While there's an art and a science to success on social media, there's also a psychology about it all that brands should study closely. Which topics and themes are popular with almost everyone on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram? What can you say or show that will command the undivided attention of your fans, followers and friends? The brand that portrays itself as interesting, entertaining and fun proves it has a personality, not just a pulse, and finds common ground with its audience.

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38 Everett St | Allston, Massachusetts 02134 | 617-254-5000 | www.ovrdrv.com
10 Ways to Find Common Ground with Your Social
Media Audience
October 29, 2015
Bob Cargill (@cargillcreative on Twitter)
Director of Social Media
Overdrive Interactive
www.ovrdrv.com

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Free Selfie Stick Question…Stay Tuned
Source: https://twitter.com/theellenshow/status/440322224407314432?lang=en

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From a Kodak Moment…

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…to Twitter Moments.

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Twitter Moments
 Announced October 6, 2015
 Curated stream of the latest breaking news
 Identified by the lightning bolt tab in the top navigation bar
 Click on a Moment that interests you, from news to sports to weather
 Includes tweets, videos, Vines and more
 Scroll or swipe for more content included in each Moment
 Option to share Moments with your own followers
 Easy, quick way to scan the day’s top stories
 Promoted Moments tested last weekend

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Facebook’s News Feed’s Algorithm
 Beginning in 2015, profiles saw less promotional content in their News
Feed
Sales and promotional posts
Contests and sweepstakes posts
Organic posts that repurposed paid posts
 Organic reach is more difficult than ever to achieve for brands
 Either pay a price to promote your post or account or be especially
good at working the crowd
Videos
Images
Engagement (likes, shares, comments)

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Instagram
Source: http://smallbiztrends.com/2015/09/instagram-is-bigger-than-twitter.html

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Periscope
 Launched on March 26, 2015 and owned by Twitter, Periscope is a
live video streaming app for both iOS and Android that makes it
possible for users to share live video clips with others.
 10 million accounts have already been created and there are two
million active users on a daily basis.

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How do you stand out on social media?

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There are billions of social media users…
Source: onalytica
http://www.onalytica.com/blog/posts/social-media-marketing-top-100-influencers-and-brands/

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…there is only one you.

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How do you stand out –
and go from lost to found
– in a crowd of about 300
million* Twitter users?
*Source: http://expandedramblings.com/index.php/march-2013-by-the-numbers-a-few-amazing-twitter-stats/

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How do you stand out – and go from lost to
found – on Twitter?
 There are about 300 million users on the channel.
 Less than half of these users log on every day.
 Less than one third of these users check Twitter multiple times/day.
 The average user follows more than 200 people.
 The average user is only on Twitter about six minutes/day.
 About 500 million tweets are sent every day (that’s almost
6,000/second).
 The “half life” of a tweet is about 24 minutes.
Data extrapolated from these two sources:
http://expandedramblings.com/index.php/march-2013-by-the-numbers-a-few-amazing-
twitter-stats/ and http://lkrsocialmedia.com/2014/07/this-is-why-nobody-sees-your-
tweets/

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10 Ways to Find Common Ground with Your
Social Media Audience

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I was having lunch with a colleague of mine a couple
years ago or so; as I began to take pictures of the food
on my plate he asked me why I would do such a thing.
I explained to him that food was a huge draw on social
media, and that the restaurant where we were eating
might reply to me if I tweeted about it, as might my
followers. I was as convinced then as I am now that it’s
a myth that no one on social media cares what you’re
eating for lunch. After all, everybody likes food.

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While there’s an art and a science to success on social
media, there’s also a certain psychology that brands
should note.
If you can identify your audience’s hot buttons and
trigger points – that is, what’s going to capture their
attention and cause them to respond – you can increase
the chances of your social media activities resulting in
more revenue, as opposed to simply more effort on your
part.

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Most of your content should be focused on your
products, services and industry. But a portion of your
posts should stray beyond those parameters every once
in a while, highlighting your employees and corporate
culture. The brand that portrays itself as interesting,
entertaining and fun proves it has a personality, not just
a pulse.
Which topics and themes are popular with almost
everyone? What can you say or show that will resonate
with practically everyone within ear- or eyeshot?

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1. Love
What the Beatles sang in 1968 is still true in 2015, both in real life (IRL)
and online, too – “all you need is love.” And by love, I mean love in all
its incarnations. Heartfelt romance between two people is one thing.
But brands can also show love for those who work for them, their
customers, their families and friends. Gratitude. Fondness.
Appreciation. Praise. Love in the broadest sense is what we’re
celebrating here.

