The questions every social media manager should ask their policy team

Read time: 3 minutes.

Social media communicators and policy experts don’t always speak the same language.

You need 280 characters; they’re used to writing 30-page papers.

Your worlds can move at different speeds, but you need each other.

And your job is to help policy experts translate their ideas (not oversimplify - that’s what they’re afraid of the most!) into social media formats that work for your audience.

Help them get the point

Many policy teams want to help you, but they need you to help them in distilling the message first.

Communicators often ask policy experts for “key messages”. But that question is too general for people who live and breathe nuance.

Instead, guide them with sharper prompts like:

• “What’s the single most important thing you want the audience to remember?”

• “If this policy changes one thing, what should that be?”

• “What’s the headline you wish we could write?”

These questions help narrow their focus and extract clear, communicable insights. And once you’ve helped them articulate them, the next step is to build it out together.

Structure the story together

Try running a short, 30-minute session using this framework:

1. What’s the issue or policy about, at its core? In 1 line, what are we solving here?

2. Why does it matter now? What’s the context that makes this urgent or timely?

3. Who is affected? What groups or individuals should care the most?

4. What’s the ask or next step? Do we want them to support, read more, act, or share?

Turn it into digestible content

At this stage, you should receive plenty of insights, but still full of policy language. And that language is designed for accuracy, not engagement. Your job is to preserve nuance while making it reader-first.

Here are some tactics that can help:

• Rewrite their wording into shorter, punchier sentences.

• Add visual anchors: numbers, icons, visuals.

• Pull quotes, stats, or graphs to describe your message.

• Use their expertise to inspire your copy, not dictate it.

When requesting feedback, ask for something specific or high-level instead of line edits: "Does this piece of content convey our position clearly?" rather than "How would you reword this?".

And here are some extra questions from Max:

• Who exactly are we talking to? In comms plan we ofter refer to "policy makers", but which ones? In one case for example, it was those working in the finance and agriculture ministries in Zambia.

• What's the one problem this policy or policy change is trying to solve?

• Who is going to benefit? But also, who is going to be impacted by it?

• What influence do our target decision-makers have over the process or the actual change?

Help me shape my new service

I'm working on a new service designed specifically for policy organisations: a roadmap to help you plan and create better, more intentional social media content that builds influence and makes your policy visible online.

It will include templates, tools, and content frameworks designed for the realities of policy communications in Brussels.

No more empty calendars. No more reactive posts.

But to make it truly useful, I need your input.

Hit “Reply” or book a quick call to share what you're struggling with.

Book recommendation

And since we’re talking about Brussels, what does it really mean to be “BIG” here?

For some, it’s a nice job title.

For others, it’s finally landing the EU official’s badge.

For many, it’s the quiet pride of doing meaningful work in a place that doesn’t always make sense from the outside.

Jeroen Reijnen’s "Big in Brussels: The art of working and living in the EU Bubble" beautifully plays with this ambiguity.

It’s more than a career guide. It reminds us that there is no single definition of “success” here.

Being “big” in Brussels can simply mean carving out a role that suits you, finding people who understand, and learning to navigate the complexities of Brussels with grace.

A must-read for everyone navigating the EU Bubble - whether you're just getting in, thinking of moving on and asking yourself “What now?” or trying to make peace with staying put.

The book is available on Amazon and the publisher's website, offering a 15% discount to subscribers of their newsletter. You can also buy it in the bookshops across Brussels:

• La Librairie Européenne (Rue de l'Orme 1)

• Filigranes (Bd de Waterloo 25)

• Librairie Schuman (at the Schuman Rdpt)

• Press Shop (European Parliament Spinelli building)

• Waterstones (Bd Adolphe Max 71/75).

👇 Before you go

I’ve got some exciting news coming soon, so be sure to keep an eye on my LinkedIn profile to stay in the loop.

And if you enjoyed this piece, please share it with another EU communicator who’s facing similar challenges. It might just be the resource they need - and I’d truly appreciate it.

Thanks for trusting me with a spot in your inbox.

See you next month!
— Kasia