The social media platform formerly known as Twitter has had a dramatic couple of years, but it still has a key role to play in public communication and brand-building. In a recent session for our Social Media Strategies Summit for First Responders, Jessie Santero and Autumn King – Public Information Officers at Lee County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO) – shared their experiences and best practices for elevating a government agency’s brand on X.

Read on for their key takeaways, including how to:

  • Boost your follower count by integrating platform-specific content
  • Engage local and national media by producing concise, effective information in real time
  • Interact with your audience to enhance engagement and reach

Let’s get into it.

What Content Works Best on X?

Of course, X isn’t the only platform Lee County Sheriff’s Office uses to reach its audience – the agency also has an active presence on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and TikTok. Jessie and Autumn explain that while many content types can be cross-posted to all those platforms, some formats are especially effective on X. These include:

  • Updates on active scenes
  • Traffic advisories
  • High-profile arrests
  • Live posts during press conferences
  • Missing persons posts
  • Scam alerts
  • Informational posts that benefit the public
  • Flyers of events that the agency attends
  • National TV appearances
  • Resharing content from local news and agencies

Autumn says that timeliness is often a bigger concern than aesthetics when producing content for X. “We’re trying to get out information as opposed to trying to create a visual aspect for that particular kind of audience.”

With that in mind, let’s take a deeper look at some of LCSO’s top X content formats:

Sharing Live Information on X

X comes into its own to keep audiences up to date on ongoing events, such as active crime scenes.

The public information team at LCSO has an on-call rotation, meaning there’s usually one person available to attend active scenes. It’s their job to capture footage from the location and share information as it becomes available.

In this example, the initial post explains that the incident is isolated, while the second shares that the subject is confirmed deceased and there is no threat to the public:

Autumn notes that these types of posts are super valuable for updating local media organizations that don’t have their own reporters on the scene. “Instead of spending time going through emails and writing the same thing over and over again to each news outlet, we’re able to post something onto X. Every local media station in this area is checking our X page and surrounding agencies to make sure they’re up to date on information.”

While Jessie points out that every sheriff’s office has a slightly different on-call protocol, LCSO typically relies on X when it receives multiple inquiries about an incident. Not only does this keep all the key information in one place, but it also drives traffic to the agency’s X profile and boosts engagement.

Adding Context to Initial Announcements

The threadable nature of content on X makes the platform a good fit for sharing context around a single story or development.

For instance, take high-profile arrests, like the case of a woman investigated over a bestiality incident:

Autumn and Jessie knew this story would get a ton of attention, so they posted the initial announcement along with the woman’s mugshot, followed up with further information and quotes from Sheriff Carmine Marceno.

Jessie explains that X is a good fit for this kind of snappy, bite-sized content: “You really wanna keep it short and concise on X.”

Generating Traffic From Other Platforms

LCSO uses X as a central hub for information about major announcements and ongoing incidents, directing traffic from other social platforms toward their X profile.

In the above example about the woman arrested in the bestiality investigation, they shared an Instagram Story around the incident, then added a link pointing to X. Not only does this help keep the public up to date, but it also means more engagement on X – which, in turn, can grow their follower count.

“We have a significant amount more followers [on other platforms] than we do on X,” says Jessie. “With Facebook, we’re reaching over 400,000 people. So if we utilize Facebook to draw people to our X, it benefits us on both platforms.”

Posting Press Conference Updates

Like many government agencies, LCSO streams all its press conferences on Facebook.

But what if a media outlet didn’t have time to attend the conference in person or tune into the live stream? That’s no problem because Autumn and Jessie often go to press conferences themselves and share live updates on X.

“We want all media outlets to cover the stuff that we want to highlight,” says Autumn. “If we make a good arrest or have an officer-involved shooting, we have to relay the information, and X is such a good way to share it.”

Publishing Evergreen Content

While breaking news is a major focus of LCSO’s social media strategy for X, they also use the platform to share the occasional piece of evergreen content, such as reminders to stay vigilant about potential scams.

“Typically, we’re posting stuff about active scenes, missing persons, and so forth,” says Jessie. “But we like to throw these evergreen posts in every now and then to give a gentle reminder and throw our phone number out there.”