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2. Recognition
If love is too strong, at the very least you can acknowledge the
presence of your audience. Surprise and delight them with free swag.
Treat them like VIPs. Provide them with a discount. Give them a shout-
out. Move them to the front of the line. Even if what you have to offer is
only a favorite, like, reply or retweet, your followers and fans will be
grateful for the nod.

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3. Food
You don’t have to be a restaurant to share pictures of food on social
media. Everybody eats. But don’t share just anything that’s on the plate
in front of you, anytime, anywhere. If you’re enjoying a gourmet meal on
a very special occasion, that’s a moment to seize. If there’s an
opportunity to associate your brand with food in any way, shape or
form, take advantage of it and take plenty of pictures.

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4. Sunsets
It’s something everyone can relate to, something everyone likes. No
one can deny the magnificence of a colorful sky when the sun
disappears below the horizon. No one can complain about seeing a
beautiful sunset. One of the most popular images in our personal feeds
should make at least an occasional appearance in yours.

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5. Humor
As I’ve written before on ClickZ, “many brands are going out of their
way to let their hair down on social media, taking great pains to reveal
their lighter sides.” The last thing they want is to be perceived as uptight
and self-centered, unable to take – or share – a joke every so often.
Humor shows you’re human, not some stiff corporate logo. Smile and
the whole world smiles with you. Clown around from time to time and
you’ll have your followers at your feet.

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Source: https://www.facebook.com/statefarm/videos/10152831105701890/

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6. Current Events
Many trending topics are related to what’s happening in the news. A big
game. Political elections. Awards shows. Celebrity gossip. National
holidays. The whole world is paying attention. And sharing their
opinions with hashtags. This is your chance to not just weigh in with
timely, relevant commentary, but to newsjack the story, injecting
yourself into the global conversation in order to be seen by a much
broader audience.

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7. Weather
Small talk can be a big deal on social media. No, really. It’s actually a
great way to break the ice and strike up a dialogue with someone
you’ve met for the first time. Ask them how the weather is in their neck
of the woods. Tell them it’s raining cats and dogs where you live. You
never know where the conversation is going to lead.

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8. Inspiration
People use social media for a number of different reasons – marketing,
sales, networking, entertainment, gossip, news and information, you
name it – but everyone could use a lift now and then. Pump up your
audience with motivational sayings and stories, anything you can think
of that fills them with confidence, boosts their egos, inspires them to
achieve more than they could imagine and helps them to enjoy life to
the fullest.

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9. Selfies
I’m not going to lie. Selfies are kind of a big deal right now. Take them.
Share them. Ask for them. As I’ve written before on ClickZ, “The selfie
has gone from a silly little trend to a mainstream phenomenon,
something almost everyone has embraced." Selfies aren’t going
anywhere soon but onwards and upwards.

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10. Pets
There’s a reason pet ownership in this country has more than tripled
since the 1970s and that more than 60% of U.S. households today
include at least one pet. Dogs, cats, fish and ferrets. Pets are wildly
popular. Employee pets. Customer pets. Ordinary pets. Unusual pets.
Include them in your content stream and you’ll get plenty of likes,
favorites and retweets, never mind all the oohs and aahs.

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How do YOU find common ground
with your audience on social media?

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Free Selfie Stick Question
The first one in the audience to tweet the correct answer to the
following question including the hashtag, #NEDMA15, and all four of
our Twitter handles wins a free selfie stick (winner announced at end of
session today)…
How many celebrities were featured in Ellen’s famous selfie?

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10 Ways to Find Common Ground with Your
Social Media Audience
This presentation is based on an article written by Bob Cargill for ClickZ (www.clickz.com) on July 14, 2015,
which you can find here: http://www.clickz.com/clickz/column/2417531/10-ways-to-find-common-ground-with-
your-social-media-audience

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Bob Cargill
• Director of Social Media at Overdrive Interactive
• 30+ Years or Experience as a Marketing Professional
• The New England Direct Marketing Association’s Direct Marketer of
the Year in 2009
• Over 40 Awards for Copywriting, Creative Direction and Social
Media
• Gold from NEDMA for Blog in 2006
• Gold from NEDMA for Best Tweets in 2010
• Frequent Speaker at Industry Events and Elsewhere
• Past President of the New England Direct Marketing Association
(‘99-’00) and Two Toastmasters Clubs
• Graduate of Leadership MetroWest’s Leadership Academy (‘92)

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Thank you!
Bob Cargill
Director of Social Media
Overdrive Interactive
bcargill@overdriveinteractive.com
617-254-5000
@cargillcreative on Twitter