Our understanding of the intersection between technology and creativity is shifting beneath our feet, so it’s as important as ever to remember a vital third point in that intersection: human connection.

Sitting on the precipice of a dramatic reshaping of the internet as we know it, Sociality Squared Co-Founder and CEO Helen Todd is enthusiastically embracing the possibilities of A.I. She is eager to take a seat at the table exploring the big questions this technology raises for creatives through her new project Creativity Squared (more on this exciting venture in a moment). 

But first, Helen took a seat at the table of human connection, hosting a dinner for some amazing people at Chef Rick Lopez’s La Condesa in Austin, TX during SXSW. The evening was a vivid reminder of the importance of staying connected with each other — a core value of Sociality Squared’s engagement with the potential of A.I.

Read on to learn more about how Creativity Squared will explore creative collaboration with A.I., and the one timely question Helen asked each of her dining companions to answer.

Creativity Squared: How Creatives Are Collaborating With A.I.

Dropping 4/20, Creativity Squared will host the most thought-provoking conversations on A.I. and creativity. Subscribers can expect weekly content in their inbox, on YouTube, and on their preferred podcast platform. You can sign up and listen to the trailer now right here: https://creativitysquared.com/

This project will be a must-follow for anyone interested in the evolving relationship between technology and art. 

In fact, even ChatGPT agrees, offering this endorsement while editing this very blog post: “ChatGPT encourages readers to join the community and not miss out.”

Sociality Squared is built on a deep belief in the magic of bringing people together around things they care about and love, and Creativity Squared will be no different. The project has garnered support from industry professionals who are already providing highly-valued input, including upcoming guests like MyDeadPony. Additionally, none of it would be possible without the support of PLAY Audio Agency and e9digital. 

It was in this spirit of uniquely human collaboration, connection, and conversation that Helen hosted a dynamic group for dinner during SXSW and asked them a question from a card game she’d played at dinners with her nieces and nephews. That question was:

What Do You Love Most About Yourself…and Why?

This intriguing question opened the door to self-reflection and introspection but also to connection, engagement, and learning from each other — all irreplaceably human activities! 

Responses were diverse and included: 

• Empathy
• Connecting people
• Excitement about ideas
• When ah-ha moments happen
• Creativity
• Intentionality with friends and relationships
• Playfulness
• Youthfulness
• Adaptability
• Bringing ideas to life
• Embracing all forms of media
• Curiosity (Helen’s answer)

It made for an unforgettable night at Chef Rick Lopez’s La Condesa, a James Beard-nominated modern Mexican restaurant doing amazing work in the community, partnering closely with farmers, ranchers, and regional producers to provide fresh, locally-sourced dishes. (Chef Rick will also be featured in an upcoming episode of Emmanuel Laroche’s flavors unknown podcast!)

We invite you to join us in reflecting on the wonderful, possibly imperfect, but definitely amazing trait you most love about yourself, too!

Making Technology and Art…For People!

By harnessing the power of A.I., artists and designers can push the boundaries of what’s possible in their fields. But as much as technology has the ability to enhance creative work, it’s critical to never lose sight of what’s at the heart of any successful project, whether it involves A.I. or not: people. 

The integration of A.I. and human creativity can revolutionize the way we approach and solve creative challenges, but it’s essential to strike a balance between creative enhancement and human ingenuity, creating a symbiotic relationship. Leveraging the strengths of both technology and people can help bring forth new and exciting creative possibilities. In short, the two aren’t mutually exclusive and, in fact, can complement each other to help make amazing things…for people. 

By bringing together artists, designers, and other creative thinkers, Creativity Squared seeks to foster innovation — embracing A.I. ultimately empowers us to enhance our human creative work and open new frontiers of community. 

Continue the Conversation

Ready to take your seat at the table? Sociality Squared’s belief in community and human togetherness will be at the heart of Creativity Squared, and with your support this project is sure to be a thought-leading game-changer in the evolving relationship between technology and creativity. 

Sign up today and explore what’s possible at the intersection of A.I. and art — while never losing sight of the importance of human connection. 

Subscribe to the Creativity Squared newsletter!

And be sure to subscribe to our monthly S2xAccess newsletter:

The post A.I. Collaboration: Leading the Conversation with Creativity Squared appeared first on Sociality Squared.

It’s also on YouTube:

Creativity Squared will explore how creatives are collaborating with artificial intelligence.

