As lots of clients shift their budgets across to digital there are lots of social media briefs going through the building. So I’ve been asked to provide some creative inspiration as to what “good” social media work looks like since it’s one of those areas where there are maybe a few more rules and misconceptions for this channel than there is when it comes to doing TV or print executions, plus lots of the same assumptions we make for those channels just don’t apply to social. So I’m going to be sharing 8 rules for acing social media briefs.
But the Interesting thing about social media is that whilst there are lots of rules and sets of best practice and they’re all very well researched and proven to be effective, every single one of those rules can and should be broken in the right circumstances, so I’m going to talk through what the best practice rules look like, and then show you an example which completely breaks that rules but is still also really good, creative, and effective.
The first rules we talk about all the time and Unilever are absolutely mental for, is that you need to keep social posts short and punchy, landing your message straight away.
And here are some great social ads for products that do that really well. Straight to the point, even if you’re scrolling at a million miles an hour you’ll still know what it’s trying to sell you. They’re moving images using a fast editing pace, split screen, clear brand cues and product and they work really well!
Essentially they’re banners that tell you that the product exists.
The same also applies when we’re being tasked with taking a TV spot and using social as a support channel to get more people seeing it across different channels. These prompt people to remember what they’ve already seen on TV in a short time frame so you quickly land the queues from the longer version.. This is done by identifying the essence of the TV asset and boiling it down into a shorter version with the most important bits remaining, product, dog, brand colours.
Aside: split screen is a good tactic to use to help you achieve this
A tip if you’re struggling to keep something short- especially if you need to communicate more of a brand message than a product message. Communicate a feeling rather than telling a story.
Brand stories often need lots of space around them so forcing it into 6 seconds can often make it feel exaggerated and over whelming so you risk communicating nothing.
Make the task easier and take out all the crap. Don’t bother trying to force it into a hole it doesn’t want to go in. Don’t tell a story with a beginning middle and end. This Corona ad is a great example of that. No establishing shot, no plot twist, no conflict, no resolution, just the feeling that Corona represents of freedom. Purpose and product landed in one shot.
But the problem with short, snappy ads is that they’re contributing to the bannerification of social media. And they’re not something audiences necessarily want to engage with a give their attention. So there are some instances where it pays to go long.
KFC did exactly this with the clean-eating burger and it worked because of the strength of the insight. Clean-eating is ridiculous. It was such a universal insight that people were happy to sit back and be entertained and enraged by the fake influencer who parodied everything about the clean-eating movement. It was long, detailed, built up to a big reveal at the end. Everything we’re told a social video shouldn’t be. But it worked.
A perfect example of challenging best practice for the right campaign and it paying off. (Btw this got heaps of awards, was effective, and got the agency so much fame!)
A huge celebrity, a charity angle and an empowering message? Of course this one could afford to be long.
A national appointment to view, huge production values and guaranteed attention? These alone are evidence that social doesn’t HAVE to be short to work.
Rule 3 is to add in a new format whenever you can. It gets clients an inflated sense of ego since they managed to do something before everyone else and a little bit of press coverage if you do it well, whilst letting the world know that they’re digitally savvy.
Alpesh- Here is a buzzword. AR portals. They are a pretty nifty way to get your fans to feel immersed in an environment. This football example could easily be applied to something like Eurosport and the ‘Stranger things’ portal highlights its possibilities.
Alpesh- 360 photos again can be used to encourage fans to explore your brand story. In the past I have seen brands use these from a where’s wally-esk brand hunt to promoting positive body image.
Alpesh- Live photos are essentially a touch activated gif. They work only on Mobile and only in the Facebook app. We are seeing brands use these more to break up // disrupt the news feed.
Alpesh- Polls have come a long way. You can use these to encourage people to make a decision, this could be used to form part of an audience created brand story.
Rule 4: Don’t use a new format when you don’t need to.
Generally whenever we test these formats, a good old video comes as the most effective way of reaching your audience. New formats are often expensive, and anything which asks more than the bare minimum of your audience in the newsfeed leads to inefficiencies.
A video isn’t a restrictive format at all. And tech isn’t the only way to be innovative. If you believe in your idea and it’s good, it doesn’t need to have a gimmicky tech or format layered on top.
Tactics that correlate with social success.
Number one: originality. Personality. Humour. Irreverence,
Good social best practice videos
Plus, you can always game the metrics to get better results.
Plus, you can always game the metrics to get better results.
Rule 5: If you get in the news you get views. The most award-winning and heralded social media campaigns don’t rely on best practice to standout, they rely on cutting through the news agenda.
For social campaigns to be successful, they have to compete against the news cycle and other demands on people’s attention. The clean-eating burger did this perfectly. They went out on a limb, took a risk and rejected all best practice, but on its side was its ability to cut through the news agenda and get themselves spoken about. They became the news rather than commenting on it.
It wasn’t an impressively creative idea that’d impossible for us to match, it was just given the platform it needed because it was talkable. If your brief doesn’t tell you why this thing matters to people, ask why people are going to care and use that.
Another example that’s winning heaps of awards.
Months ahead of the launch of Reese’s Pieces Peanut Butter Cups, a picture of the product was leaked on a personal Facebook account without the brand’s knowledge or permission. The picture went viral and fans wanted to know whether the eccentric confection, a mash-up of two Reese’s favourites, was real or not.
Within hours, it resolved to play up its witty and humorous brand personality creating #Cupfusion, a hashtag hinting at both consumers’ confusion and the fusion of two Reese’s iconic products. A series of cryptic images and GIFs were posted on Reese’s social media pages. The content neither confirmed nor denied the new product, but rather teased the audience with hints and banter. Finally, the time came to come clean about the rumours, and the brand revealed the product was in fact real with a live press conference on Facebook followed by a GIF stating: “Yup…it’s a thing”.
6. It doesn’t even matter if all the client wants to use social for is to drive people to your website.
Sometimes a client just doesn’t need to go viral.
You need to know when to pull out the “news get views” card and when to stick to best practice, giving people the nudge that they need to visit your site or make a purchase. Not take over the world- other channels might already be fulfilling the Fame job.
Alpesh- Tell your story through beautiful banners. Just look at them. All over social. Aren’t they nice.
Alpesh- Carousels can be used to bring more of your products together and directly link thru. These are becoming more shoppable and do lead to direct purchase so are always worth considering in the mix.
The internet is full of weird stuff. Do some research into what your audience are looking at online? A dog high fiving marathon runners? A chinchilla eating a carrot? Bottle flips? Cassetteboy remixes? Power washer videos? Drag artist make up hyperlapses? Take a look at what’s going viral, take inspiration from it and then try and do one better.
Your planner should be feeding you this type of inspiration, and if they’re not, tell them to! No matter how boring your brand is their is something viral which can be learned from.
In 99% of cases, unless you have a established TOV like Dennys, Innocent or Dominos, you can’t get away with simply “meme-jacking”- jumping on the back of a trending meme.
Alpesh- The brand will look like this. No matter how much the client wants to, do not use memes. Millennials are smarter than that, I mean most of you are one.
Alpesh- Can anyone guess which brands these are from?
Alpesh- Honestly, what are these brands doing? The first doesn’t fit the brand, the second is just insensitive.
Good social best practice videos
Alpesh?
Type helps to tell your story without needing to rely on sound. Waitrose does it really well to do recipes, and Baileys to show a little bit of personality in a recipe that would be confused for anyone elses.