In this episode of the #SoMeInsights Podcast, Dante Licona and Matthias @luefkens talk to Laurens Soenen, the Communications Coordinator for the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU @EU2024BE, and a Communication Strategist for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Belgium.
He shared insights about how a team of young professionals carried on the #EU2024BE social media work during the first six months of 2024, and the importance of creating authentic and relevant content for audiences at home, and internationally.
Social Media Insights is the platform for conversations with the professionals behind social media accounts of organizations, governments, and executives.
SoMe Insights, the podcast, is co-hosted by Dante Licona, a social media strategist and consultant based in Geneva, and Matthias Lüfkens, founder of DigiTips.
Welcome to the SoMe Insights podcast. SoMe stands for social media, of course. I’m Dante Licona, an independent social media strategist and consultant. And I’m Matthias Lüfkens, founder of DigiTips. In this podcast, we talk to the people who manage social media accounts for organizations and their executives. They all have interesting stories to tell. The idea is to learn how they’re managing accounts, how executives engage on each platform and hear their tips and tricks. We want to learn from the best cases of social media usage. Today, we’re happy to have with us Laurens Soenen from Belgium. Welcome to the show, Laurens. Hi, Dante. Hi, Matthias. Thank you for the invitation. Laurens, you have been the communication strategist at the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs for the past nine years. And you’re currently coordinating the digital communications of the Belgian presidency of the Council of the European Union. Laurens, could you tell us a little bit about how you started your career and maybe a little bit about your engagement for Ukraine? Eight, nine years ago, I started working here in Brussels at the foreign ministry. At that time, it was actually a surprise for me to start at the Belgian foreign ministry, because before starting to work at the foreign ministry, I studied at the College of Europe in Warsaw, in Poland. And actually, when I went there, it was my second master’s degree. My goal was to work abroad, maybe to work for an NGO. And actually, I didn’t want to work for a governmental institution. But then I saw the job vacancy at the Belgian foreign ministry. I applied. I did the first Skype job interview for the foreign ministry, because at that time I was still studying in Poland and I had exams at the time. And so then I started working at the foreign ministry. But so before I studied at the College of Europe in Warsaw, before during my first master’s, I studied German and Russian, so I already had an interest for everything Eastern Europe. And so at the College of Europe, I wrote my master’s degree about the political situation in Ukraine, communication focused. During my time at the college, we had a study trip to Ukraine. So we went for one week to Ukraine to meet governmental government officials. We met with NGOs and so on. But it was a very political week, some meetings with high level people. But during my master’s thesis, when I wrote my master’s thesis, I realized that I didn’t know what Ukraine was really about. I didn’t meet with ordinary Ukrainians, with young Ukrainian people. So when submitting my master’s thesis, I decided to go to Ukraine for two months to do some volunteer work. I volunteered for the organization GoGlobal. So they organize English speaking camps for young Ukrainians. It was a really eye opening experience, I would say, to meet these young Ukrainians, Ukraine already at war at that time. And actually, a lot of people don’t realize it at this moment, but already then in 2015, 2016, there was a war in eastern Ukraine. Feldman currently has the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union. And you manage the @EU2024BE accounts on the different social media platforms. How’s that going? Our most important channel remains, of course, X. By far the most important channel during the presidency. LinkedIn as well. I’m personally a big fan of LinkedIn. I think it’s a very underestimated social media platform. But both for the presidency as the Berlin Foreign Ministry, it works extremely well. The engagement, the reach of our publications are very high. And it’s very rewarding to communicate on LinkedIn. And of course, Instagram is also a really interesting channel to reach other audiences. So, yeah, we try to differentiate between these different platforms to be a little bit innovative, but at the same time, we also realize that as a presidency, we have a difficult task in that sense that you need to communicate towards many different audiences and of course, your main audience is the EU bubble experts in the EU bubble who are really interested in the negotiations, who are already informed about what is happening in the EU. But at the same time, you need to feed them with a lot of contact. And at the same time, you want to try to reach out to younger audiences, Belgian audiences, which is a challenge as presidency and also as Belgian Foreign Ministry. Belgium has also complicated communication landscape where, of course, we have our different national languages. We have to communicate not only in French and Dutch, but actually also in German. And then we also want to communicate in English for the international audience. So it has been, yeah, it’s always interesting in Belgium to find the right communication strategy, to find the right target audience. And as presidency, we took the decision to only communicate in English. I think some people in Belgium have not really appreciated that. We have received the comments that we should also communicate in French, in Dutch, in German, but it was a conscious choice only to communicate in English. As you are approaching now the end of the presidency, how does success look like after these six months? Our main focus during the presidency has been to have a consistent reach. We always tried to have the same amount of reach engagement for all our contents. I think for us, that’s success, that our content has never been boring, that our content has always been engaging about different topics. And I think we have succeeded quite well. Of course, you had the peak at the beginning of the presidency when everybody talks about the presidency. When you put