The team at Doncaster Council have had us chuckling at their social media since the early days of Lockdown#1. The Council excels at taking dry topics and adding humour and humanity. Here we walk you through 10 steps the Council takes to ensure its social media is talking point among Donny’s residents.
10 steps Doncaster Council takes to add humour to its social media
by Amy RountreeStep 1: Knowing the business goal
Doncaster Council’s goal is to use social media to communicate effectively and efficiently with the people of Doncaster. They need to land dry, sometimes unpopular and throughout 2020, hard hitting messages that help spread the word at scale.
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Step 2: Telling their story
Doncaster Council’s story is all about place and personality.
The Council uses social media to deliver the usual messages you would expect from a local authority, but the story is often told with a typically 'Donny' tone of voice. Northern humour, dry wit, and straight talking are what really separates Doncaster Council from many others.
Landing tone is crucial in telling this particular Council tale. Even with tough subjects, humanity and empathy is always present.
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It's three years since 40,000 people voted to name one of our gritters 'Gritsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Anti-Slip Machiney'.
Free and fair twitter elections about gritter names are a cornerstone of our democracy, and must be respected. https://t.co/bv2JeSBFQM
— Doncaster Council (@MyDoncaster) November 17, 2020
Step 3: Getting their audience to take action
Doncaster Council wants the local people to engage and help it spread its messages about local services and health updates, which are more often than not shared via Facebook.
But on Twitter, the Council likes to have a laugh and engage residents with a bit of topical wit and banter.
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As Banksy is trending today, we wondered whether any art experts could confirm that this piece in Doncaster could be an original by the elusive artist?
Granted, it’s not his usual style, but the social commentary is ? pic.twitter.com/1oXEDSQr2t
— Doncaster Council (@MyDoncaster) November 23, 2020
Step 4: How does Doncaster Council engage with its audience?
Doncaster Council can monitor and engage with the conversations and the audience of those conversations created about #doncaster or #doncasterisgreat and by organisations like Visit Doncaster. This enables Doncaster Council to interact wider than its existing audience as well as demonstrating its passion for the community.
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Step 5: Who does Doncaster Council want to engage?
Doncaster Council needs to engage residents, local businesses, and public figures.
Using the Maybe* Who’s Got Influence report helps councils like Doncaster identify the biggest voices in the conversation about them, and the most frequent commenters and engagers on its own content.
Knowing this should inform its engagement strategy and will also help the Council identify new conversations to monitor or engage with.
Steps 6-10
Want to see where Doncaster Council engages its audience and how it keeps its finger on its residents' pulse? Sign up to Maybe*. It's free to get started and you'll have full access to the remaining five steps to success.
Key takeaway
Whatever social media content Doncaster Council creates, it's engaging, shareable and relevant. When it’s appropriate to be humorous, the Council is unafraid to be so, and in turn nails a human and empathetic approach where many councils would err on the side of formality and caution. When it needs to be plain speaking, the Council ensures essential information leaves no room for misinterpretation and is crystal clear.
Maybe* is here to help councils stay connected to residents and businesses so a whole community can thrive.
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