japanese).