forward your priorities, when you talk about the program of the presidency, you see a real peak in the beginning of January. And then we remain consistent throughout the whole presidency. Most important for us is also to, as I mentioned, to feed the EU bubble and to receive the feedback from the EU bubble, from the officials, from the commissioners, that we have done a good job. And I think it has been the case. I think people appreciated our content, has been as creative as possible, I would say. And now we’re entering the last month of the presidency and we’re starting to share our lessons learned with the other presidencies. So next week we are organizing also training sessions for the upcoming five presidencies. And it’s also really interesting to share your experiences with your peers, to talk about what has worked, what has not worked. But I think overall, we also always remain realistic about the potential of our communication reach, that it was always limited, always the goal to reach as many people as possible. But we need to stay realistic. For the past 15 years, each country holding the six-month rotating presidency has set up bespoke accounts on the different social media platforms, namely Twitter and X. And even the account of the last Belgian presidency, BE-presidency, which was set up back in 2010, is still on X. Do you think it’s time to have one consolidated EU presidency account, which would then be handed over to the next country? Because I think that would make it grow over time and reach a larger audience. It’s an interesting question. And I have thought about that quite often. Shouldn’t we have one presidency account that we hand over to the next presidency? And I think there are arguments for and against such an account. But I think presidency is also an opportunity to put forward your ideas, your priorities, and for us, it also has been an opportunity to let the accounts of our permanent representation grow. Actually, we have switched the account of the permanent representation to the presidency account. And so at the end of June, the current presidency account will continue as an account of our permanent representation. So we have doubled the number of followers, which is good for our permanent representation. We will in the future communicate more again about Belgium’s priorities. So it’s good for us that we will have now more followers on our different accounts. But I think overall, the constant factor in all this are the accounts of the EU Council. They are doing a tremendous job. They have a very professional team. They communicate about so many different topics. They also assist the different presidencies. They have the know-how about how the EU works, how the Council of the European Union works. So I think that is the constant factor. And the presidency is always a moment as a country to shine, to do something different, to be a bit creative, to have a challenge. I think a presidency account limits a bit the creative aspect. And yeah, there are there are different arguments, definitely arguments pro and contra, but I think I would say that I prefer the current setup where you allow different presidencies to set up their own accounts, to choose on which platforms they want to be active. If the Spanish presidency has been active on certain platforms, the next Hungarian presidency will also be active on the platforms they prefer. So I think it’s always also interesting for the EU bubble to see how these different countries decide on their communication strategy. You mentioned that posting creative content was one of your objectives during these six months. We noticed that you put an accent on some videos and interviews with some members and officials. Can you share a little bit more about that? To be very honest, a lot of the content that a presidency produces is often a bit boring. It’s often about technical discussions in working groups, in trilogues, a very vague constellation about which only people who are in the EU bubble know how it works. And often you would see other presidencies tweeting out a bad quality photo in a meeting room at the council or at the parliament with bad lighting. And so we tried to do something different. Of course, we also had this kind of post, but we also tried to make it a bit more attractive. So, for example, when we had a photo with all the different negotiators, we made a visual. We had our, I would say it has become a little bit mean, but we had our deal visual. So we had the deal when there was a deal in large letters with a nice background and the photo of the negotiators. But it helped us to create a visual identity. So people, when they were trolling their timelines, immediately see, oh, the Belgian presidency has reached a consensus on a certain topic. And it gave us some, it made the post visually a bit more attractive. And then indeed on our different platforms and especially on Instagram, we invested a lot in video content. So we had a, yeah, we have an excellent team with good editing and filming skills. And we had even our team in front of the camera explaining in an informal way what the topic was about. Our goal was always to explain in less than one minute what the Belgian presidency has achieved, what the EU was doing on a certain topic. And there we were really focusing on a younger audience that was maybe less informed about the EU. We put young people in front of the camera so that people could identify themselves with these people and would be interested in what they had to say. We also made these kind of videos with the ministers and we put them also in a bit in an informal context and let them explain in a very informal way how they were leading the meetings, the councils, what they were trying to, hoping to achieve. And I think that worked quite well, especially on Instagram where video content is everything nowadays. So we published more than hundreds of reels on our Instagram account and also on LinkedIn, the videos worked quite well. And then as mentioned on WhatsApp, we did the same where we also made visually attractive posts. We gave a bit of a behind-the-scenes view of the presidencies that people would receive for WhatsApp notification, or the Belgian president wants to share something with us, a bit more creative behind the scenes. That’s an impressive number of channels that you’re active on. Can you give us an insight in your team structure? Basically, how big is your team? What is the approval process of the subject? My