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EIT Food recognises the benefits of communication through social media, ensuring this is done with one voice and in a coordinated way. Read more about EIT Food's social media strategy: What is social media and how does EIT Food use it?
If you're considering setting up a social media channel, go to: Should I create a new EIT Food social media channel?
At present, we do not advise that colleagues from the Impact and Partnership teams create a new EIT Food social media channel. If you're an EIT Food partner, it isn't appropriate to use a social media channel to speak on behalf of the EIT Food brand.
If you're looking to create a closed group as a forum for discussion, such as for groups of students, alumni or partners, we recommend using FoodHIVE.
If you're looking to use social media as part of a campaign - with clear goals within a specific timeframe, such as promoting an event - then start by reading "How can I run a campaign at EIT Food?".
If you have everything in place and a clear requirement to create a new social media channel, read on for some recommendations on what steps to take before beginning your activity.
The popularity and changing algorithms of social media channels have made it increasingly difficult to get content seen and to have an impact. There are many components to creating a long-term social media strategy to ensure you make the most of your social media and have the best impact. This guide should help you get started.
"Without strategy, content is just stuff, and the world has enough stuff."
Arjun Basu, author and Twitter storyteller
TABLE OF CONTENTS
- Set your objectives
- Gather analysis and insight
- Define your target audiences
- Choose the channel(s)
- Language
- Create a calendar
Set your objectives
At the core, all objectives should fundamentally support EIT Food's missions and priority areas. Objectives should be supported by measurable results, or KPIs, that can be included in your performance reports, for example:
| Sample Objectives | Example KPIs |
| Increase awareness around a specific topic, such as food waste or water scarcity, by X% in set amount of time |
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| Increase engagement to create a conversation around a specific topic, such as Sustainable Aquaculture, by X% in set amount of time Increase the number of followers/engagements from a specific audience group, such as influential investors & venture capitalists, by X% in set amount of time (focus on quality) |
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| Increase actions taken from social media, such as generating signups to specific programmes or newsletters, by X% in set amount of time Increase website traffic to a specific page, such as Your Country page, by X% in set amount of time |
To track these, you'll need a publishing strategy that incorporates UTM tracking and Google Analytics |
Gather analysis and insight
Your social media strategy should use data analysis and insight to build it. To start with, you could monitor similar organisations on social media to see how their activity is run, for example:
- World Economic Forum: Facebook | X | LinkedIn | Instagram
- Forum for the Future: Facebook | X | LinkedIn | Instagram
- Food and Agriculture Organisation: Facebook | X | LinkedIn | Instagram
- EIT Food: Facebook | X | LinkedIn
Use free social media channel insights that can provide you with the tools to interpret your own existing data and performance.
Use social listening to monitor online conversations about EIT Food or related keywords, topics or competitors to see how to pitch your own social media content. Some social listening tools are Talkwater, Twitter Advanced Search, Hootsuite or Sprout Social.
Define your target audiences
All your social media communications should be created with a specific audience in mind - the more specific the better. If you aim to speak to everyone, you will reach no-one. To create your audience personas, ask the following questions:
- What role do they play?
- What are their interests and behaviours?
- What social media channels do they use? And what other media would they consume?
- What food-related health, sustainability, or transparency challenges concern them?
- What is their age range, location and education level?
- What other brands would they ordinarily interact with?
Research which networks your target audience uses before creating a new channel.
Choose the channel(s)
Each social media network is different and will suit a different tone, frequency of posting, type of content and audience. Your objectives, target audience and the type of content you intend to create should determine what social media channels you choose. The best advice here is to start small and not spread efforts too thinly across too many channels.
The most popular networks are X (Twitter), Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram:
X (Twitter)
This is the go-to-network if you're looking for immediacy, breaking news, announcements, important messages, live-tweeting at events. Users check X to get their news, find deals, reviews and ideas.
On X, you can tweet up to 280 characters, including links (a URL is always altered to 23 characters), unless you use X Blue's monthly subscription service which allows you to use 25k characters. You can attach up to 4 images, videos, and quote someone else's tweet. You can also tag up to 10 accounts in images and photos.
X posts with videos and images are more likely to be reposted than text-only posts.
