Introducing our brand to the world of social media is a must if we want to build credibility.
There are profiles whose purpose is precisely to establish the brand’s existence and provide basic information about the services or products offered. In this case, there is no need to create creative posts. However, mere presence is not enough to stand out in a crowded feed, let alone achieve more specific objectives: increasing reach, engagement, sales, building a strong and consistent image.
If your brand is at the stage where a media budget is already at stake, it is worth spending it on interesting content that will deliver better results. In the race for audiences’ attention and hearts, creativity is always on our side.
It might seem that creatives are just throwing ideas around, and the more ‘creative’ the better. Not really. The aim is to create unique, varied and visually appealing content that is tailored to the target audience and meets clearly defined objectives.
Can anyone create creative social media?
Do we need a creative agency to make sure our social media is truly creative? Yes and no. There are some profiles that are unlikely to be run by professional agencies, but it is hard to deny that they are creative.
But by entrusting our social media to an agency, we can count on strategic support and regular reviews of the results of our activities. In other words, we can be sure that creativity is taking us closer to our goal, not further away. In a well-oiled agency machine, creativity is subservient to strategy, which in turn triggers creativity.
Start with strategy
A well-thought-out social media strategy takes into account elements such as business objectives, target audience analysis, content marketing strategy, social media platform recommendations and paid advertising activities on selected platforms. These elements are used to create a detailed action plan, which in turn is monitored and analysed on an ongoing basis to adjust the strategy to optimise results. Quarterly performance reports are produced and discussed with clients. This is also an opportunity to discuss trends and internal agency summaries in terms of creative effectiveness.
Do you want to run creative social media?
It is also worth using the agency’s expertise and strategic support if you want to create content for profiles yourself. Creating a social media strategy and working with an agency on the basis of quarterly reports is one of the solutions that will allow us to check that we are not burning through our creative potential and budget. It is worth asking the agency for a personalised quote.
Creativity (not) at all costs
It is worth adding that not every post on our brand profile has to be a display of creativity. When drawing up a social media strategy, the agency will take care to diversify the content, propose several categories of posts, define the scope of creativity and the guidelines to be followed in the communication. This allows us, for example, to effectively reach different segments of the target audience.
Ensuring visual appeal
But let’s move on to the creative level. A big part of this is creating a coherent visual strategy and making sure it includes a variety of formats, including video, that will appeal to audiences (and algorithms). Reels, carousels, drop-down posts, panoramic posts… Facebook alone has dozens of different formats. When planning posts for a given period, a social media agency will make sure they are varied. With their experience and knowledge, they will also be able to implement more sophisticated formats efficiently.
Speak with a strong voice
Consistency is an important word, not only on a visual level, but also in terms of how we communicate – i.e. tone of voice. A unique and distinctive voice helps to build brand identity and differentiate in the marketplace. It is important that it is authentic and consistent with its values and ideas. It should also be tailored to the target audience and speak their language – making it easier to build engagement and loyalty. Finally, it must be in keeping with the nature of the business. For brands associated with fashion or youth culture, a more dynamic and experimental language will work. Luxury goods, on the other hand, need to be professional and sophisticated.
Follow and react
Real-time reality offers opportunities for creativity. Social media offers the opportunity to react instantly, and current events, trends or launches are perfect fodder for RTMs (Real-Time Marketing). The greater the emotional potential of an event, the greater the chance to shine in the fast-moving social media forum. Of course, we may stumble across a brilliant RTM ‘in between’, but that is unlikely. The reality of working in an agency is that you constantly have to keep an eye on the market and news for use in communications. The trick is not only to keep your finger on the pulse, but also to assess which events and trends present an opportunity to generate the desired response.
Build community
Creative social media also means a strong community that engages with the content and helps spread it. Building this means constantly publishing interesting and engaging content, interacting with users on a regular basis, responding to comments and private messages. It is also worth organising competitions and using interactive tools: questions, votes, polls, quizzes. All this in order to stay in touch with the audience and build positive emotions and brand experiences.
