How Comedy Teaches Us Better Social Media Practices

Recently, I have been reading some books by amazing women in Comedy; Tina Fey's Bossypants, Amy Pohler's Yes Please!, and Mindy Kaling's Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns) just to name a few.  While I've been reading these hilarious and surprisingly thought-provoking books, I have also been producing training resources for Social Media Community Managers in my organization. As I was writing a list of the 'Dos and Don'ts of Content Posting', several comedy stand-ups, sketches, and performances came to mind. What better way to reinforce good social media practices than with a little comedy.

DO Follow trends; DON'T Participate in every trend

I think it's safe to say, that as Social Media Managers or Digital Natives, we find it easy keeping up on trending topics, #hashtags, and conversations taking place on social media platforms.  Knowing what's trending is relatively easy, especially when a trend  picks up momentum and goes viral. 

No, the challenge with trends doesn't lie in identifying them but rather identifying the right one for your brand to participate with. Putting your brand first when posting content, whether through original content (tweets or posts) or curated content (retweets or shares), should always take top priority.  Thinking "brand first" is a skill and like most skills can be learned with training and practice.  But of course, for training and practice to take place, self-awareness is key and organizations will need to notice how they may be missing the mark.

I think Jim Gaffigan brings this point home the best.  Trends are as easy to find and tempting to take part in as it is to see Hot Pockets and devour them in one sitting.  But participating in a trend that doesn't align with your brand is equivalent to your body's response short moments after you consumed just one Hot Pocket. "Now you can have a Hot Pocket for breakfast, a Hot Pocket for lunch, and be dead by dinner."

DO share; DON'T Steal

It's a well known fact that sharing is caring. It's also a well known fact that sharing without attribution or permission is stealing. Plagiarism, Copyright infringement, and Trademark infringement are all major No-Nos in the world of Marketing,.  Working in Higher Education and being a professor myself (I know, Professor Steele does sound bad ass), I have a heightened awareness to these blatant acts of negligence.  Here's the deal: Go through the hoops to get permission to post content that you think your audience needs and give it its due credit. Don’t steal someone’s identity for your brand.

DO Engage with your audience; DON'T Go overboard

How amazing were the the 2014 Academy Awards?! I don't mean the nominees and winners, I mean the showmanship of Ellen Degeneres! Sure, she's funny and witty but she took the Oscars to a whole new level.  The Academy Awards have been Emceed but some wonderful and talented entertainers as well as some not so great (ahem, Anne Hathaway and James Franco). How did Ellen make the 2014 Oscars more than just an awards show for actors?

She engaged the audience! She spent more time in the audience than on stage.  That's pretty impressive for someone hosting a show being watched by millions of people! She took a selfie with peers that broke twitter, had pizza delivered and kept the show running ON TIME! Her interactions with the audience is what made the 2014 Academy Awards amazing! She put herself in their shoes.  She knew they were nervous as they waited to hear their category being called so she talked to them about it, asking questions directly to nominees like "Are you nervous? How nervous?".  She knew they were hungry since most women starve themselves in order to fit into the -1 size gowns. Pizza ordered and delivered. Done. 

On the other hand, there have been Emcees who have entertained the audience.  Hugh Jackman doing over the top musical numbers and Billy Crystal running through a stand up routine.  Neither were bad, but they were just entertaining.

How engaged is your audience on your social channels?  Are they responding to your posts? Are they asking you questions and are you answering them in a timely manner? It's not good enough to get likes on a page or post.  If your audience isn't commenting and sharing your content then consider yourself an entertainer. What steps do you need to make to become an engagement Ringmaster? After all, social media is just one giant circus.

DO Target your audience; DON'T Be broad

This best practice ties in heavily with the previous so it's fitting having Ellen display it for us.  I can tell you right now that if you aren't targeting your audience then you are missing the mark completely.  It's easy to say that because how can you hit a mark you're not aiming for or worse not even aware of? 

By targeting your audiences you will be able to provide specific content with specific calls to action and watch as those calls to action take place.  I have learned the importance of this practice through managing the main social media channels for Concordia University Irvine.  We have many audiences to speak with from prospective students and families, current students and families, alumni, donors, to contracted partners.  And each of those communities can be broken down even further into more specific audiences.  Each audience requires a different conversation and different calls to action. Presenting financial aid information to a donor results in very little for both the donor and the University.

Don't get caught in the broadcasting "trying to just get the news out there and whomever is listening, great!" mentality.  Take time to identify your audience and then take even more time getting to know them.  Social media is all about relationships. It's embarrassing when yell out to people only to discover that it's not the right person. 

DO Be authentic; DON'T Be a car salesman

This one seems like a no brainer but marketers get trapped in this pitfall all the time. There is a difference between genuine authenticity and impersonating genuine authenticity. For a while, brands didn't know how to respond to this rule of "authentic voices on social media" so they ignored it and continued marketing to audiences.  When that didn't work they quickly changed their game to being overly authentic.  I think the 2015 Super Bowl ads are a good example of this.  All of a sudden, every major company isn't about getting your money, no, they  about things. The environment, your health and safety, your relationship with your dad (was I the only one that picked up on the reoccurring "Dad" theme?). It was so over the top that it defeated the purpose. 

There is a person behind every brand's social media channels.  That person should have a strong voice of the brand, but more importantly, should have an authentic quality on social media.  How many people do you know have friended the guy who tried to sell them a car? Yeah, my point exactly. Allow Buddy the Elf to remind us of what true genuine authenticity looks like.