Two of the key elements of X is the use of hashtags and the ability to tag other users in your posts. Hashtags allow users to join a greater conversation, so including one or two relevant hashtags in your posts will put your post in front of more than just your followers. Here's a guide on the hashtags we use at EIT Food.
Tagging other accounts in your post gives them credit for the material and alerts them to the fact that they have been mentioned, which may prompt them to repost or comment on your post.
On X, users expect frequent updates and engagement (1-2 posts each day). Social Media Managers should have enough content to post daily, and should login every day to check mentions and direct messages.
Follow @EITFood to see what content we share and get a feel for how we communicate on this platform.
Facebook is a good platform for advertising, relationship-building and showing the human side of your work. Many different content types are appropriate for Facebook, but the key is content that shows a different side of EIT Food.
The most convenient way to promote your work on Facebook is via a Facebook page which allows you to post pictures, videos, event invitations, reports, polls as well as links. Fans can like or follow your page.
People expect less frequent posts from pages on Facebook than X. Login at least once per day to check on the page and monitor likes, tags and comments; posting content 1-3 times each week is reasonable. Use hashtags and tags as well to reach more people.
Check out EIT Food's Facebook page to see what content we share and get a feel for how we communicate on this channel.
LinkedIn is a networking site for professionals, it can be used for groups and has established networks on specific topics. LinkedIn best practice is one company page with showcase pages to spotlight individual business units or initiatives. We therefore do not recommend multiple EIT Food company pages and would suggest exploring showcase pages or consider creating a group on FoodHIVE.
Read more on how EIT Food uses showcase pages: What is a LinkedIn Showcase page and how do I set one up? and How do I optimise a LinkedIn Showcase page?
People expect less frequent posts from pages on LinkedIn than X. Login at least once per day to check on the page and monitor likes, tags and comments; posting content 1-3 times each week is reasonable. Use hashtags and tags as well to reach more people.
Follow EIT Food to see what content we share and get a feel for how we communicate on this platform.
Instagram is all about images, so it would not be the right choice if most of what you create is long-form textual content like articles, reports or whitepapers or if you are limited to stock images or low-quality photos.
Instagram has a clear focus on quality over quantity and it is important to dedicate time to creating impactful visuals and to have a solid content strategy in place.
Like X, Instagram uses hashtags and tags. Tagging your photos or using hashtags means that your photos will reach more people. Tagging the location where the photo was taken gives some context to the image.
Instagram stories are special photos and videos that are seen by followers for just 24 hours. They appear at the top of the Instagram feed. You can now highlight these, so they remain on your profile.
It is not possible to include links in Instagram posts. If your goal is to drive traffic to a specific website, you should include the link in the Instagram bio.
Social Media Managers should login each day to like and comment on users' photos and monitor comments and tags, and publish at least 2-3 times per week.
Check out EIT Food's FoodUnfolded Instagram to see what content we share and get a feel for how we communicate on this network. This is the only EIT Food Instagram channel.
At present, we don't recommend creating an EIT Food-branded Instagram account due to the nature of a large proportion of EIT Food's projects, innovations and research, which can be hard to visualise without big budgets.
Language
We recommend only using one language per social media account. Mixing languages can dilute your searchability and negatively impact reaching your target audience.
EIT Food's official language is British English, but we encourage you to speak to your target audience in their native language. Social media is an essential business tool for building relationships with your target audience and the best way to do this is to communicate in their language. We recommend that the person creating content has an excellent grasp of the native language.
Feel free to translate EIT Food's content and repost it on your channels in your selected language, but please also create relevant and interesting content specifically for your audience.
It is important to identify the social and cultural aspects of the target audience you wish to address as this will vary according to each country and language. More than just translating posts, your content needs to have cultural specificity.
Create a calendar
Whether you are building a regional social media campaign or long-term strategy, it's recommended to plan content in advance by creating an editorial calendar. More about this here: What is the EIT Food content calendar?
You can use this social media calendar as a starting point and template for your own one.
This article was last reviewed in January 2024 and will be reviewed again in January 2025.
If you have feedback on this article, do let us know. You can drop us a note via our contact form.