28 Jun How to Kick-Start Your Summer Social Strategy
Well, you’ve made it through winter, the holiday season and Spring, but have you considered giving your social media strategy a shake-up?
With July 4th holiday right around the corner, the clock is ticking and summer is the perfect opportunity to rethink your social strategy and take a new approach. The payoff could include increased engagement, better brand advocacy and the potential to reach an entirely new audience.
Here are 3 ways you can refresh your social media marketing strategy:
1) Analyze, Audit, Assess
Analyze your current data to determine which platforms are performing best and what type of content your audience seems to prefer. If you have access to historical data, consider taking a look at last season’s metrics. This will give you a good insight into how you can tweak your strategy for optimal results.
Another factor to consider is human behavior. In warmer temps, people spend more time outdoors and are more apt to use their mobile devices than their PC. They take vacation, may work fewer hours and their interests will change with the season. Ultimately, they will be using social media differently than they did the rest of the year.
Tweak your strategy by determining how your audience is consuming information and plan accordingly. Ensure your content is optimized for mobile and relevant to the channel.
Online behavior may change and should dictate the type of content you are promoting on each platform. For example, shifting to more visual content on Instagram and YouTube might make sense. Consider your audience, demographics and how they might prefer to engage with your brand during these warmer months. Try a mix of content such as video, campaigns/contests, and lighter written material.
This might also be the ideal time to showcase your corporate culture and feature some company events or run a campaign that encourages user-generated content.
2) Ramp up the fun factor
Summer is the ideal time for a visual makeover. Use colors and fonts that evoke thoughts of warm weather, beach vacations, and summertime picnics. Choose appropriate imagery to accompany your posts that give off a summer vibe and will resonate with your audience.
Make a list of hashtags that exemplify summer and can help you deliver your content more effectively. Research popular hashtags in your industry and keep a list handy for posting.
Consider running a few summer campaigns to promote your brand and encourage engagement. Think summer contests and giveaways with fun prizes. This will allow you to continue to engage with your current customers and will help drive business by interacting with a new audience. Get creative with your hashtags and generate some buzz for your brand using the right channels. Use gamification to amplify your reach and encourage engagement.
3) Cast a wider net and market to a variety of demographics
Ignore preconceived notions about your ideal customer and think outside the box. Brainstorm with your team on how to introduce your brand to older or younger generations and the best ways to target them.
Humorous or nostalgic content is a great way to promote your brand and gain attention. Who doesn’t appreciate a little #ThrowbackThursday after all! Connecting on social media can be difficult and building brand advocacy is even harder. Content that strikes an emotional chord works well and typically outperforms other forms of content.
This would also be an ideal time to consider focusing on different channels. Want to target millennials? Take a look at Instagram, the fastest growing platform with 600 million unique monthly users with 90% under the age of 35. Want to reach a predominantly female audience of all ages? Give Pinterest a try, where 45% of users are female.
http://www.socialmediatoday.com/social-networks/top-social-network-demographics-2017-infographic
Take advantage of the summer months to experiment and breathe new life into your overall strategy. Need a platform that can help you deliver results, drive engagement and elevate your social media marketing? Get in touch with SSNAPP to learn how we can help you maximize your social media campaigns.