C.L.E.A.R. content
As with content generally, information presented as part
of a social media approach should aim to be C.L.E.A.R.;
Current, Local, Evidenced, Attractive, Relevant:
CURRENT - Social media is about the ‘here and now’.
The pace is fast and the content is constantly changing.
So while it is important that all road safety content is
‘current’, that can be a particular challenge when it
comes to social media. Responses to today’s news
have to happen today. Activities that you were engaged
in today need to be covered today. Whilst this can be
quite demanding, it also means that we can make the
most of opportunities that are presented in the news
and get our messages out there when they are as
relevant and as useful as they can possibly be.
LOCAL - Keeping information you share local, or at
least locally relevant, means followers will be more
likely to relate to it. Messages about people and places
that differ from your audience will be easier for them
to resist and deflect than ones that are about familiar
places and the people that use them. Information
about events and incidents that local people need to
know about (such as road closures) are a useful way of
drawing the audience back again and again and helps
to build a dependence on your account as the place to
go for trusted information.
challenged! ‘Evidence’ can also come from experience,
so messages from ‘credible sources’ have impact
ATTRACTIVE - Images and (short) videos are most
likely to be engaged with, liked and shared¹. Make sure
that they are in a mobile-friendly format and always
put captions or subtitles on videos as up to 85% of
people will ‘listen’ in silence². Live videos or ‘takeovers’
that show ‘a day in the life of…’ are increasingly popular
and may be useful when you want to introduce a new
‘expert’ or approach. Personalisation is also a good way
of attracting attention 3 .
RELEVANT - Social media platforms that are frequented
by young people should show images of young people,
use news stories that are likely of interest to young
people and provide discussion that is more likely to
be interesting to, and engaged with, by young people.
Keeping things current and local will also make it more
relevant to those it is intended for. Remember that the
audience will scan and judge social media content
rapidly, deciding in split seconds whether it interests
them or not.
If you have a social media account of your own,
ask yourself what makes you ignore some posts
and click on, or expand, others?
EVIDENCED - As we’ve said elsewhere, it is important to
first understand the demographic or social group that
you are seeking to reach before you launch yourself
into the world of social media. It is also important to
base your messages around evidence, statistics and
research, though you may want to think carefully about
if and when and how you state your source so as to
keep things engaging. If you state a statistic, just make
sure that you know where it came from in case you get
¹ Hubspot (nd). 45 visual content marketing statistics you should know in 2018. Available from: https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/visual-content-
marketing-strategy
² UScreen (nd). 7 reasons your videos need subtitles. Available from: https://www.uscreen.tv/blog/7-reasons-videos-need-subtitles-infographic/
3
Hallsworth, M. and Halpern, D., 2014. EAST Four simple ways to apply behavioural insights. Available at https://www.behaviouralinsights.co.uk/wp-
content/uploads/2015/07/BIT-Publication-EAST_FA_WEB.pdf
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