There’s been a slew of posts about new Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s use of social media as a communications channel.
There’s been some interesting reads. He’s recruiting a dozen more social media posts for the 10 Downing Street operation. He may or may not be the UK’s first social media Prime Minister.
Let’s been honest, two weeks in and he’s on his honeymoon period.
But there’s enough there to intrigue me into making me spend some time evaluating his content.
I’m anticipating the training request ‘we’ve been asked to make our senior people look as good as Andy Burnham.’
How politicians used to communicate
Growing up, the set-piece TV interview was the way politicians would communicate their thoughts and policy detail. Journalist Rob Burley’s excellent ‘Why Is This Lying Bastard Lying To Me’ traces the rise and fall of the 40-minute Sunday morning political interview.
The trouble is nobody outside Westminster wants to watch.
So, with more than 80 per cent of the UK population having a social media account it makes sense to be good these channels as well as media relations, strategy, policy, public speaking and all the other things a successful Prime Minister needs. For a Labour politician facing a hostile media it also makes sense.
Were I still in regional media, I’d be asking why local news journalists don’t get to interview the Prime Minister so much when he visits town. And yes, other politicians are available.
So a post of three parts. First some data then some learning points and then some content.
PART 1: Some data on Andy Burnham’s social media content
So, how are the numbers? I’ve taken a look at Andy Burnham’s own Instagram, TikTok and Facebook. I’ve not looked at the 10 Downing Street accounts.
At first, I looked at Instagram mapped content there. But exploring TikTok and Facebook it was clear there was content unique to those platforms. How come I haven’t looked at X? Hours in the day, mainly. X is still important to politicians and journalists but less so for the wider public. A quick glance over there shows much less engagement but strong reach. So, around 13,000 engagements on X for the two week and here’s what we’ve achieved listicle. That’s about half of the performance of the same content on Instagram.
I looked at engagements per post as a metric. Why? Because likes, comments and shares are a marker of people literally engaging of what is being said. They haven’t simply scrolled past. When people engage it also sends a signal to the algorithm to show it to more people. Not only that but they are more likely to be shown future content.
Instagram is his largest channel with 660,000 followers outranking Facebook (610,000) and TikTok (465,000). But follower numbers are less important. All of the platforms are showing you content from people you don’t follow if it performs well or you’ve shown an interest in related content.
I’ve also calculated the percentage reach for each of the channels. So, in other words, if you have an account with 100,000 followers reaching 5,000 would be five per cent. It’s a marker of how effective the content is.
For Instagram this is 3.2 per cent. This is narrowly behind Hootsuite’s benchmark for Government of 3.5 per cent. For Facebook, Andy Burnham’s numbers are 4.1 per cent which is higher than the 1.5 per cent Hootsuite metric.
But its TikTok with a 16.6 per cent engagement rate that’s the real winner. That’s more than ten times the social platform’s suggested 1.5 per cent benchmark. That would be of interest no doubt to political pollsters.
The overall raw numbers pan out in a very similar shape for overall engagement numbers. On average, the 77,000 engagements for TikTok outrank the 25,000 engagements on Facebook and 21,000 on Instagram.
Part 2: What you can learn from Andy Burnham’s social media strategy
Collaborations, collaborations, collaborations. His team love to set him up with a collab. That’s working with an interviewee for a chat with content often being shared. Of the 25 posts, seven are collaborations. This works here to show a very human side. 4
He sits down with Elizabeth Day from the ‘How to Fail’ podcast which elicits an emotional moment where Andy Burnham reveals how his Dad’s Alzheimer’s disease is so advanced he doesn’t realise his son has been made Prime Minister. Imagine your crowning glory being taken away from you, you are invited to wonder. It’s a touching moment that probably wouldn’t work with a political interviewer. It reaches 100,000 engagements on Burnham’s Instagram but isn’t posted to TikTok or Facebook by his team.
Instead, the ‘How to Fail’ channel is where you can find it on TikTok and Instagram along with eight other clips and a 54-minute podcast on Spotify and other providers. That’s the nature of collaborations.
He also meets @classicfootyshirts to talk about his love of Everton FC as well as the more heavyweight former diplomat Alexander Dragonetti. There’s also street voxpopper @robcolfer which allows him to talk about Sheffield music and science influencer Big Manny which has more than 100,000 engagements across Instagram and TikTok.