role during the presidency was to coordinate all communication aspects from regular media to social media. So I was also coordinating our social media team, giving some experience, some insights from my work, my daily work at the foreign ministry. I assisted them throughout the presidency. But we had a team of four very young people, which we recruited specifically for this presidency. And I think we had the youngest social media team presidency ever, ever had. Our youngest person was born in the year 2000. So we had a very young team. But yeah, I think that it has been very successful. The dynamic between these young people was extraordinary. I think they also have become friends throughout the presidency. And this team structure has really helped to produce great content. And in terms of validation, it’s something we discussed in advance during the preparations of the presidency. And our goal, especially for social media, was to keep it as simple as possible. And I think we succeeded quite well. And actually, it’s the social media team that decided on the content, had brainstorm sessions about what to do. And then they validated the content with the different spokespersons. So we have one spokesperson here at the foreign ministry and then two spokespersons at our permanent representation who validated the content that we published on social media. And often we would send a proposal via WhatsApp to the spokespersons and then they would comment, OK, for publication, and we would immediately publish it. And I think that’s also important that our team had the autonomy to think about creative content, to propose new things. And this validation process only through WhatsApp, I think is also necessary as a presidency, because you need to communicate as quickly as possible when there is a decision in a meeting, in a trial log, you need to communicate immediately as president. You can’t wait for two hours to have the validation of your hierarchy. So something which we stressed during the preparatory phase, that we need to keep it as simple as possible. And as I said, our team of four people, we did everything in-house. We didn’t work with a communication agency. We made the visuals ourselves in Canva. Canva is, I think, a lifesaver as a social media person who has to be flexible and has to do different things at the same time. So we didn’t make it too difficult with Photoshop or other graphic design programs, Canva. We made some templates at the beginning of the presidency and then we adapted them throughout the presidency. And also, yeah, the people in our team had a DJI Pocket, so the mini camera of DJI, where they would film everything with that. You can put it in your pocket. It’s very small and you can use it in different circumstances. It comes also with Bluetooth microphones for interviews. It’s very useful. And then we edited also these videos in Adobe Rush. So the simple version of Adobe Premiere Pro. So again, kept it as simple as possible. And this allowed us to work very efficiently, quickly, to add subtitles, even on a mobile phone. And I think that was part of the success of our team, that we kept it as simple as possible. I think on social media, you often don’t need a big budget. You don’t need super professional edited videos. And as I said, yeah, I’m a big fan of Canva. I would be a great Canva ambassador and with the newest evolution of their software. I think it’s amazing what they’ve done as a company. Our listeners want to know how our guests deal with crisis. What have you learned about crisis communication? And are there any practical tips that you can share with our listeners? Today, if you work at the foreign ministry, you’re going from one crisis into another. And I think crisis communication in general has become crucial as a foreign ministry. Most important thing in your communication strategy nowadays. And what we’ve learned over the past years is that it’s important to let your audience know that you’re following up on something that immediately, proactively let our audience know that you’re aware of the situation, that you know that a crisis is happening and that you’re trying to come up with solutions, even if you don’t have them immediately. I think over the past years, and visual communication has also become so important. People come on social media, they want to have the latest information. But you need to be as clear as possible. And often text is not sufficient. You need to have good visuals explaining what is happening, what people can do, who they can contact. And then that’s also something we have invested in the foreign ministry, in clear communication, in visuals that we have, templates that we have ready, but that we adapt each time crisis hits us. And for me personally, one of my most interesting experiences at the foreign ministry was the COVID crisis, where also as foreign ministry, we were surprised by the impact of the COVID crisis. Thousands of Belgians were blocked abroad, could not travel back home. And at that time, at the foreign ministry, we had a call center, people would call us to ask what they could do, ask information about the flights that were still available, information about repatriation flights. But our call center has also a limited capacity. In that sense, it can only answer one call at a time. And of course, we had different people taking the calls. But it takes time to explain. There is no written information that is available for the people. So often they have to call twice or three times to get new information. And at that time, we decided to set up what we called an online crisis center. And actually, due to the circumstances, we used our Facebook account. We set up a Facebook group as well, where Belgians could ask for information. And the chat function of social media helped us to really help these people. They could come back to us and then we could give them new information. And I think nowadays, during a crisis, social media has become super important, especially also for young people, young people who try to avoid phone calls, young people who don’t like to call, and they want to reach out to you on social media. So you need to have a chat function to respond to them. How is the interaction with other foreign ministries or even with the Brussels-based diplomatic missions? What is interesting in also this bubble of foreign ministries on social media is that you have a very engaged community. You have a lot of people at the foreign