Summer Social Media Tip #1:
Take the Time to Understand Your Audiences’ Summer Priorities and Schedules
Summer can mean something different for everyone. Sometimes it means freedom for the normal daily grind. Sometimes it means having to rearrange everything to take care of school-age children. Or perhaps it means more vacations or weekend adventures. Everyone is different.
This means that it is up to you to take the time to understand your specific audience’s summers. Once you understand that, you will have a better grasp on your audience’s social media usage, and can shift your summer post accordingly.
Summer Social Media Tip #2:
Summer-ize Your Content
When was the last time you updated your social media presence? Summer is a great time to rejuvenate your image!
A) Update Your Cover Photo
Change your cover photo to something more summer-like.
Your cover photo is the largest piece of real estate you have on your social media, and it has a huge impact on your profile’s visual tone.
B) Go Outside
Your audience is spending more time outdoors during the summer. With the warmer weather, the outdoors calls your customers to ditch Netflix and enjoy the sunshine! Use this to your benefit.
During the summer, images that have an outdoor setting tend to have higher engagement levels. Beautiful scenery, warm, sunny beaches, or even fun-filled backyard pictures can help you connect with your audience!
C) Mobilize
Because people are spending more time outside also means that your audience will be engaging with social media more through their phones.
This means you need to make sure that everything your post is optimized for mobile devices. This doesn’t just mean the content you post directly to social media, but also anything that you link to.
Summer Social Media Tip #3:
Get Your Customers In On The Action
When you encourage your audience to share content (user-generated content, or UGC) you create a great space for others to want to participate, seeing around 25% higher engagement rate than a standard brand post. Understanding UGC will bring you closer to your audience, and in turn, hopefully, bring them closer to you.
1) Define your UGC campaign goals.
2) Craft the perfect summer-themed UGC request. Some ideas are:
a) Vacation highlights (or horror stories)
b) Summer selfies
c) Pool time
3) Double-check that the theme of the UGC effort is aligned with your brand.
4) Award and incentivize participation. Make it worth it.
A well-executed UGC campaign can have your brand rolling in content all summer long.
Summer Social Media Tip #4:
Think Local
Summertime is usually party time. While things may be a bitter different, thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, there will still be some events in your local community that you can spotlight.
Now, this does not mean that you have to sponsor these events, but you should plan on attending at least a couple of events in your city. While at the event, snap a picture for your social media and tag the event, coordinators, or other key participants.
Even better, host a summer event of your own and invite the community to participate.
Summer Social Media Tip #5:
Have Fun
Most importantly, have fun! Summer is all about having a good time and your social media should reflect that sentiment. Post upbeat content, publish uplifting stories, share some fun memes. As long as you stay relevant and appropriate for your brand, the clear blue sky is the limit.
An easy way to have some fun with your audience is to play games. Encourage your audiences to leave their responses as comments and have some great conversations.
Summer is Coming – Soon!
If you haven’t already, now is the time to make sure your social media profile is ready for the summer days ahead. This doesn’t mean that you have to abandon your tried and true social media plan, just be looking for ways to brighten up your content with some summer fun.
No Time? Contact Branching Out Media Solutions
We know that keeping up with social media can be a chore. If you are struggling to find the time to manage your social media accounts, Branching Out Media can help. Contact us today!