#15: Features on the Horizon: Short-form video and voice-first audio—don’t miss social trends for your next project
Social networks are the hub of modern communications, and public engagement teams must keep up with new and evolving tools to keep audiences connected, engaged, and informed. Of the new features that are buzzing around popular public-facing platforms, Twitter Fleets, Instagram Reels and LinkedIn Stories, offer great ways to share information in short videos and collect instant feedback. Social audio platforms, like Clubhouse and Twitter Spaces have shown up to close the information gap that was caused by the pandemic’s restrictions on live gatherings. When combined and used correctly, these features and platforms can turn any social media plan into a community-building powerhouse.
What puts this trends pair on our to-do list?
Two important trends in social networking for public engagement fall into two categories: short-form video and voice-first social audio. Short-form videos are 10-30 second video clips that are edited together and posted to social platforms; these quick bits of information are at the epicenter of how many people now interact with social media. If you want to try it out, use new features on familiar social platforms. Twitter Fleets, Instagram Reels, and LinkedIn Stories enable participation in these social conversations within established social media platforms. Second is the rush to social audio platforms, like Twitter Spaces, which is public and Clubhouse, which is currently invite-only and available only on iOS systems. Clubhouse and Spaces enable organizers to run virtual roundtables for (not visual) listening audiences, with moderators inviting attendees to a virtual stage to interact. The platform creates a small group chat intimacy while reaching a potentially large audience.
Quick to set up and simple to manage, here are a few ways to use short-form video and voice-first audio to strengthen public engagement:
Host real-time conversations between communities and organizers of public projects on Clubhouse.
Leverage music, photos, and live video into chunks of communication that target audiences from teens to seniors.
Schedule Informal community Q&A sessions on social audio platforms to share current information, dispel rumors and update stakeholders.
How can these trends improve public engagement?
Virtual connections. The Clubhouse and Twitter Space resemble town halls and can give audiences the chance to speak with project developers from the comfort of home, increasing participatory opportunities.
Crowdsource creative engagement. When you create a 15 second clip on Instagram Reels and share it to your Stories, Explore Feed, or the new Reels Tab, you are jumping into interactive storytelling. Think about creating a video at a landscape feature on coastal planning project, new stops on a bus route or a video at a new sidewalk cut in a Smart Streets initiative. Add some music, and slice one video into 5, 10, or even more clips, each highlighting a project component for your stakeholder followers.
Open up the conversation. With limits on in-person events still in place, social audio platforms can bridge the gap by allowing speakers and audiences to talk through project topics—try gamifying your presentation to increase audience participation starting with an icebreaker or a “what if” game to enable participants to imagine a new future in their community. That kind of engagement keeps them coming back for more.
Engagement that Builds Community
These new features can help you turn a planning project into an interactive experience audience will return to again and again. Using them can increase the “fun factor” while delivering easy to consume message bites that break down complex ideas, reach audiences of every age and create the kind of return rate that can transform occasional participants into project regulars.
Interested in strategizing how these trends can play a role in your outreach? Give us a call today.
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