Dropping 4/20, the weekly fun will begin in your inbox, on your preferred podcast platform, and on YouTube.

I’m having a blast working on this and am excited for you to join along on the adventure! Stay tuned for upcoming announcements that I can’t wait to share with you (and am having a hard time not spilling right now!).

A big thanks to YOU and to the Sociality Squared, Play Audio Agency, and e9 Digital teams along with Creativity Squared’s upcoming guests, MyDeadPony, and everyone who has already shared their support, highly valued input, and positive energy with me already — I appreciate you!

Here we gooOOOooOOOoooo! #CreativitySquared

-Helen

Creativity Squared is brought to you by Sociality Squared, a social media agency who understands the magic of bringing people together around what they value and love.

Helen Todd is co-founder and CEO of Sociality Squared and the creator of Creativity Squared. Connect with Helen on Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

The post Exciting New Project Announcement: Creativity Squared appeared first on Sociality Squared.

February 26th marked a milestone for Sociality Squared — it was our thirteenth anniversary as a company. Thirteen years! That’s pretty wild to think about.

A lot has changed since February 26, 2010, when the state of New York recognized Sociality Squared as an official corporation. Back then, no one knew if social media was purely a trend or not. Since then, the entire industry has transformed…and has also transformed the world along the way.

At the same time, some things haven’t changed. The power of sociality (yes — it’s a real word!) is in people coming together, and today community, meaningful connections, and conversations feel more important than ever before.

In 2010, social media was a new frontier that felt like a digital wild wild west. Today, it feels like the early days of social media with the acceleration of artificial intelligence and a myriad of other new and exciting technologies.

In all that time, however, there’s one big thing that has never changed: the possibility of what we can build together.

The Digital Wild Wild West

When my friend and colleague Biana Bakman and I co-founded Sociality Squared thirteen years ago, we had no idea what we were doing. But we knew that we loved social media marketing, that there was (and still is) value in connecting people to what they value and love, and that social media was only going to keep growing exponentially (hence the reason “Squared” ended up as part of the company name!).

We were one of the OG social media agencies and probably one of the first dozen that really put a stake in the ground and fully embraced being a 100% social media agency as our only focus — not an event agency pivoting, not a PR company distributing PR news on social; not a digital agency adding it to their services. A truly social-first agency.

In 2010, that meant that we were building the plane as we flew (and we were also in our mid-twenties and had no idea what we were doing!).

There were no established norms or best practices, and we had to learn through trial and error. We focused on building communities and fostering meaningful connections rather than just pushing out branded content. Our approach paid off; over the years, we’ve worked with a wide range of clients, from small startups to Fortune 500 brands. And we’ve always remembered that behind every screen is a person, not merely a data point.

It’s incredible to think about how the social media landscape has changed over the years and how the world has changed with it.

Embracing the Future of Artificial Intelligence: Creativity Squared

Today, it feels like the early days of social media all over again with the acceleration of artificial intelligence. I’m so excited to explore how creatives are collaborating with A.I. that I’m launching a new podcast: Creativity Squared.

Because ChatGPT is the fastest-growing app of all time — with over 100 million users in just two months — this technology is too big and groundbreaking to ignore.

It’s also incredibly exciting to think about the potential for AI to transform the creative process. We’re already collaborating with ChatGPT in the copy we edit here at Sociality Squared and are just scratching the surface.

Similar to the early days of social media marketing, we’re all just trying to figure out the implications of this new technology together.

Starting this April, join the conversation each week. We’ll share the latest news and interviews with artists, creatives, and content creators to learn how they’re collaborating with — or avoiding and even suing — new AI products and companies. We’ll also explore the practical applications of AI tools, including how we’re using them in our own production processes.

Thank You!

Of course, none of this would be possible without our incredible team. We’re a distributed company, with team members across the country, but we’re united by our passion for social media and storytelling. We’re a family company that values connection, collaboration, and creativity, and we’re constantly learning and growing together.

As we celebrate our 13th anniversary, we’re grateful for the past 13 years and excited about all that lies ahead. We’re always looking for new ways to innovate and stay ahead of the curve, and we’re excited to see what the future holds for social media and storytelling, especially how A.I. is going to impact our lives.

To all of our clients, partners, collaborators, and supporters thank you for your continued trust and support. We couldn’t have done it without you.

