The toughest part of running any sort of social media campaigns? Coming up with new ideas. Click To Tweet
Marketers are expected to juggle multiple social profiles and keep them up-to-date with fresh posts. It’s tough. Your followers are hungry for new content and you’re expected to deliver on a consistent basis for your brand.
But when you constantly recycle the same posts again and again, your social feeds start to feel like Groundhog Day.
That’s exactly why brands need to have multiple social media ideas in their back pocket. Here are some useful ideas for social media to get yourself branded.
Create a Daily, Weekly or Monthly Series
Want to make your social feed feel more like an event versus a laundry list of random posts?
Start a series for your brand where you have the opportunity to interact with your fans and followers on a regular basis. Tackling topics and issue related to social media on behalf of an audience that’s eager to learn.
Communicating with followers via Twitter is painless and only requires a branded hashtag to get started. By regularly scheduling these sessions, followers can let their voices be heard while also engaging with your product
Picking the brains of your followers not only shows that you care about them but also helps you tap into your audience’s pains and concerns. If you’re struggling to “show up” to your social feeds, a regular series is a solid starting point.
Giveaway always works
People can’t resist the power of “free.”
Running the occasional contest is one of the most impactful social media ideas when it comes to potential engagement from followers.
According to data from Tailwind, 91% of Instagram posts with more than 1,000 likes or comments are related to a contest. Meanwhile, accounts that run contests on a regular basis are noted to grow 70% faster than those that don’t.
Crazy, right? But when you look at how much love posts like this one from Birch box receive, those numbers don’t seem so farfetched.
You don’t necessarily need a third-party solution or service to run a contest. All you need is a combination of the following:
- Something to give away
- Terms and conditions.
- A point of contact.
- A creative way to enter
Host a contest
Popular on Reddit, an AMA (ask me anything) series represents an awesome opportunity to educate and engage with your followers. AMA’s are essentially Q&A sessions where you get to share your knowledge, experiences, and insight.
If you’ve overcome struggles or have clout in your industry, you likely have the chops to conduct an AMA. From sharing success stories to personal challenges, such sessions can be compelling for audiences and products alike.
Why bother hosting an AMA, though? What’s the point? Consider how an AMA ticks the following boxes for product/service:
- You get to show off your personal side, showcasing the face behind the curtain of your business
- You raise awareness for your brand without being pushy or salesy about it
- You learn more about the concerns and interests of your audience.
Social Media Takeover
Sometimes injecting some new life into your social feeds means letting someone else take over.
Takeovers put the reigns of your social accounts in someone else’s hands, usually for a period of 24 hours. Handing off your social presence to an influencer or celebrity with a massive, active audience is a prime way to get your brand in front of some new faces. You can also let someone else in your company take over your account to give your feed some flavour.
Consider business partners and industry relationships that could be good candidates for a takeover. The purpose of a takeover is to get exposure, so ideally choose someone who’s audience demographic is relevant to your own.
Regenerate the required & Re-share
Don’t be afraid to let your fans and followers do the talking.
Remember, not all of the content on your social feed has to be your own. In fact, conventional wisdom tells us that it shouldn’t be. Promoting other relevant product/service, articles and photos from your followers show that you’re part of your industry’s conversation, not just a parrot.
For example, Sprout recently shared this quiz because it was definitely relevant to followers stoked on the world of marketing.
As noted in our guide on the best times to post on social media, brands should strive to follow the 80/20 rule of promotion. That is, your feeds should be made up of 80% entertaining and engaging content and only 20% promotional content. This keeps your feed from feeling like a sales pitch.
Bite-Sized Video Clips
Video content marketing has become a must-do for modern products. Unfortunately, many see the investment in video as being too complicated or out of their reach.
But when you consider that video content gets exponentially more shares than video or text, it should give some serious thought to creative social media ideas that incorporate video.
That’s why bite-sized, Vine-style video clips are still all the rage on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. Such clips require minimal editing, can be shot in a matter of seconds and are prime for sharing.
Redevelop Your Content
Think about the strategy, effort and sheer amount of time it takes to create any piece of content. Doesn’t it make sense to squeeze as much as you can out every blog post or video you make?
Here’s a sobering stat, though: 50% of articles only receive eight shares or less on social media. Ouch.
For every blog post you write or video you shoot, you should consider additional ways to promote it on social media beyond its original format. For example, you can pull a quote from your content and repurpose it into a share-friendly image.
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