Behind the Black Friday sales and Winter shopping, content is what boosts businesses into the public eye and generates sales. From social media to live stories, content helps to connect brands with consumers and keep their profile alive on all fronts.
VCA’s theme this month is ‘Content We’re Thankful For’, where we give thanks to the content that has kept industries going during these unprecedented times, and share how you can adapt their content for your own campaigns. Here are 4 types of content we’re thankful for in 2020!
1. We Heart Hashtags
Where would a list of the best social media content be without hashtags? No matter how beautiful your photo and description is, your content won’t get seen without a good hashtag.
Hashtags boost the visibility of your social media content by grouping them with related content that uses the same hashtag. Hashtags can be related to a niche, a trend, or even a holiday. Brands can even create their own hashtags to connect with followers and discover content to utilize in user-generated content.
One brand that used hashtags to great effect during lockdown is AirBnB. The tourism and hospitality industry has suffered heavily this year due to the restrictions caused by the lockdown. As restrictions and health risks blocked off foreign travel, Airbnb launched the hashtag campaign #GoNear to promote a resurgence in local travel.
The hashtag features holiday rentals from treehouses in Vermont to cabins in California. The stunning photos on the hashtag not only boosted AirBnB’s promotions but also rejuvenated the travel industry in general.
2. Get Creative with User-generated Content
User-generated content takes social media content to the next level, with customers promoting your business for you. Many brand-focused hashtags can be great sources of user-generated content. Fans of your brand take photos of themselves with your products, and you can repost the best onto your page. Followers love to engage for the chance to get featured, and they’re also interested in the creative photos taken by other people.
Adobe’s multiple social media pages utilize hashtags for users of their products to share creations, including #CreativeCloud_Breathe and #CreateYourStory. These hashtags create ready-made content for the social media accounts, but they also showcase what Adobe’s programs are capable of. From geometric graphics to imaginative illustrations to breathtaking photography, the user-generated content from Adobe sells the product itself.
3. Make Your Content Super Shareable
Whatever content you create, making it shareable is key. Your content might be innovative, but for your social media content to succeed, your followers need to want to share your content.
There are several factors that make content more shareable, but generally, shareable content stands out and connects with people. Inspiring, creative or motivational content is infinitely shareable, because it boosts followers’ mood or interests them, and makes them want to share it with others. Charity campaigns are widely shared because people want to share a good cause far and wide. Relatable content is shareable, because many people connect with it, and want to see if their followers do, too.
One brand that ticks all the boxes of shareable content is Starbucks. The coffee brand is heartwarming, not just in terms of its beverages, but its content, too. From relatable memes about drinking coffee to cute coffee GIFs and creative user-generated coffee Halloween costumes – Starbucks’ social feeds have it all! Sharing exposes your brand to whole new audiences, so it’s important to give your content the best chance to be shared.
4. From Global to Local with Geo-tagging
We all know that social media content is great for promoting across the globe, but what about when you want to make sales to a local audience? Geo-tagging can make a huge difference here. A geo-tag links your content to your physical location when you post on social media. You can then search a particular geotag and see all the content created at that location.
There are several big reasons we’re thankful for geo-tagging. One is that it makes targeting local audiences easier because people can find you by place, not just brand name. If you have a physical business address, you can even add this as a geo-tag, so customers can tag you when they’ve paid a visit! This makes sourcing user-generated content that much easier.
Brands around San Diego geo-tag their posts to connect with the community, including San Diego Magazine, which features many geo-tagged photos of local beauty spots to promote travel and develop a beautiful social feed.
Throughout 2020, businesses have faced a year of unprecedented challenges. With the constraints of lockdown, content came through to save the day! Whatever content you create, utilising hashtags, user-generated content, and geo-tagging, and making your content shareable is key to a successful social media content campaign. What types of content are you grateful for this year?
November Hashtag Holidays
- #Thanksgiving – 11/26
- #BlackFriday – 11/27
- #ShopSmall (Small Business Saturday) – 11/28
- #CyberMonday – 11/30
Need help crafting messaging or coming up with content for your social feed? We are offering a free 30-minute consultation with our team until December 31st, 2020. Click here to set up a call now.
