The Zelensky method: How to win hearts, minds and algorithms

COMIC actor turned politician turned international symbol of the free world, Volodymyr Zelensky's wartime leadership has cemented him as a modern-day hero. Under extreme pressure he has also delivered an absolute masterclass in crisis transformational leadership. Less than a year ago he was virtually unknown on the world's political stage; now when he posts on social, we all listen. But why?

The answers lie in a new report on Zelensky's social media strategy and how it has been developed in the months since his country was invaded by Russia.

The report, Wartime Statesman in the social media age: How Ukraine's president uses social media for diplomacy and to be a symbol of national resistance, has been written by Thumos, the East-London-based leading digital influence company that shapes reputation and grows influence through strategy, content, and engagement. 

The report analyses how Zelensky has used specific channels, specific content, and specific messaging to keep his much smaller, less powerful country's battle cry louder and more effective than that of his aggressor, the more experienced Vladimir Putin.

"We did this to understand how a wartime leader uses social media to communicate with fellow citizens at home and engage in public diplomacy abroad," said Stephen Davies, a social media strategist from Thumos. "Without social media, it's doubtful how effective Zelensky would have been in these endeavours all the while becoming a symbol of both peace and resistance in the process.  

"There are few world leaders today who could use the medium as well as he has, and his social strategy should serve as a template for leaders around the world."

What Zelensky has done is to communicate with a raw but educated authenticity never seen before. It's as though he has ripped up the PR rulebook and created a social-first strategy from the front line. 

His is not a rhetoric-only strategy - his social messages are underpinned with powerful real-world heroism. Within hours of his country's invasion, US President Joe Biden offered Zelensky evacuation to safety. Zelensky's retort "I don't need a ride, I need ammo…' set the stage for his wartime stance. 

LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION 

Every PR knows soundbites are quickly forgotten unless they are backed up with meaningful action. A few days into the invasion and Zelensky's idea to film himself and his top advisers on his iPhone walking through Kyiv's bombed-out streets as Russian death squads hunted them gave the Ukrainian people the inspired leadership they needed, and the hope of victory. 

But for a supposed political newbie whose biggest success was winning Ukraine's Strictly Come Dancing in 2006 before running a presidential campaign with the slogan "I'm not joking", where has this immense leadership quality come from?

The fact is, Zelensky was never a no-mark. He grew up in an industrial city in central Ukraine, trained as a lawyer and then built Ukraine's biggest TV production house, earning himself tens of millions.

Being a legally savvy businessman with the ability to crack some decent one-liners is one thing, but Zelensky's true skill lies in consistently keeping his social media game not just strong, but bulletproof. 

The Thumos report analysed the strategy for President Zelensky's two main social channels since the Russian invasion in February this year. It compared growth and engagement data pre and post invasion on Twitter and Instagram and identified key content themes. 

"Twitter remains an important platform for international diplomacy and engaging an international audience with content catered to world leaders, media diplomats and people of influence," said Davies.

And, indeed, analysis of Zelensky's Twitter channel, which grew ten times its pre-invasion levels, shows it has been used for specific content messages towards heads of state and politicians with fewer visual posts.

However, despite Twitter being the primary channel for breaking news, and despite having a healthy presence followed by a rapid growth post invasion, Zelensky spends most time and has more engagement on Instagram.

Instagram, the younger and more visual channel is perhaps an unlikely outlet for a country at war to connect with its people and the outside world. Or is it? Earlier this year an Ofcom report found that, for the first time, Instagram was the most popular news source among teenagers, used by 29% of them in 2022, while 28% used TikTok and YouTube.

Considering Zelensky is one of the world's youngest presidents perhaps this choice of channel makes more sense - plus he already had a strong follower base here, which grew by seven million, post invasion. 

The fact that videos for selected accounts on this channel can be up to 60 minutes long, compared to Twitter's 140 seconds, and Zelensky's use of Insta as his primary mass communication choice also makes obvious sense: it's his killer comms channel. 

Overall, the report found Zelensky's overarching social media strategy had two clear sets of objectives, primary and secondary. 

Primary objectives:

• Sustain morale among Ukrainians
• Obtain military assistance and aid 
• Seek international support 

Secondary objectives: 

• Highlight Russian aggression 
• Ensure war stays on top of the news agenda 
• Show Ukraine has the support of the free world 

To achieve these objectives, the report's analysis shows a determined strategy to separate content for specific audiences. 

Domestic audiences are important for Zelensky's battle to retain hearts and minds on the ground, whilst outside of his own country he needs to keep his country's conflict front and centre with world leaders, international media, non-domestic pro-Ukrainian supporters, Russian Government officials and Russian citizens. 

To achieve cut-through with intended audiences the report showed his content had clear underlying messaging, split into the following: 

• Ukraine is fighting for its freedom and independence against an aggressive and imperialistic country 
• Ukraine is not only fighting for itself but for the free world 
• Ukraine and Ukrainians will not give in 
• The entire free world side with Ukraine 
• Russia should be internationally recognised as a terrorist state

The report's analysis also showed Zelensky's strategy used around 17 themes to keep conversation and messaging consistent across these two channels, including visits by heads of state, speeches, detail of Russian destruction, Ukrainian victories and educational videos posted via the Ukrainian-run United24 media group. 

Again, Instagram proved to be a richer territory, accommodating around 15 of the identified themes, whereas Twitter only uses five. 

REACHING OUT 

Understanding each individual platform's reach is only part of any social media strategy's success, while knowing each platform's limitation is also key. Crisis leadership needs not just clear, credible, and authentic messaging, it must be delivered with clarity across the correct social media channels to achieve any kind of cut through or elicit change. Zelensky has delivered sustained social media success when the stakes are at the most visceral of highs, that is clear. 

So, what if anything, can other leaders (political, business and otherwise) understand from his performance? Despite facing very different choices than a president at war, those who succeed in a crisis lead with credible authenticity and honesty. 

Zelensky refused to leave his country or his people: he chose to stay and fight alongside them, living their war. The language of leadership is also key; a former actor, Zelensky's speeches are admirably raw and unflinching truthful: as a result are both compelling and emotive. His personal brand is consistent: fatigues or jeans. 

The report found no apparent cohesion between social media strategy and the media more broadly. He has appeared in many high-profile publications since leading a country under invasion, most notably TIME, Vanity Fair and Vogue among others. These extra media appearances have kept Zelensky and his messaging front of mind on the global stage, taking his story and that of his country beyond the political corridors of power.

Says Davies, "President Zelensky has inspired his fellow compatriots and captured the imagination of the Western world through content, rhetoric, and defiance. The Russians, who were previously considered experts in information warfare, have been drowned out by the Ukrainian content machine and Zelensky's social-first approach."

And morale is key, especially for the coming winter. "We are Ukrainians, we're strong and we can get through this," Angelina Anatolieva, a 50 year-old Pecherskyi resident, told the Guardian newspaper. "Do you remember the siege of Leningrad? They lived through that, and we can live through this. We can live through anything."

As Davies attests, "A war is won on the battlefield but maintaining civilian morale and garnering broad support are key leadership qualities during any conflict. As a wartime leader for the social media age, Zelensky has performed brilliantly. 

"There are few world leaders today who could use the medium as well as he has. He has set a precedent, albeit under dire circumstances, and his social strategy will serve as a template for leaders around the world."

To read the report, please visit 
https://thumos.uk/wartime-statesman-in-the-social-media-age/