Use International Days to make great content
… for more than just one day
It has been the wonderful #InternationalWomensDay this week – and I adore seeing my feed flooded with IWD posts and following the hashtag #IWD2021, as well as this year’s special message #ChoosetoChallenge. But what pains me is the effort I can see that goes in to one post or one day of content, which could be used for so much more. It was the same for World Book Day last week!!!
Think about it! Just because International Women’s Day is 8th March – why only produce content for Monday 8th March? At the price of sounding particular pessimistic, your post is far less likely to be seen on the actual day due to the flood of posts on the same topic, with the same hashtags.
As an example, in 2019, I used the whole month of March to promote women at a golf club I was working for. To make it clear how welcome they were to not just play a sport which has historically been male-dominated, but to be a part of the club and to hold memberships and to get a say in how the club is run. This was important to me and very poignant in a sport which have membership clubs that have barred women joining for far, far too long in to modern times.
In 2020, I spent the week focussing on women’s roles in weddings (which the golf club also host), sharing posts about the mother of the bride; the mother of the groom; bridesmaids and flowergirls – and paying tribute to them. It was a shame the pandemic then stopped most of the weddings in 2020!
However, my point is that rather than one post for one day, I was able to create a campaign and, importantly, a small buzz before and after International Women’s Day itself.
Ensuring the popularity or success of a social media post is like a ‘game’. You are trying to ‘beat’ the algorithm which will choose what will appear in a newsfeed and where, so you need to think outside of the box. You need to ‘play games back’ to help you gain small advantages and, in particular, capitalise on engagement when you get it.
Obviously, this doesn’t just apply to International Women’s Day. Consider other national and international days that are popular. Consider important events in your industry. Consider festivals and special times of year too.
Importantly, don’t look like you’ve just ‘jumped on the bandwagon’ – prepare for these opportunities and create great quality content to share.
Let’s discuss how in some further detail…
Be different
There’s nothing worse than seeing content where you think “they’ve just jumped on the bandwagon” or “what has that got to do with that business??” Yes the purpose of content can be to simply entertain but make sure it actually resonates with your followers and clients.
Do your research – if the event or day is annual, look back and see what companies similar to yours did last year. Consider what you did last year and whether it worked. Make a note now of anything that you thought was really good from International Women’s Day ready for next year too!
Finally, see if you can find the official website of the international day or any charities related to do it, for example. There are often some great resources available as well as a campaign theme that will inspire you.
Think about what you could offer to your followers
Something like International Women’s Day or Christmas, will be popular with lots and lots of businesses and enterprises so create content which not only ties in but has a relevance to your business – what is it about a particular day or event that is important to your business?
You could consider how it truly connects with your values.
Consider what about the international or national day/event or festival will really resonate or appeal most with your clients or followers? Does it directly link to your services or your story?
Is there an offer or lead magnet that would be suitable to hook your campaign around and link smoothly with the day or event, which is entirely appropriate?
Consider collaboration
Days like International Women’s Day work so well on social media because it is the ideal time to mention and tag other women who inspire or influence you. It’s the ideal opportunity to produce content that others may share.
Collaboration is key on social media particularly, so why not team up with another individual or business in advance of an upcoming day or event and create content together that you can both share. For example:
- a ‘Live’ interview – via You Tube, Facebook, Instagram or LinkedIn
- a podcast interview – pre-record a discussion about the event
- a short video
- a slideshow of imagery
- a competition offering prizes from both your own and others’ business
Advice from my days in Cardiff University’s debating society
Tell them what you are going to say…tell them…tell them what you said…
This was the advice I was given when I did my first debate, as part of Cardiff University Debating Team. The idea is that your speech is framed and structured well. Firstly, outline the key points you will make. Then, for each point give some more details. Then, summarise those key points at the end. It is a great structure to use in all forms of content and it applies equally well to preparing content for International Days and Events.
As I said at the start, don’t create content just for one day. Before the day or event itself, drip feed some themes, ideas or elements of preparation to encourage a following or a ‘buying in to’ the content you are creating. Lots of teasers to whet people’s appetite. Then, as discussed above publish some fantastic content to support the key messages of the national day or event which ties in strongly with your business. Finally, summarise what you did or what you learnt. Put out content which reflects on the day or event, afterwards. If you can’t think of anything, at the very least, do a #ThrowbackThursday post celebrating again – perhaps a week or month later.
Would you like support with planning your content in advance?
Planning is so important to ensure you create content that works hard for your business. If you need some help with ideas, campaigns or strategy, get in touch – email: kate@thecontentconsultancy.com