5 Creative Ideas for Promoting Research on Social Media

Researchers and academics tend to view social media as a personal indulgence, a diversion from work. But social media platforms can be one of the most effective ways to promote new research and academic pursuits. So how does one bridge the gap between the formal world of peer-reviewed papers and the world of likes and comments? Here are five things to try out.

The first and maybe easiest step in getting comfortable promoting research on social media is being an active user.

If you’re already on Instagram or Twitter or any other social medium, you’ve already got a leg up. Many of the things that regular social media users do anyways will help you promote your work. This includes everything from commenting on other research-related content to making your posts dynamic and interesting for increased attention, to simply liking posts in related fields of study or following topical hashtags.

Second, and more importantly, you are developing a network of people, pages, and user habits that will all help you in the long run. The more people follow you, the more people will read the research you post about. The more you comment on other content, the more likely it is that someone comes across your page just by seeing its name. If you have a good conversation with a science blog’s editor on Twitter, it’s possible that you can share future work with them to get featured. You never know which connections may help you down the line.

Obviously, the language of research papers, scientific work, and technical manuscripts is not what the average Facebook user is used to seeing in their feed. But this puts any researcher looking to bridge that divide in a useful position.

Make sure that any research articles you post on your social media platform of choice contain an engaging caption, or a colloquial summary, maybe even a question to spark interest. Try doing a series of posts, maybe on a weekly basis, condensing recent research into plain English; this could be any interesting articles, not necessarily your own original work. Of course, make sure to credit the original researchers and get all your facts straight.

In this sense, academics and scientists can become both content curators and translators of their specific field engaging with the wider public. Doing this effectively can result in a large following and a more informed and receptive audience for future work.

Say that you’re posting on your platforms semi-regularly, sharing other people’s work, and presenting your own research in a colloquial, engaging language that should appeal to a broad audience. What else is missing from here?

Dialogue.

Yes, users, friends, and “followers” expect to receive content from you, but they don’t just want a one-way stream of info every day. Social media users value engagement and interactivity; this means you need to enable more active input than just liking, commenting, and retweeting.

There are several simple ways to achieve more user interaction. On Instagram, try running polls on your story regarding the topic you’re discussing, then link to it. For example, new research on the Pacific Garbage Patch could be prefaced by a poll about how big users think the Patch might be. Similarly, you can ask users to comment on your posts or tweets in some way related to the subject of your post.

Becoming more open to a two-way dialogue is both entertaining and rewarding, personally and from a traction perspective, and should be a major tool in the arsenal of anyone looking to promote research on social media.

You may be wondering why this section gets an exclamation point.

So how does this play into promoting research? Well, if a majority of your social media presence is going to be about presenting cutting-edge research published as long and dense technical papers, you may need some visual aids to help out.

Try graphically representing a key stat from the research paper you’re promoting. If you’re completely inept in all things Photoshop and graphic design, consider teaming up with a designer friend to get the job done. Alternatively, you could try sketching a graphical abstract by hand and uploading a photo of it for a unique and DIY vibe.

Investing money into promoting research on social media may not sound like the most creative idea, but it’s very effective, and necessary if you want to get your content out to the largest possible audience.

What you can get creative with is where and how to invest your money. No one wants to take big losses on advertising, especially when engagements with the advertised material do not lead to direct purchases or other commerce.

To promote research in the social media age, researchers have to get familiar with new ways of communicating to a broad audience. Start by being an active user in an authentic way, engaging with content that is in your research field and learning what grabs attention and what does not.

Get comfortable and efficient at paraphrasing scientific and academic work into more colloquial language that is engaging and accessible without being patronising. There is a demand for plain-English summaries of complex ideas: just look at magazines like Wired and the like.

Next, build a habit of opening a dialogue with your followers, letting them contribute questions, opinions, and other constructive interactions with you. A two-way relationship, and one that other people can contribute to, will enrich both your content and the enjoyment of other users. Using striking visuals and clean graphic design can also make you stand out in the busy social media landscape, so don’t rely too much on text.

Lastly, don’t be afraid to spend a little money in the process, as long as you use it creatively and wisely. Try partnering with influencers or running very specific targeted ad campaigns for a receptive demographic; you’ll be impressed by the results.

This guest post was written by Tori Lutz,
Freelance Writer, Editor & Social Media Strategist, Columbia University, New York.

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