Social Stream’s founder Jessie Hallett specialises in content creation, designing social strategies to supercharge engagement and growth. Here she talks to BII News about ideas that will put some sparkle into your socials this spring and summer.
Spring is the perfect time for a refresh, and that includes looking at your social media marketing to see whether it’s doing the right job for you.
“Social media is different for everyone and it depends on what you want to get out of it,” explains Jessie, who has worked in hospitality since she was 17, from bar worker to manager.
She went on to use her passion for social media to develop content and strategies for Brewhouse & Kitchen and Tiny Rebel, and now boasts BrewDog among her company’s clients.
“Start by asking yourself if you’re looking to generate more sales or grow a following? The two require different strategies – creating content that makes your brand go viral won’t necessarily fill your pub,” she says.
With most hospitality operators wanting to use social media marketing as a way to get more bums on seats, Jessie suggests:
- Use social media to tap into your community, the people who are local to you all of the time.
- Think about the audience you want to attract, and where they are on social media. If they’re older, it’s going to be Facebook, but if they’re young, TikTok and Instagram.
- Look at your current demographic and also the people you want to attract. Your pub might be popular with older customers mid-week and at lunchtimes, but you might want to attract students on a Friday and Saturday night.
- If you’re going for a new clientele, you’ll need a completely different marketing strategy on the different platforms to serve what are two very different audiences.
“You can have some fun and play around to see what works best. Don’t lose sight of your brand’s ethos, but use a different tone of voice and colours to create new content on another platform,” says Jessie. “Tap into your team, ask the GenZers who will love TikTok and know about all the current trends – it’s how I started.”
Creating social media content can be time-consuming and a lot of work, so if you’ve not got time or a team member who wants to take it on, consider getting training or outsourcing it. Creating the right content matters, as it will help build sales.
CLEVER CONTENT NEEDS TO:
- INSPIRE
- EDUCATE
- ENTERTAIN
“Before posting anything, ask yourself, it is inspiring, educational or entertaining? If it’s not, then don’t post it. Product placements have no place on social media – no one wants to be sold to,” says Jessie.
Some Ideas For Content:
Hook people in
Create a hook to pull people in. A visual hook could be an interesting video of delicious gravy being poured over a lamb shank, or new cocktails being made; an audio hook, is someone saying ‘Oh my god, can you believe it…?’ – which will make people want to listen to find out more; and use a caption to make them curious, for instance, you might ask ‘here’s three things you didn’t know…’.
Focus on Videos
Video lengths are getting longer on social, with three minutes allowed on Instagram. But three minutes is long and isn’t a target, just the maximum. What’s important is the first three seconds. This is when you must capture people’s attention to stop them scrolling – that’s where having a great hook comes in.
Use ChatGPT
Use ChatGPT to give you some ideas for engaging hooks on social media, it will suggest things like, ‘let me tell you a secret’, or ‘here’s a hidden gem’.
Look at what’s trending.
For instance, for the Wimbledon tennis championships, promote your Aperol Spritz or Pimm’s cocktails; or have fun with the latest movie release. Thinking back to the release of the Wicked movie (if you’re looking to appeal to the under-30s) posting on Instagram a pink and a green cocktail on a two-for-one offer and asking if they’re on team Elphaba or Glinda, is a great way to get shares, likes and comments.
Put social media content creation on the rota/weekly plan to make sure that you are posting regularly.
And remember, says Jessie, don’t be scared. Yesterday’s post is a scroll away from being forgotten. “You’re never going to lose out by posting – as long as your posts aren’t offensive. If you’re uploading quality content consistently, you will learn and grow.
“It’s like going to the gym. If you only go once or twice, it’s not going to make any difference. But if you go every day for five years, you’re going to end up ripped. So, if you post four times a week for four years, you will have built up a lovely community,” says Jessie.
What success looks like
It’s easy to feel disheartened, if you only get a few views, comments or likes, so it’s good to know that successful engagement rates are anything above 3% of your following. Use the social platforms’ analytics reports to see what’s working and start to experiment and have fun.