ministries who are really willing to do something creative, who reach out to you, to work together on different topics for international days. And then also UN agencies and so on. It’s a great environment to work in and to come up with creative communication. So over the past years, we had several collabs with foreign ministries. And also during our presidency is something we have done. For example, we also made some soft content during the presidency for the national days. So, for example, last weekend, yesterday, we had the Italian National Day. We had a collab with the Italian permanent representations, where we made a video with their diplomats. And then we did a collab on social media. And I think that’s the way forward as well on social media. It remains social media. And collaboration on social media is also a way to do diplomacy. It’s an easy way to work together on something, on a communication project. And maybe, of course, the impact is limited, but working together on communication can also help people work together on other topics. Social media has become part of diplomacy, and that’s very clear. And finally, a battery of standard questions we ask all our guests. Who is your favorite and most inspiring social media mentor? I would say I don’t have a specific mentor, but I like to learn from peers. And I like to follow people who are in the same function as me on social media, as foreign ministries, but also at UN agencies. I like to see what they are doing. I think I often try to contact them via personal message. If they are in Brussels to meet up, if I am in New York or Geneva to meet up and listen to their experience, because I think we’re all a bit struggling, asking ourselves the same questions. And that’s what I like to do, to meet up and to listen to what they have to say. Which are your three favorite social media accounts to follow? I think throughout the years, I have really liked the work of the German foreign ministry. Also as Belgian foreign ministry we have… The German foreign ministry has been an inspiration for us. How they have managed also personal accounts of ambassadors, accounts of director generals and so on, how they try to be more active on Instagram. So I like what the German foreign ministry is doing. And of course, as someone who knows Ukraine very well, I think the impact of the communication of all Ukrainian ministries to the foreign ministry, but also their ministers in general, their national accounts. It’s super impactful. It’s something that every communicator should have a look at and learn from what they are doing. And then maybe as last one, I want to put forward maybe one of our Belgian ambassadors, our ambassador Pierre-Emmanuel Debao, who has turned the Belgian ambassador to Italy. He is very active on social media, who, as an ambassador, is also a real ambassador for our social media, who supports our work as social media team, but is also a great communicator towards the national audiences. He always finds a way to combine maybe soft content with more hard diplomacy. I think that’s also great to see that we have such great ambassadors, real ambassadors, but also ambassadors. Which are your favorite social media channels for professional or personal use? As a cycling fan, I’m a big fan of the account of the cycling influencer, as I can say, Benji Nassen. He’s also a Belgian, started as a YouTuber, but very active on X. And throughout the years, he started playing a game pro cycling manager. A lot of people watch his YouTube videos. He has become active on X. And what is really interesting that because of his gaming experience of watching cycling races, commenting cycling races on X, that he has been asked by professional cycling teams to provide him with video analysis and so on. So I think, again, it’s a great way of how being active on social media, showing your expertise somehow has a real impact on real life. And I think what he’s doing is really amazing. He reaches a lot of people in the cycling community. And then an account I like to follow is the one of Simon Bussenmacher. He has a Twitter account or an X account where he posts, especially geography, publishes geography tweets, publishes different maps. And I think it’s always surprising the content, the maps he publishes. It’s often used from other people. But it gives you another insight in certain topics, gives you another view of the world somewhere. You have a podcast you’re listening to. Actually, not a big fan of podcasts, but it’s somehow I can’t find the time somehow to listen to the podcast. And as a cyclist, I’m also commuting to work, but it’s a bit dangerous to listen to a podcast and at the same time moving. Do you ever disconnect? And how do you avoid social media burnout? I would say that I never disconnect from social media. Before starting to work at the foreign ministry, I was active on social media, but I was not super active. But now it has become part of my life somehow. I’m really flexible in my social media use. I use it, of course, in my personal life, in my private Instagram account and so on. But even if I’m on my private Instagram account, I follow accounts of UN agencies, other foreign ministries, and it’s somehow part of my life. I see something passing by. I send it in our internal WhatsApp group of the foreign ministry. And I’m very often on my phone also during holidays. It’s difficult to stop and not following social media. I’m always afraid to miss out. But I think throughout the years, I also found a balance on when there is time to disconnect a little bit, to take maybe one hour a day, check on the latest tweets. And especially I’ve become a father last year. So I have a one-year-old son now. And yeah, it also made me realize now it’s easier to disconnect than before. But to really fully disconnect, I would say I don’t do that anymore. And I just love what I’m doing. I’m always curious to learn about new things, follow the latest news. So somehow part of my life. I’m sure your son will help you to disconnect. And finally, in one sentence, what is your social media mantra? On social media, what is crucial is to be authentic. If you want to produce good content, you need to be authentic. Lawrence, thank you so much for your time and your honest answers. This was the latest episode of our So Me podcast with me, Matthias Lüfkens, and me, Dante Licona. Please help us subscribing to this channel on YouTube, Spotify or whatever you get your podcasts. See you next time. Bye bye.