The rules of running a social media account when you’re a public figure

Whether you’re an A-list celebrity, news reporter or a smaller entertainer. The same rules apply when it comes to social media, your online platforms are key for advertising who you are and your chance to sell yourself to potential clients for promotional opportunities.

On the other hand, it is important to not slip up and make yourself unusable to potential collaborations with brands or simply making yourself unpopular to the public.

Managing social media can be tough for a celebrity or anyone in the public eye for that matter. It’s not an easy task to juggle between promotions, intimacy and most importantly, responding to so many fans. It’s key to remember that a large audience also means more potential for abuse if not managed properly, which may drive many famous people away from social media completely. Can you blame them?

That said, a public figure social media strategy is incredibly important. This is because the benefits of social media outweigh the drawbacks. By building a presence online, you can:

• Promote primary and secondary projects

• Beat the press with breaking news/announcements

• Communicate with fans on a channel you control

• Build up sponsorship deals

• Get to know your fans—and let them get to know you

So, are you interested in social media but unsure of where to begin? Here are a few tricks we’ve picked up on managing PR and social platforms for public figures.

Pick the Right Social Media Platform

A social media profile serves as an important tool for marketing, promotion and creating a connection with fans. What’s the use of creating a Twitter account if all your fans are on Instagram? You need to go where your fans are. Each social platform features different media and attracts different demographics.

For example, Instagram’s strength is providing an intimate glimpse at life behind the scenes through images. Snapchat does the same with video and messaging. Twitter places you in direct contact with your fans, letting you converse in the moment. Pay attention to age, too: Snapchat’s crowd, for example, skews younger than those on Facebook.

Develop a Voice and Content Strategy

Planning a public figure social media strategy begins with choosing the content you’ll produce and how you’ll share it. A public figure social media profile should strive to:

• Be engaging with fans

• Be candid, fun and unexpected

• Be open, honest and intimate

• Promote projects (without too much focus on promotion)

If you will be managing a public figure’s account, learn and study how that person speaks and writes. Fans are savvy and will catch you out if you have the wrong tone of voice to the person.

An example, in text, does that person use full stops? “u” instead of' “you”? Slang? '“lol” or “haha”? Even “Ha ha” or “haha”? It’s incredible how intelligent fans are and how easily they can pick apart someone running an account, don’t get caught.

How Celebrities Use Social Media: Be Candid!

Your number-one priority should be honesty (No pun, promise). Because you control this channel—unlike those through partnership brands, project reps, interviews or tabloids—you’re free to let down your guard a little to strike a connection. Afraid of being too candid and making a faux pas? Just look at how celebrities use social media: Adele has a manager approve her posts before publishing, letting her be sincere without worrying about saying the wrong thing. (We recommend this, get in touch.)

Make sure to have fun and show your best side. DJ Khaled became a bit of a meme when he broadcasted his bizarre but captivating “jet ski adventure” via Snapchat. The move was funny for portraying Khaled in a vulnerable (but still tongue-in-cheek) situation that left his audience on the edge of their seats throughout. It’s a great example of how creative thinking and a touch of drama can generate buzz.

Celebrity Social Media Requires Intimacy

When it comes to intimacy on social media, perhaps no one pulls it off better than Kim Kardashian. Kim handles her celebrity social media management all on her own, and it shows: she often speaks directly to her audience via Instagram stories, and once invited her Twitter following to help her daughter name their new puppy over a few days. This is an example of giving her audience agency, which is important in forming a connection.

Another shining example of how celebrities use social media to provide behind-the-scenes glimpses is Jessica Alba. Alba’s Instagram is full of casual, homey selfies—a stark contrast to the glitz and glamour you might expect from celebrity social media. Her social media presence is humbling, and she feels like a friend we know.

Halsey is another prime example of knowing her audience and has a thorough understanding of how each social media platform works. She communicates regularly with her Twitter following, using a relaxed tone with fun life updates while always replying to one or two comments on her Instagram grid posts. By always responding to at least 1 comment per grid post, you are pushing the audience to want to comment in hope of getting a response from their favourite star. Improving your engagement and topping your algorithm results even more.

Engage with Fans—or Your Celebrity Social Media Strategy is Worthless

Continuing, an important tenant to public figure social media management is that it be a conversation, not a one-way broadcast. As a public figure, your audience is probably too big to respond to everyone. Still, when fans reach out, you should engage with them. This makes them feel appreciated, and makes you seem more approachable. 

Don’t be afraid to give back. When managing social media for a public figure, be sure to include charitable works and projects. Avoid boasting about how much you’re donating, this can come across as the public figure trying to pat their own back, simply state you’ve donated and leave a link for your fans to donate with a comment like “any amount helps”.

If fans share print screens of their donation, like the tweet, it will mean the world to them plus push more fans to donate to a good cause.

Halsey again just last night (31/05/2020) joined in the LA protests for #blacklivesmatter and tweeted crucial advice to help those protesting, spread the message and updated those around the world of the happenings with the dreadful and devastating story of George Floyd. Halsey also shared an Instagram live video of the ‘front line’ to show global fans what’s happening. This is an incredibly powerful use of a public figure social media platform. 

Protection & Comment Moderation are Essential for public figure Social Media Management

Be sure to protect yourself when putting yourself out there. Public figure social media abuse is a big issue. Your social media strategy should include comment moderation to avoid trolls, spam and abuse.

When you have thousands of fans responding to everything you say or do online, it can be difficult to moderate it all alone. When managing social media for a celebrity, invest in an artificial intelligence-based comment moderation too. These tools provide 24/7 protection across social media platforms, blocking spam and harmful language according to your needs. 

Avoid being controversial

Finally, this is the most important point when running a social media channel for a public figure. Cancel culture is real and you’re always one tweet away from being “cancelled”.

If you’re the public figure or working for one, be sure to plan out and decide what you want your channels to be. 

Decide if you want to risk your image/collaboration opportunities by discussing topics like politics and religion, once you go down this route.. There’s no coming back.

Simply be careful, never post to a 1+ million following account (or 1,000 followers in fact) without having at least 1 or 2 people checking the post. I could list many mistakes made by celebrities but it’s a simple Google away. 

When someone is a “celebrity”, it comes naturally to have a group looking for something offensive to end that person. If you’re managing the account, it’s your job to stop this ever happening and avoid crisis situations.

Written by Co-Founder L

If you are looking for an agency to help manage your public figure social media platforms, avoid yes-men. You need a team who will be honest and upfront with you and not afraid to say ‘that’s a terrible idea, don’t do that’.

At Honest London, we’ve been working with public figures with PR, advice, marketing and their social media presence for years. We won’t have it in our contracts like many agencies that we can use you for our own marketing. We never say who our clients are, your privacy is crucial and we respect that. 

We 100% guarantee only the Founders of Honest London deal with public figure accounts.