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PW-MAR20-48-Social-Media.qxp_Feature 30/03/2020 16:08 Page 48


Guest Article


Managing your brand through social media


globally, with North America and Eastern Asia checking in at 70%. We are spending more than two hours each day on social platforms with Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram taking top positions for social networks. Scrolling through our social media accounts has


A


become the first and last act of the day – often affecting our mood and intentions based on news coverage, trending posts, and comments from friends and influencers. From a business perspective, the art of navigating


the social media landscape can be as difficult as herding cats onto a roller coaster. While the dynamics of communicating with our customers and the world at large have changed, and continue to change on a daily basis, the basics of branding hold


true in our ever-growing digital world. Social media provides the opportunity to


communicate directly with your audience – customers, fans, news media, clients, prospects. It also allows them, and absolutely anyone else in the digisphere, to communicate directly with you. Thanks to social media, everyone is a reporter. And anyone can be an “expert.” Because everyone with a phone now has a voice,


one that can be amplified in a matter of minutes, it is critical that organizations work from a strategic set of guidelines when managing social media channels.


Create a Social Media Play Book Start with the basics. Establish your social media look and feel; it should match the design of your currently established brand. The vibe can be tailored to specific audiences across different channels but it


should be clear they are all part of the same family. Create a Style Guide. Create a guideline for


colors, fonts, photo specifications and composition, taglines, and calls to action. Execution will vary from platform to platform but established guidelines can be followed in every post. Establish Tone of Voice. The voice for your brand helps build authenticity and trust; it’s the personalityof


your organization. Tone is what speaks to your audience. Is your brand quirky, thrilling, cutting edge, fun, playful? The tone can vary slightly from platform to platform – and it should since your audience will vary slightly as well - but once the overall voice is established, it should be consistent across all channels. Plan for the percentage of organic vs promotional


posts. Some platforms lend themselves more to promotional vs organic posts and vice versa. Know your audience and what will resonate on each platform. Typically, heavy promotional messages (Lowest Price Ever For Season Passes) do not engage followers. Experiential posts, particularly videos and


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ccording to recent research from Hootsuite, nearly 3.5 billion people use social media. That’s 45% penetration


stories, can drive significant engagement improving your visibility and impact. Social Media Management.


With multiple social media outlets to manage the task of posting can become daunting, particularly during peak season. A great way to manage posting and track data is to use a social media management tool such as Hootsuite or Buffer. These tools allow a company to schedule posts, monitor for keywords, track data, provide ROI and analyze results to ensure future success. Designate your social media team. Designate a


finite team to handle all areas of social media. This will create a level of continuity within the platforms providing a unified message to followers. This team will determine frequency of posting and time of day/day of week to post based on data from social media management platforms. Establisha social media poilcy. It is absolutely vital


to create a set of rules to share with employees about how they will be allowed, and not allowed, to post related to their employment. Here’s a look at some great examples of promoting your brand via social media:


Six Flags Magic Mountain - Instagram With 158,000 Instagram followers, Six Flags Magic Mountain in California has learned a lot about their followers. Posts on Instagram are almost exclusively about park experiences – not promotions – with videos producing up to 25% more engagement than photos.


“We use Instagram to bring


Six Flags Magic Mountain to life in the social media space and generate excitement about the incredible experience we offer our guests,” said Connie Lujan, senior publicist for Six Flags


Magic Mountain. “As the Thrill Capital of the World, we have more roller coasters than any other theme park in the world and some of the biggest, baddest thrill rides too – so we use that to our advantage! Every piece of content we create, curate, and share – whether it’s a video or a photo – is always authentic to who we are, stays true to why people have followed us - to see our park - and are truly eye-candy worthy. To maximize engagement among our followers and drive interest to visit our theme park we also always try to be timely, relevant, and up-to-date with the world of pop culture.”


Cedar Point - Twitter Cedar Point’s 195,300 Twitter followers are treated to a mix of compelling photos and promotional posts that incorporate beautiful photos with videos that mix fast-paced action, energizing music and, as they approach anniversary number 150, a bit of nostalgia. Take note of the brand’s efforts to keep fans engaged during the off season. “While Cedar Point has always been a place for


sharing memories,” said Tony Clark director of communications for Cedar Point, “The park’s 150th anniversary isa special opportunity for guests around


the world to share their experiences online, whether that’s through photos, videos or stories. Using #CP150 allows all social users to find content that’s tied directly to the anniversary, including some never-before-seen photos of the park from our Cedar Point archives.” Here are two last words on social media


performance: Animals. Food. They always win the engagement game. Animals and food in a video… step right up, winner every time!


Hospitality industry veteran Debbie Evans has more than 25 years of training, marketing, public relations, and crisis communications experience. Her career has taken her from the floor of


Germany’s largest travel trade fair to the top of Spain’s tallest roller coaster. She is the Principal, Evans Marketing Partners at website: evansmarketingpartners.com.


MARCH 2020


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