Be prepared for an impasse
A creative impasse is inevitable. In the beginning, ideas come easily. Keeping them fresh and surprising after several months of ongoing communication – that’s another challenge altogether. This is when it is worth considering hiring a creative agency. They usually have several profiles running at the same time, for clients in different market segments. The opportunity for sharing, brainstorming, seeing what is happening on ‘neighbouring’ profiles – allows the parameters of inspiration and creativity to be kept at an appropriate level.
The experience and interdisciplinarity of the creative teams benefits the client. They allow for a broader view and verification of what works and what does not work for a given target group or category. This is worth taking advantage of, even if only at the selected stage of building a brand’s social media.
How do we do this at Neon Shake?
At Neon Shake, we have experience in managing the social media channels of large and small brands across many categories: from FMCG, sports brands, shopping centres, financial services, pharmaceuticals… and many more. Here are a few examples.
Hellena
In 2016, Hellena decided to refresh the image of its iconic orangeade and raise awareness among its younger target group. It chose to do this with us. We took over the management of the brand’s Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat profiles. We started with a thorough understanding of the target audience. The conclusion was clear: we focus on fun, relaxed, fresh, animated formats and engaging content such as interactive games and quizzes. All in an original graphic design, in line with the new social CI. We were also creative on the moderation level, creating unique gifs that referenced the brand’s iconic products. We introduced a chatbot that offered activities such as quizzes. We also took care of creative content created in collaboration with influencers.
The result: thousands of responses to posts (record: 50,000). After three months of service, we won first place in the SoTrender Interactivity Index in the beverage category, and a month later in the overall FMCG category. In six months, we generated half a million interactions on the profile. Creativity works!
Decathlon
Decathlon is one of the world’s biggest players in the sports industry, with stores on 5 continents. We joined the team in 2017, and one of our first tasks was to prepare content for the client’s social profiles. We built a communication to engage sports lovers, based on insights and building positive emotions around the activity. We followed the calendar of sporting events – and more – to build excitement with targeted RTMs. Effectively! The communications delivered a leap in reach and engagement. As part of our partnership with the brand, we also ran a number of digital campaigns to activate Facebook followers. The most important of these were the Kreatura award-winning “Korona Skałek Polskich” and the award-nominated “What are you after? (both for the Simond by Decathlon brand).
Work Service
Work Service is the largest HR company in this part of Europe. In 2018, the brand decided to entrust us with its social media, which was previously managed by an internal department. We created a comprehensive social media strategy, steering communications towards more engaging content based on insights and real-time marketing. We used non-standard formats such as evolving posts, animation and audience interaction. We also created a consistent and distinctive visual style, in line with trends and a light, understated tone of voice. We were able to skilfully combine news about the job market with entertaining content. And we didn’t have to wait long to see the results: engagement increased almost sevenfold and reach doubled.
If you too would like to see what our creativity can do for your brand, feel free to get in touch!
FAQ: Creative Social Media Strategies
Can anyone create creative social media content?
Answer: Yes, creativity in social media isn’t exclusive to professional agencies. However, agencies can provide strategic support and regular performance reviews, ensuring that creativity aligns with business goals.
Why is starting with a strategy important in social media?
Answer: A well-crafted social media strategy considers business objectives, target audience analysis, content marketing strategy, and platform recommendations, ensuring that all actions are goal-oriented and effective.
How important is visual appeal in social media?
Answer: Extremely important. A coherent visual strategy that includes varied and audience-appealing formats, especially video, is crucial for engaging content.
What role does tone of voice play in social media?
Answer: A unique and distinctive tone of voice is essential for building brand identity and standing out. It should be authentic, consistent with brand values, and resonate with the target audience.
How can real-time events be used creatively in social media?
Answer: Real-time events provide opportunities for creativity. Using current events and trends for Real-Time Marketing (RTM) can significantly enhance engagement and brand visibility.
