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Editors

Social media

Social media is a great way to raise the profile and visibility of your journal.

Why use social media?

With over 1.78 billion active users of Facebook, and 186 million active users of Twitter, the potential reach of social media for your journal is exponential.

Social media provides editors with a platform for listening, sharing and engaging in conversations with the research community.

Advantages of social media

  • Large online communities. An opportunity to expand your journal's audience.
  • Great for niche markets. However specialised your topic, you can find your ‘community of interest’ via social media.
  • Drive traffic to journal content. Social media is great for driving web traffic – such as by regularly sharing blog posts and links to journal articles.
  • Build engagement, community and trust. Building a community – and interacting with it – is key.
  • Position yourself as an expert. By sharing relevant, useful information in your topic area.
  • Building a relationship with your journal. Encourage researchers to read and sign up for alerts from your journal.
  • Increase the impact of your journal. Go beyond citations and have your journal articles seen and talked about by more people in more places.

Tips for supporting your journal on social media

Success on social media comes from understanding your audience and engaging them with the right content on the right platforms.

  • Choose the right platform(s). Twitter is a common choice for journals, as it lends itself to sharing topic-based content and engaging with topical debates. But think too about what your audience uses, which platform is a good fit for your content, what you feel comfortable using – and what you have the time and resources for.
  • Know your audience. Research your target audience, and keep your content focused on what they will find interesting and valuable.
  • Build your audience. Have a strategy for building engagement and followers. This is often down to sharing the right content – and following the right people.
  • Develop a content plan. Use an editorial calendar, or a marketing calendar, to plan your forthcoming content. Plan ahead, and pre-schedule content using a social media dashboard such as Hootsuite.