Investing in Social Media Pays Big Dividends

Over the past six years, the use of social media, including Twitter, Facebook and WhatsApp, has been a vital part of APRA’s Communications Strategy in raising awareness of the programme’s activities and outputs. Since 2016, APRA’s social media profile has been embedded within the Future Agricultures Consortium’s (FAC) well-established online channels – including Facebook and Twitter – with the view to increase FAC’s followings and enhance APRA’s visibility. The Impact, Communication and Engagement team has been responsible for developing APRA’s Digital Strategy and tracking the impact of social media activities, including sharing APRA’s publications and news on events, and promoting APRA’s key research messages. This report explores this impact, what went well, and what could be improved as future programmes plan their own social media efforts.