The basic sums of this is that he can break out of his own channel and reach other audiences who probably aren’t following much hardcore politics. It’s a smart move as part of a wider strategy. Critics may say this is not rigorous feet to the fire scrutiny.
Working with influencers will probably work in a honeymoon period. In times of crisis I’d expect this will probably be left in the toolbox.
Influencers. Yes, the public sector can work with influencers. But a bit of prep is needed to make sure you are not sitting down with a dark past or shady opinions.
It’s not posted across all channels. This is such an important lesson from this exercise. Content is posted to the platform where it’ll work best. So, stop the boats is reserved for Facebook. Posts about training for young people go to TikTok. That makes sense. Be aware of the channel.
Bespoke content. Sometimes there was Instagram-only, TikTok-only and Facebook-only content. I was surprised to see Andy Burnham’s admins experiment with text-only posts on Facebook which are also quite long form. Several hundred words on a topic is perhaps surprising.
Softer content gets the audience for the drier policy stuff.. This is not the best performing content but posts which set out what the PM has done that week. They feel like the meat and potatoes. They want you to know this. My guess is that softer content reels people in to create a bigger crowd for the more serious messages.
Video, video, video. There’s so much video. To someone who has been banging on about the importance of video this gladdens my heart. But it is not a cure all. There are times when it’ll work and times when it won’t.
Not so much traditional politician content. The collabs by definition break outside of the politician at the Despatch Box or lectern. In fact, it’s notable how little traditional PMQs sound bite or lectern content there is. Why would he? He’s about doing things differently.
To camera and in conversation. Burnham sometimes delivers a piece to camera and sometimes is captured chatting to an interviewee. That feels deliberate. Mixing it up freshens it up and will deliver different results. The piece to camera can be the points he wants you to know. Counter intuitively, the conversations with interviewers reveal the most personal and intimate content. Revealing the point about his Dad’s dementia may feel a little too manipulative if it was in a speech.
Hope. One of his early positions is the aim to restore a sense of hope. Indeed, there’s a video which captures this. So much of the internet can be powered by rage and there’s an absence of angry finger pointing here. In this snapshot of content he doesn’t mention his political enemies by name. They’re not even in the screen. His team would probably argue that the content reflects the hope message.
Speaking off the cuff. As an experienced politician he makes a lot of what he says look effortless. He has an ability to communicate without notes. This is rare. Warning: most politicians trying to emulate this will struggle. He has a well thought-out message and he delivers it in conversation rather than set piece soundbite from an autocue. There is no Tony Blair-style jarring of ‘This is no time for soundbites… but I feel the hand of history on my shoulder.’
All this will make it difficult for other politicians to replicate. The bright comms team will anticipate this. The more tightly scripted and tightly edited Oxford City Council approach feels a better route for the less experienced performer.
Part three: the content itself
Dive in, have a look. It’ll change with time and events no doubt
VIDEO: A collaboration with @robcollfer (227k Instagram followers) who carries out voxpop interviews in the street. He stops ‘Man in glasses’ and asks Q: what is your favourite thing about Sheffield? Answer: The Crucible for the snooker, Human League and Arctic Monkeys. Q: And least favourite? The transport links. A cunning way to talk about the poor transport links across the Pennines.
Likely to appeal to: Sheffield people, music and snooker fans and northerners fed-up with poor transport links.
Hook: “Man in the glasses, have you got a minute?”
Instagram engagements 10,200.
TikTok engagements: not posted
Facebook engagements: not posted
Video length 1’25”.
PIC: A listicle of the week’s achievements with a shot of the PM meeting a factory worker. ‘My Government is getting things done’.
Likely to appeal to: Core audience of the page.
Hook: “My government is getting things done – here’s just some of the changes we’ve made this week.”
Instagram engagements 6,600.
TikTok engagements: not posted
Facebook engagements: not posted
VIDEO: A collaboration with @big.manny1 (1.5 million followers) an Afro-Caribbean man who makes science relatable to young people. In the clip, Manny narrates making a circuit breaker in the same way that the PM is making a circuit breaker by creating the Number 10 of the North in Manchester to make decisions outside London.
