Yes, it’s a cliché, but it’s also true — spring is a time to try something new, to dust off the winter blues and throw open the windows to light and fresh air. The same holds true for your social media marketing — it’s time to freshen things up.
We recommend a social media review each quarter to make sure your bios, photos, and social headers are current. It’s also a smart idea to re-evaluate your social strategy on a quarterly basis. Ask yourself, what can I do differently? How can I share my message in a more compelling way?
Experimentation is the key to social media success. In that spirit, here are some ideas you might want to try this spring (or any season!).
Ephemeral Content
It’s what all the cool kids are doing, really, all the top influencers live in ephemeral content. Ephemeral content is simply content that disappears in 24 hours. If you’ve wondered what Facebook and Instagram stories are . . . they are ephemeral . . . and you need to post here. This is a great place to show your personality and really open up to your audience. Brene Brown does this very well. Seriously, she has a saved category of Stories that are just her playing music while riding down the highway. Doesn’t have much to say about vulnerability, but it does let us know a bit more about her, and Texas — it’s all very Texan — and if you don’t follow her, these stories make you want to! (By the way, you can also save your Stories and create great categories like Brene.)
Video
I know I sound like a broken record (see here and here), but video performs better than anything on social media. Why aren’t you posting video content? Is it because you don’t want to hire a production team? Well, I have great news — you don’t have to. You can create short, fun videos with your phone, and if you post them in Stories, you can even annotate and draw on them.
Live Content
Most of our clients do speaking and consulting work — you basically tell people important and worthwhile things for a living. I challenge you to do this live on social media. You’ll be able to connect directly with your audience, impart actionable ideas, grow your brand, and have a great time. It’s truly a win for everyone! It’s also simple. Just go to your social platforms as if you are posting content and hit the live button. Bill Treasurer is having a lot of fun with it! Be like Bill.
Create a Campaign
This may sound complicated, but I’m here to let you know that it’s not. You have great content — just organize it around a theme, come up with an engaging hashtag, and share it all in a regular cadence. Voilà, you have a campaign! You can use free tools to create fun graphics to support your campaign, and encourage others to jump on board and share their content, too. Ruth Carter, the Academy Award winning costume designer for Black Panther, kicked off a campaign built entirely on user-generated content. Her users are celebrities, but you can do this too!
Get creative, have fun, and try something new on social media this spring!
You may be surprised how it energizes your social media marketing and grows your brand and thought leadership. You also never know who might dance along with you. Just ask Ruth!
Christy Kirk, Vice President of Client Services, is a social media strategist, writer, and former television journalist, who’s done everything from launch a news department to create social content and strategy for Fortune 500 companies and brands including Pampers Diapers, Pantene, Luvs Diapers and Carlson Rezidor Hotels. Now, Christy manages marketing projects for Weaving Influence, with an emphasis on social media marketing. She is also a wife and mother of three children, one dog, and one cat. She loves reading, baking, running, hiking and exploring new places.