Reducing Media Inquiries Around Common Incidents

Sharing information on X actually saves time for LCSO’s public information team by reducing the number of inquiries they have to field from media organizations. For example, they share a bunch of traffic advisories when roads are temporarily closed due to things like brush fires and vehicle-related incidents.

Not only does this keep residents up to date, but it also helps communicate the information to local media, Jessie explains. “We were getting inundated with media inquiries regarding traffic advisories, so we gravitated toward X to say, ‘Anything traffic-related, if it’s major, if it’s something that you need to know about, it’s gonna be posted on our X.’”

Communicating During Natural Disasters

Given its location in southern Florida, tropical storms and hurricanes are a fact of life for Lee County. Events like this are actually a major contributor to LCSO’s growing follower count, because their audience wants to know what’s happening.

“It doesn’t matter what kind of tragedy we’re going through; people want to see what’s going on,” says Autumn. “They want to see what other community members are putting up with or dealing with during the same thing that they’re experiencing – and they want to see stuff from us, because we’re right in it with our boots on the ground.”

👉 Further reading: Top Elements of a Social Media Crisis Comms Strategy for Government Agencies

Case Study: Growing Impressions By 36,000 in 7 Days

When they were putting this presentation together, LCSO saw a significant spike in impressions, increasing by 36,000 in a single week. What happened?

Well, Autumn and Jessie attributed their success to the higher-than-average volume of active updates they shared, including:

  • 9 traffic advisories
  • 4 death investigations/homicides
  • Coverage of the bestiality case mentioned above

“Those types of posts are really what’s going to generate that engagement, grow your following, and enhance your presence on X,” says Jessie.

6 Best Practices to Grow Your Brand On X

To wrap up the session, Autumn and Jessie shared their top tips and best practices for elevating your X strategy:

1. Post Consistently

First up, Jessie simply recommends taking the time to post regular content. Even if you don’t have anything urgent to say, share a piece of evergreen content to maintain your social media presence. “That way, people know you’re posting on that platform and they have a reason to follow you.”

2. Prioritize Visuals

Wherever possible, make sure to share images and videos in your posts, because they draw the eye in a way that text-only content simply can’t.

Don’t be afraid to get creative when sourcing relevant imagery. For instance, Autumn notes that LCSO often shares screenshots of Google Maps for traffic-related announcements, or even just a picture of Sheriff Carmine Marceno smiling.

Of course, a lot of their visual content comes from active scenes. Autumn and Jessie often make sure to attend these scenes so they can capture their own visuals rather than relying on officers to do it for them.

“At the end of the day, they’re there to do their own separate job,” says Autumn. “They’re snapping something as fast as possible to check off a box and get us what we need, which we’re super appreciative of – but if we’re able to go there and maybe lower the saturation a little bit or figure out a certain angle that would be a little bit more appealing, it truly makes all the difference.”

3. Respond to Comments

When you see people commenting on your posts, don’t ignore them – take the time to comment back. Because if your audience knows you respond, they’re more likely to comment in the first place, which means higher engagement.

👉 Further reading: 8 Simple Rules of Engagement for Your Social Communities

4. Know Your Platform Inside Out

If you’re going to maximize your social strategy, you need to lean into the specific strengths of each individual social platform. For example, in the case of X, LCSO uses it to share fast, concise information. Longer-form content – like live streams of press conferences – is a better fit for platforms like Facebook.

5. Create Specialist Content for X

Once you’ve figured out how X’s strengths apply to your niche, use your learnings to create platform-specific content. For LCSO, X is the go-to platform for breaking news and ongoing developments. “If you have a specific style of posts that you only utilize X for, that’s going to drive people to that platform,” Jessie says.

6. Understand Your Community

Different audiences respond to different types of content. For instance, tackling animal cruelty is a big focus for LCSO, and Autumn and Jessie know that anything related to this will generate strong engagement on X.

Not sure what your followers like or dislike? Jessie recommends starting with formats that typically play well in your niche. For LCSO, this might be a high-profile arrest or an eye-catching mugshot. “You’re guaranteed to grow your following if you just start with universally liked posts,” she explains.

Are you seeking social media marketing tips, insights, and best practices for government social media? Register for our next social media conference!

Featured image by Freepik.

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