Likely to appeal to: Young people.
Hook: @andy.burnham is introducing a circuit breaker into UK politics with the new No. 10 North.
Instagram engagements: 51,500.
TikTok engagements: 68,800
Facebook engagements: not posted
Video length: 45 seconds.
TEXT: We’re changing the rules… are you creating British jobs?. This is text and Facebook-only. It’s also long form text.
Likely to appeal to: Older Facebook natives.
Instagram engagements: not posted
TikTok engagements: not posted
Facebook engagements: 31,500
TEXT: We’ve all had some experience of struggles with mental health. Like the previous post, this is text and long form text.
Instagram engagements: not posted
TikTok engagements: not posted
Facebook engagements: 35,200
VIDEO: I’m back down at Ashton Bears. A selfie video shot in landscape in downtime revisioting the Rugby League club he visited during the recent by-election.
Instagram engagements: not posted
TikTok engagements: not posted
Facebook engagements: 9,200
Video length: 1 minute 42 seconds.
VIDEO: AI is important so is engineering. A video direct to camera in hi-vis celebrating engineering and other jobs. This is related to the policy announcement also in this run about practical jobs being important.
Instagram engagements: not posted
TikTok engagements: 94,200
Facebook engagements: not posted
Video length: 1 minute 42 seconds.
VIDEO: Collaboration with @classicfootyshirts (1.5 million followers). The PM is shown a late 1970s Everton shirt, talks of his love of Everton and correctly names the player who would have worn the shirt.
Likely to appeal to: Football supporters especially Evertonians.
Hook: “What does Everton Football Club mean to you?”
Instagram engagements: 8,600
TikTok engagements: not posted
Facebook engagements: not posted
Video length: 33 seconds.
VIDEO: Collaboration #1 with ‘How to Fail podcast with Elizabeth Day’ (210,000 followers). In an emotional clip the PM describes how father’s alzheimers is sufficiently advanced that he doesn’t know he is PM.
Likely to appeal to: Broad appeal but especially amongst those whose family have experienced Alzheimers.
Hook: “My Dad doesn’t know I’m Prime Minister.”
Instagram engagements: 100,000
TikTok engagements: not posted
Facebook engagements: not posted
Video length 1 minute 30 seconds.
VIDEO: Collaboration #2 with ‘How to Fail podcast with Elizabeth Day’ (210,000 followers). In this clip, its more a platform for the PM to explain what he is standing for and talks about the need to ‘bring back hope’.
Likely to appeal to: Core audience.
Hook: Bring back hope.
Instagram engagements: 5,000.
TikTok engagements: 11,200
Facebook engagements: 8,500
Video length 1 minute.
VIDEO: A show reel of places the PM has gone in the first few weeks. Using ‘Can You Hear the Music’ from the film Oppenheimer plugging into the cinema meme of showing something in 35mm as opposed to the more expansive IMX shot.
Likely to appeal to: Scrolling audience.
Hook: ‘The first few weeks.’
Instagram engagements: 12,800
TikTok engagement 25,200
Facebook engagements: 49,200
Video length: 29 seconds.
VIDEO: Ask me anything. Taking questions posted on a range of subjects some tricky and some not. While one shot with captions, it is made visually more interesting by jump cuts that crop in on each closer creating pace and intimacy. This plugs into the internet convention ‘ask me anything’ when famous people take questions from the public.
Likely to appeal to: A scrolling audience.
Hook: ‘Ask me anything’.
Instagram engagements: 5,900.
TikTok engagement: 21,300
Facebook engagements: 10,900
Video length: 1 minute 30 seconds.
VIDEO: Collaboration with @ellisplatten (138,000 followers) the man who owns classicfiootballshirts. Ellis uses the Number 10 podium to joke how his first policy would be to make everyone wear a football shirt.
Likely to appeal to: Football fans.
Hook: ‘Good evening, Britain.’
Instagram engagements: 11,500.
TikTok engagements: not posted
Facebook engagements: not posted
Video length: 15 seconds.
VIDEO: Collaboration #3 with ‘How to Fail podcast with Elizabeth Day’ (210,000 followers). A major policy shift acknowledgiong the need to tackle social care.
