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Social Media

Our Messaging

Currently, there are 3 Social Media channels of ASEF – Facebook, Twitter & LinkedIn. These channels work slightly differently in terms of writing style, and an effort should be made to keep consistent language, adapted to each channel. This part of the Brand Manual gives guidance for this purpose.

Contrary to a website, billboards or TV spots, Social Media is a completely different approach to interact with audiences. It is a platform for connection and engagement, not a free, digital wall of ads. Users on Social Media are not interested in interacting with ads, but want genuine and interesting content, that does not try to constantly sell them something.

The basic idea of ASEF and its projects is already interesting for many users. They want to be part of the idea, of more cooperation between Asia & Europe and have the possibility to bring in their perspectives. Therefore, no one wants to be “a number” in a statistic, but addressed in a human fashion.

As a rule of thumb: Picture the way you yourself use Social Media and how you interact with content from organisations/companies/pages. If you are not interested in engaging with the content you produce for ASEF, your audiences are likely also not interested.

Basic Rules
  • Every Social Media channel is different and requires a different approach.
  • Adapt your language to each channel’s audience.
  • Refrain from “selling” language.
  • Avoid copy-pasting the same content on different channels.

Hashtags are an easy way to connect and track content to specific topics. It is advised to use them in the different channels as they create more visibility for ASEF.

  • Use official Hashtags
    • #ASEF
    • #ASEM
    • #DiversityCreates
  • Use Project Hashtag
  • Focus your Hashtags
    • Use a maximum of 2-3 per post to focus the message.
    • Avoid using every second word as a hashtag.

Whenever working with Partners, it is wise to mention them in Social Media posts to increase visibility for ASEF and the Partner organisation. This can be done with typing “@” followed by the (user)name of the Partner. Social Media platforms identify the account and it needs to be confirmed.

  • “@” + name of Partner
  • Double-check the right username. Especially relevant on Twitter!

However, take note that it is not advisable to start your tweet with @ + name of partner e.g. “@ASEFpartner launches new publication on xxx…” Any tweet that begins with a tag will not be visible on the ASEF home timeline for all followers to see. Rather, it will only be visible to people who follow both ASEF and the username tagged. 

It is recommended to phrase the tweet in a way that @ASEFpartner is not the first word e.g. “New publication on xxx is launched by @ASEFpartner” 

Facebook is the largest Social Media channel and used by around 700 million users in ASEM countries. More than half of the userbase is under 29 years old, 3/4 of the userbase under 49. Users usually spend around 1.2 – 2.5 seconds per post. Language should be kept short, informal and dynamic.

Basic Rules
  • Focus on genuine, informal and short language
  • Refrain from tagging private persons, but focus on tagging organisations or Partners when applicable
  • Emoticons can be used sparingly
  • Use hashtags at the end of a post, not within the text to not disrupt the reading flow
  • Focus hashtags to a maximum of 3

Twitter is a very responsive and active channel. The userbase is broad, with around 1/3 under 29, but still remarkable portions of userbases in all age groups. It is used by around 260 million people in ASEM countries.

Tweets are limited to 280 characters, which makes shortened language necessary (e.g. use of abbreviations if needed).

For videos, the maximum length is 2 minutes and 20 seconds. 

Basic Rules
  • Pictures, videos & quotes do not count into the character limit.
  • Using hashtags and mentions instead of words is okay to save space.
  • Hashtags should be still limited to a maximum of 2-3 to focus the content.
  • Abbreviations can be used sparingly.
  • Keep an informative tone.

LinkedIn is used by around 200 million users in ASEM countries in all age groups. It is a platform for professionals and content should be adapted to it.

Basic Rules
  • Language should be professional.
  • Place Hashtags only at the bottom of the post in order to keep professionalism.
  • Mentions can be used in the text.

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