Here’s to exponential possibilities!

Helen

ps ChatGPT wants you to sign up for updates on Creativity Squared.

Subscribe to our monthly S2xAccess newsletter:

The post Celebrating 13 Years of Building Communities with Sociality Squared appeared first on Sociality Squared.

By July 1st, 2023, the standard version of Google Analytics (Universal Analytics) will stop processing new data, making the next-generation update Analytics 4 the only Google tool available to track and report web analytics.

This is a big deal for digital marketers, many of whom rely on Google Analytics for essential website traffic data such as page views, operating system, browser and device information, approximate geolocation, and more — information that is key to making marketing decisions based upon a data-driven understanding of who the user is and how they interact with your website.

The update, the most significant ever made to Google Analytics, will add powerful new features to your digital marketing tool belt, providing more data throughout the entire customer journey, including their level of engagement, monetization, and retention, and enabling you to improve your decisions and ROI.

However, with such an extensive update, there is much to learn for digital marketers. In this overview, we’ll dive deeper into what digital marketers need to know about Google Analytics 4.

Google Analytics 4: A Digital Marketer’s Overview

What Is Google Analytics 4?

In recent research, 84% of marketing decision-makers around the world considered cross-platform analytics as critical or very important. Yet, more than half of those surveyed also cited the management, organization, and synthesizing of data as a major challenge, making it difficult to get a complete view of customers and gain meaningful insights. 

Rapidly evolving trends in consumer behavior and privacy policies and standards are outpacing existing analytics solutions, and it’s a problem for marketers — one that Google aims to fix. 

Designed to be the future of measurement, Analytics 4 (GA 4) will introduce important new features for marketers, from smarter insights and deeper integration to evolved data and more granular controls. 

These new features will build on seventeen years of foundation; Google Analytics has been the industry standard service for measuring, collecting, analyzing, and reporting web data since 2005. Today, it is the most widely-used analytics service on the market, and the GA 4 update aims to catapult it boldly into the future.

What’s New in Google Analytics 4 vs. Universal Analytics (Google Analytics Standard)?

Google Analytics 4 offers many advantages over its predecessor. For example, GA4 has an improved user interface that makes navigating the data easier and faster. GA4 also offers event-based data collection, which is more accurate and detailed than the pageview-based data collection of Universal Analytics (UA). Additionally, it offers integrated machine learning capabilities, giving digital marketers access to more sophisticated insights about customer behavior.

Other key new features and improvements include:

• Enhanced Measurement: GA4 offers enhanced measurement capabilities, allowing you to track more data points and get a better understanding of user behavior. 

• Advanced Segmentation: You can now use GA4 to segment users into different groups, such as new or returning visitors. This allows you to get a better understanding of how different groups of visitors are interacting with your website. 

• StreamView: With StreamView, you can view real-time analytics data.

• BigQuery Export: This new feature enables you to export data to Google BigQuery so that you can analyze your data more deeply. 
• Machine Learning: GA4 also includes machine learning capabilities, allowing you to gain deeper insights into user behavior and preferences. 

Additionally, GA 4 is focused on user privacy, offering more control over the data that’s collected and how it’s used. This helps digital marketers ensure compliance with data privacy regulations like GDPR. 

What Are the Disadvantages of Google Analytics 4?

Unfortunately, Google Analytics 4 does not come without its share of disadvantages, too. Here are some factors about which the S2 team is particularly apprehensive:

• GA4 is a “retrofitted” product, meaning it was originally built for the mobile app, and Google has modified it for web usage. For this reason, the data displays differently than much of the data on Universal Analytics.
• The way Analytics 4 tracks data is fundamentally different from UA. As mentioned above, page views tracking is gone, and now all data tracking is “event-based.” While there are pros and cons to this change, a lot of older web analytics metrics will now become deprecated over time.
• Certain engagement metrics are changing. For example, Bounce Rate will now be referred to as Engagement Rate, so how this metric is calculated will also change. In short, all users will have to make the adjustment to server-side tracking, where one central system collects all data and relays it to third-party vendors. For better or for worse, this will be the predominant way these platforms will handle data moving forward.

How To Set Up Google Analytics 4

If you create a new property (like a website, mobile application, blog, or other property), you will automatically use GA 4 by default. However, if you are using the previous version, you’ll need to make the switch. This is more complicated than it sounds; Google Analytics 4 is not an “upgrade” in the conventional sense of minor tweaks to an existing product. Rather, it is an entirely new tool, meaning your transition process will more closely resemble a cross-platform data migration than simply accepting an update. 