Hook: The healthcare system is broken.
Instagram engagements: 16,000.
TikTok engagements: not posted
Facebook engagements: not posted
Video length: 1 minute 30 seconds.
VIDEO: It shouldn’t just be about University education. This is shot with an off-screen interviewer the PM is engaged with. It covers a significant policy change. Young people should be encouraged that vocational education is a good route foir their career.
Likely to appeal to: Parents and young people.
Hook: “For too long, young people have been told there’s only one route to success.”
Instagram engagements: 7,600.
TikTok engagement: 22,000
Facebook engagements: 7,400
Video length: 52 seconds.
PICTURE: Andy Burnham in Downing Street. A recap on the first two weeks as a listicle.
Likely to appeal to: A scrolling audience.
Hook: “Two weeks ago today, I admitted that politics has not been working for you and that we all need to raise our game.”
Instagram engagements: 21,200
TikTok engagements: not posted
Facebook engagements: not posted
VIDEO: A press conference-style set-up. To tackle the issue of small boat crossings.
Likely to appeal to: People for who the small boats issue is important.
Hook: The number of crossings is down by 50 per cent.
Instagram engagements: 9,700
TikTok engagement: 6,200
Facebook engagements: 21,500
Video length: 1 minute 30 seconds.
VIDEO: A super carousel of images shot in the opening weeks. Dozens of shots of the PM meeting a range of people from the King to members of the public.
Likely to appeal to: Scrolling audience.
Hook: Behind the scenes – the first two weeks…
Instagram engagements: 3,900
TikTok engagements: not posted
Facebook engagements: not posted
Video length: 20 seconds.
VIDEO: A piece to camera summary of the first two weeks. A verbal listicle.
Likely to appeal to: A scrolling audience.
Hook: Second week as Prime Minister .
Instagram engagements: 33,800
TikTok engagement: 187,000
Facebook engagements: 48,900
Video length: 1 minute 9 seconds.
VIDEO: The need to devolve power. A piece to camera celebrating the regional differences of a roll / barm / tea cake / cob to make the point that local people know what’s to be done locally.
Likely to appeal to: People from the Midlands and North.
Hook: Now this is a barm and no-one can tell me any different.
Instagram engagements: 36,100
TikTok engagement: 72,900
Facebook engagements: 27,900
Video length: 50 seconds.
VIDEO: Criticising online job interviews. A sit-down interview-style interview approach about online job interviews.
Likely to appeal to: frustrated jobseekers and older people who don’t like technology.
Hook: I’m not a fan of this online job interview culture.
Instagram engagements: 11,400
TikTok engagement: 35,100
Facebook engagements: 36,700
Video length: 30 seconds.
VIDEO: Collaboration with former diplomat, columnist and influencer Alexander Dragonetti (240,000 followers) on tackling social care. A chat on benches with a two shot of the two of them.
Likely to appeal to: People who have experience of care for a family member.
Hook: “I would never forgive myself.”
Instagram engagements: 10,300
TikTok engagements: not posted
Facebook engagements: not posted
Video length: 1 minute 35 seconds.
VIDEO: The need for Number 10 North. An informal fireside-style interview to allow the main points to be delivered.
Likely to appeal to: People in Northern England.
Hook: “I think we need to be more ambitious.”
Instagram engagements: 4,800
TikTok engagement: 7,100
Facebook engagements: 8,000
Video length: 38 seconds.
VIDEO: Practical jobs are important. A TikTok-only piece to camera with mortar board and hard hat props to underline the importance of practical jobs.
Likely to appeal to: Young people.
Hook: “For decades, young people have been told a mortar board leads to success but this doesn’t. I’m not having that.”
Instagram engagements: not posted
TikTok engagement: 420,000
Facebook engagements: not posted
Video length: 38 seconds.
VIDEO: A speech given to real people without notes standing amongst a seated audience.
Hook: “I speak from the heart…”
Instagram engagements: 22,500
TikTok engagement: 33,100
Facebook engagements: 29,200
Video length: 1 minute 25 seconds.
That’s it. Thanks for reading. It would be interesting to compare to a figure on the right of British politics. If I can find the time, I may.
For more, I deliver training to help you make sense of the changing landscape.
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