23 May Should Your Social Media Content Change with the Seasons?
It’s no surprise that a change in weather can affect our mood and health, but did you know it can also have an effect on the way we consume content? Whether we’re scouring the internet for the best summer BBQ recipes or covering our Pinterest boards in cozy sweaters and chunky scarves, our needs and desires change along with the seasons. As social media experts, it’s our job to create content that reflects the seasons without resorting to tired clichés. Read on to discover tips on how to maximize your brand’s seasonal content and further engage and connect with fans.
What Type of Content Is My Audience Looking For?
The first rule of creating engaging seasonal content is to know your audience. To do this, put yourself in your fans mindset and think of what type of content they would be most likely to engage with. If they’re family oriented, posts on how to incorporate your brand into family get-togethers and cook-outs would likely be a good fit for warm weather. If they’re more of the outdoorsy type, what kinds of sports or activities do the seasons allow? Once you combine audience interests with seasonal relevance, you’ll find you have a fail proof recipe for creating engaging, thumb-stopping content that remains current long after the holiday sales have ended.
What Type of Content Will Be Helpful?
Consumers who follow brands on social media are looking for relevant, entertaining content that helps improve their daily lives. This could be helping them look better, feel better, or live better, but no matter what the objective, consumers expect to benefit from the content you produce. Though this may sound like a tall order, the good news is that since seasons are already top of mind for consumers, they’re the perfect base upon which to generate helpful, informative content. Think of how your brand can provide helpful information to your audience, whether it’s tips on how to dress, DIY hacks for the house or heart healthy recipes. Once you have an idea of what type of help you can provide, think of ways to make it seasonally relevant and the content almost writes itself.
Target does it again with cute copy and simple, share-able graphics.
How Can My Brand Stand Out?
The internet is a vast, wide place, over-saturated with information and cat videos. For seasonal content to be seen, you need to make sure it stands out from the crowd. Rather than putting together a top ten listicle for the start of summer or introducing cringe worthy clichés into your copy (“Spring into summer savings”, anyone?) think of how your brands unique personality could best be conveyed online, especially to a broader audience. Consider putting together an interactive Canvas ad showcasing your brands hiking and camping accessories in action, create a Boomerang of a smiling girl twirling in a bed of fresh flowers for Spring, or post a fresh summer how-to recipe in the form of a carousel ad to gear up your audience for cook-out season and watch the likes roll in.
This playful image from Brit & Co presents the 4th of July in a fun and branded way.
What Channel Works Best?
Engaging content is only as good as the channel it lives on. No matter how clever, eye catching, or otherwise engaging your post is, none of it matters if your images are sized improperly, your copy gets cut off, or you format a link incorrectly. Brush up on your channel-specific image specs and best practices to make sure your seasonal content starts out strong.
Think Outside of the Holidays
Seasonal content includes more than just the holidays. When brainstorming content, don’t forget to focus your efforts away from the big-ticket holidays (Christmas, Halloween, New Year’s Eve, Thanksgiving, etc) in favor of more seasonally relevant themes like back to school, football season, and summer BBQ. The best part? Since seasonal themes are top of mind for consumers, your post appears timely and attuned to their unique interests without coming across as salesy. It’s a win/win.
Covergirl’s take on fall favorite Pumpkin Spice Lattes.
Color and Seasonality
It’s no surprise that engaging copy is important to a successful post, but it isn’t the only thing that draws people in. In some instances, photos tell the story for you, with color and visual cues conveying meaning and message just as much (if not more than) the words they accompany.
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- Change or Tweak Color Palettes – Color and seasonality are inextricably linked. Just like pink and red are traditionally associated with Valentine’s Day, certain colors remind us of the seasons. Use this to your advantage when planning seasonal content by sneaking traditional color palettes into your designs or photos. While not every season or holiday is as readily identifiable as, for example, Christmas, you can still convey seasonality through color by using bright pastels for Spring, vibrant colors and shades of blue for Summer, and warm, earth or jewel toned colors for Fall.
- Add Visual Cues – Have you noticed that photos posted in Fall seem to convey a sense of coziness? Chunky knit scarves, crunchy leaves, crackling fires and a steaming mug of coffee all help convey the warmness of the season. When seasonal content, think of whether your brand can insert any of these seasonal visual cues into your branding or photography to further your message.
Whole Foods gets ready for summer by pairing a warm weather dessert with bright visuals for a seasonally relevant image.
Of course, you don’t need to revamp your entire social strategy just so your brand can post about sun and sand. Some brands, by nature of their business, just might not have a clear tie in to any holiday or season…and that’s perfectly fine. The most important thing to remember when creating content (seasonal or otherwise) is to be authentic. You know your brand best, so get out there and start creating or reach out to us if you need help.
