Keep Your Social Engaging with the CRISP Method
July 11, 2023
Table of Contents:
How to Keep Your Social Media Presence CRISP
The launch of Instagram Threads, a rival app to Twitter, has our social media team reflecting on one consensus seen across the internet: social media is meant to be engaging. People spend an average of 2.5 hours on social media every day worldwide, according to Statista, and they would eventually lose interest if it were boring. The question is, how do you establish your own strong social media presence that sparks interest, gets people to follow you and continue to engage with your posts? Enter our CRISP method for content creation.
How to Keep Your Social Media Presence CRISP
At Orange Label marketing agency, we tailor our clients’ social strategies to their unique goals, specific objectives and the value they bring to their audience. This means that no two social media strategies are exactly the same. There are, however, tools and tactics that we apply across various client accounts to keep their social media presence refreshing and engaging. We’ve compiled them into our five-step strategy called the CRISP method, along with examples from global brands.
1. C: Content Pillars
Content pillars are specific categories in line with your brand values that you use to create posts. For example, you might have a category for user-generated content (UGC) or reviews, educational content, new products or product features, and locations. Such categories allow you to diversify your content, remain consistent in your posting and hit all touch points that you want to share with your audience. We recommend between three to five content categories to ensure you stick to them and establish content that your audience can grow to expect from your brand, rather than random posts.
Two shining examples of brands that put out engaging content in distinct content pillars include Rare Beauty and REI stick. Founded by singer/actress Selena Gomez, Rare Beauty, is a makeup brand designed to “make you feel good without hiding what makes you unique.” On Rare’s social media profiles, you’ll find a posting strategy that strictly consists of their products, their founder and user-generated content (UGC). Outdoor wellness brand REI clearly displays their mission statement, “A Life Outdoors is a Life Well Lived” throughout their social media presence with a content pillar breakdown that includes about posts based on outdoor recreation tips and their blog (40%), creator and REI partner/member posts (30%), products (15%), adventure / wanderlust (10%) and their beliefs/givebacks (5%).
2. R: Responsiveness
With 81% of people believing that social media has increased accountability for businesses, according to Sprout Social, social media should be treated as a form of customer service. When customers take the time to comment on a brand’s posts or reach out on social media, they’re expecting a response back. One way to streamline responsiveness is by creating a document or spreadsheet of frequently asked questions and responses to ensure that the answers and tone of voice are consistent.
Despite hundreds of comments received per day, Starbucks is not only great at responding to positive feedback in a friendly way, they also seek to effectively address customer concerns. Showing a light, playful side to their social media presence, grocery brand Aldi is known for commenting back with emojis, quick responses and helpful information, from prices to dimensions of items in their seasonal merchandise aisles. Aldi also has a Facebook group called Aldi Insiders (with 251.5k members) that shares, “sneak peeks, exclusive info, giveaways and all that fun stuff that comes along with being an ALDI fan,” taking responsiveness and community to the next level.
3. I: Influencer Marketing
The stats for influencer marketing remain solid, per HubSpot data, with 50% of Millennials stating they trust product recommendations from influencers (more than celebrities at 38%) and 33% of Gen Z-ers having purchased a product based on influencer recommendations within the past three months. Brands that engage in influencer marketing–something that one in four marketers are doing–often see results including increased engagement, sales and brand awareness. Working with an influencer or creator can allow your brand to jump on trends, reach and engage new audiences, and build consumer trust. The selection of the type of influencer, whether they’re a micro-influencer, macro-influencer, creator, etc. should be chosen directly based upon your desired KPI (key performance indicator).
Seeking to make a big splash for the debut of the upcoming Barbie movie, we saw the launch of the Barbie meme generator taking over social media in April and this month, the pink carpet was rolled out in Los Angeles for its early global premier. Taking over social media feeds yet again, we’ve been seeing a flood of images, carousels and reels from influencers at the event, each in attire inspired by the Mattel doll. On an everyday basis, we’ve seen eyewear brand Warby Parker lean into influencer marketing on social media with brand collabs, celebrity shout outs and frequent guest posts from influencers of all follower tiers.
4. S: Social Listening
In addition to monitoring your own social channels, you can also participate in social listening. The process of social listening involves following high-level conversations about not just your brand, but your industry, competitors and your audience. Any key takeaways from the process can be interpreted and used to shift marketing approaches and even aspects of your brand, such as messaging, product names, product strategy and customer care.
Airbnb provided an excellent example of social listening when influencer Alix Earle booked a fake villa through an allegedly false outside booking website. Airbnb reached out to Earle and secured a luxurious villa for her and her friends, garnering them a shout out to Earle’s 5.5 million TikTok followers and saving their vacation. We’ve also seen instances of social listening with Chipotle when they were one of the first brands to jump on the BeReal app when it was at its peak by offering a limited number of promotion codes.
5. P: Platform Aware
One way to keep your social media presence fresh and entertaining is by staying up to date on new social media updates. Platform updates occur frequently and part of our social media tune-up checklists for clients is ensuring that we’re up-to-date on relevant, new app rollouts and app features. With Threads being the new platform on the market, our team was quick to explore the platform and draw up social post ideas to establish our agency’s Threads presence. At the app’s launch, our content team was amazed to see the level of dedication that clothing and accessories retailer American Eagle Outfitters put into their Threads account with witty posts and responses going out way past bedtime! Whether to join new platforms at launch or jump on a new trend/feature can depend upon your content pillars, brand goals and audience demographics to test the waters of these platforms and determine the value your brand can bring.
Paired with a strong social media strategy, trust in your social media team and an openness to trying new tools, the CRISP method will help you remain nimble in your social media pursuits. An attribute that brands must have to succeed on social media. (Along with consistency, of course). To learn more about Orange Label’s social media services, visit our social media page.