Social media moves in a frenzy. And if you work in the industry, it’s easy to feel the pressure to “do, do, do”. This pressure can result in a firehouse approach to push out whatever you can, whenever you can.
The firehouse eventually (and often quickly) results in a cluttered space. Consumers have to shift through a lot of uninteresting content to unearth any gems. This cluttered space doesn’t affect the consumer alone—it also hurts brands, teams, leagues.
Everyone in the industry must work to fight the frenzy. We have to pull ourselves out the weeds and think about how we’re distributing, where and why. Social media content shouldn’t be an all-out blanketed approach. Instead, it’s imperative as marketers that we play to each platform’s strength. There should be synergy to your channels, yes, but the content on channels should also be different.
So, what’s the key to maximize each channel effectively to tell your story? It all starts with defining a strong platform approach—and sticking to it.
Defining a platform strategy ensures several things:
Reason for being.
When you define a reason for being with each channel it helps to differentiate content across platforms. It’s not about telling a different story across all channels; it’s about molding the content to the platforms.
Forces you to think consumer first.
Hopefully when you define a platform approach, the consumer is at the center of your thinking. And, since you have defined a reason for being on each channel, your approach will make for a great consumer experience. across each channel. This way the consumer won’t be bombarded with the exact same content across every single channel and it will feel more authentic the platform.
Helps push creativity.
Finally, when you put yourself in a box creativity is unleashed. You and your team will end up with a stronger presence and stronger creative if you stick to a POV and understand what makes each platform unique.
So, what does a platform strategy look like? Every brand and team will have a different approach based on audience and goals. But for inspiration, here’s a high level look at how you might differentiate each platform.
Facebook platform is about mass reach. Video and live are key here, so take the time to think through how to elevate and innovate the experience of live. Facebook also presents a huge opportunity to drive direct ROI. Their robust ad options and targeting capabilities can help you drive ticket sales, merchandise, etc. if you’re strategic about it.
Twitter is where moments happen. It’s a place for real time. One-to-one engagement with fans is also important, as well as letting your brand personality shine. From a content perspective, GIFS, moving image and short soundbites are key.
Instagram is the best visual expression of the brand. Period. The creative must be visually eye-catching to get people to stop in their feeds. Think of in-feed posts as more evergreen; Stories more real-time.
Snapchat
Snapchat is about real, raw access. The people and personalities behind brands shine. Think about your programming like reality TV; create consistent programming, faces and give people a reason to come back and tune it. And the biggest key? Have fun, doodles and all.
As mentioned, this is just a high level example of how you could define a platform approach. Take the time to put yourself in your consumer’s shoes, brainstorm and create a POV. Sticking to the POV won’t always be easy, but in the end you will have a stronger community, stronger engagement and stronger overall presence.
