National has very obviously invested some money in its social team - and it didn't start with the spaghetti and pineapple on pizza.

The informal Facebook live chat with Bill English - a tour of the Prime Minister's office, "what's in the fridge!?" - initiated by Nikki Kaye is another hint of the Party's big social push.

But what's really made it look like the 'like me' election, at least for National, is a sponsored post on Instagram, which involuntarily takes you through a screensaver-like picture slideshow. The Prime Minister that's no longer John Key takes a selfie with young students (he's cool too, see!), here he is ordering food at a street truck (he waits in line for his order too!), and look at him holding the evasive flightless bird of our nation, the Kiwi! Aww.

And while in 2014 former PM John Key was snapped in hundreds of selfies, pulling off a (hilarious!) three-way handshake, or going viral in trying out the latest trend with his son Max - think planking and pouting - there was no point at which you could see his PR team sitting there, just out of shot, whirring the wheels of social media behind him.

Yes, his social media pages had the usual PR spiel, but what made him likeable and relatable was that he was actually doing it, or at least that's what his spindoctors would have us believe.

But that social media team now has a (sorry Bill) slightly less social-media savvy Prime Minister, who needs a bit, or perhaps a lot, of help being relatable in this online world. And it's very obvious.

The spaghetti-on-pizza was brilliant, even though the selfie was a bit close and a bit creepy - you can take notes Bill, I'm a millennial. But the Instagram post isn't. And the Facebook live was awkward. And it leaves you wondering what on earth is next, a reddit AMA? A PR-led Bill English meme? You just know they've considered it.

Whatever it is, the social team behind Bill English will be working double time to make him as likeable and relatable as his predecessor, because that's in a large part what won John Key three elections. They'll be watching the preferred Prime Minister polling keenly.

In the latest Newshub Reid Research poll released at the end of March, Bill English was down 11 points on his predecessor's worst result. Just a quarter of those surveyed had him as preferred Prime Minister - with the likes of Jacinda Ardern, now Labour's deputy, and New Zealand First's Winston Peters picking up votes. And the latest One News Colmar Brunton poll was very similar, with just 26 percent putting Bill English up as their preferred PM.

So are the Nats worried? It looks like there's concern when the Prime Minister's being splashed down everyone's Instagram feeds with the words "sponsored" above a photo collage.

The Prime Minister shouldn't need to be sold like a brand of teeth-whitener on Instagram.