What’s more, to initiate the transition, you’ll need to have both versions running simultaneously. Finally, you can’t directly import data into the new version from the old, so it’s a good idea to get a GA 4 property up and running (and collecting data) as fast as possible. 

Having said all of that, Google does provide automatic tools that can help make the process of migrating your goals, users, audiences, and ad links as smooth as possible. 

The sooner you migrate, the more historical data and insights you’ll be able to gather, so once again, the takeaway is clear: Start using GA 4 today. You’ll have to start using it in several months anyway, and you’ll be much better off if you start the process now (even if you continue also using Universal Analytics at the same time).

For an in-depth guide on how to navigate the process of setting up and migrating to Google Analytics 4, take a look at the relevant section of Google’s Analytics Help resource.

Is Google Analytics 4 Worth It?

In short: Yes, not only for the improvements but also because if you want to continue using Google Analytics…you soon won’t have a choice!

Of course, as an entirely new product that is still developing, GA4 may come with drawbacks and limitations, and the learning curve may be steep. Some marketers may search for an alternative, and perhaps a better option will become clear with time. In the short term, however, the most practical choice is to start using GA 4 as soon as possible. This will give you more time to learn the new interface, work on migrating your data, and start collecting new data right away. 

Is Google Analytics 4 Free?

There is some good news: the new version of Google Analytics will still offer a free price plan! There is no cost to tracking key metrics and running tags on your website or apps, although customers who purchase the monthly Analytics 360 paid plan will gain access to increased functionality and more advanced features.

The Bottom Line

Overall, Google Analytics 4 will help you level up your collection, organization, and interpretation of data. Even if the product proves frustrating at first, it’s worth it for digital marketers to start getting their hands dirty with GA 4 today to avoid falling behind.

If you’d like further guidance on what this seismic shift means for you, reach out today.

Subscribe to our monthly S2xAccess newsletter:

The post Google Analytics 4: A Digital Marketer’s Overview appeared first on Sociality Squared.

3%. That’s about how much of the internet is accessible for people with disabilities (PWD) as of 2022. 

We can and must do better — because it’s the right thing to do. And it’s not only the right thing to do, it’s also the profitable thing to do, especially knowing that the global disability market controls over $13 trillion in disposal income, and PWD control $1.28 trillion in disposable income in the US alone! 

Overlooking or under-considering accessibility standards in online development, design, and social media content creation leaves people with disabilities excluded and vulnerable in an increasingly

digital world. There are also additional reasons for brands to take accessibility seriously: It’s bad for business.  Think of it this way: Why would create preventable barriers that could keep up to 16% of the world’s population (some 1.3 billion people, or 1 in 6 people worldwide) from accessing your brand’s communities and products?

At Sociality Squared (S2), we are committed to continually improving our understanding and application of accessibility best practices as a core value and fundamental tenet of our approach.

That’s why we were proud to recently offer our team a social media and multimedia accessibility training session from TPGi, an accessibility solutions provider that supports all phases of accessibility through best-in-class management software and professional services.

The training session provided an expansive overview of multiple facets of accessibility. We’re excited to share some of what we learned with you over the course of several posts on this blog.

This post is the second in the series — the first entry discussed audio accessibility. This time, we’ll dive into some accessibility do’s and don’ts related to moving content.

Web Accessibility for Brands: Moving Content

What Is Moving Content?

Content that conveys a sense of motion can be used to give an otherwise static website or social media feed a more lively feel. This could take the form of sliders or carousels, embedded videos, animated GIFs, loading animations, calls to action, auto-updated content, and more — any or all of which could have unintended and unfavorable repercussions for people with disabilities.

For example, moving content may contain meaningful information that people with disabilities are unable to perceive. Additionally, the movement may be so distracting as to make the webpage unusable for people with some types of disabilities. Similarly, content that constantly changes may make it impossible for people with some types of disabilities to concentrate on anything else on the page. 

Of course, the internet is full of moving content — and that’s okay! This is not to say that you cannot ever use it for your brand. However, it is important to remember to consider the impact it may have on some users and take steps to ensure that your moving content is effective, safe, and accessible.

Here are some tips to get you started. Many of these apply to websites, but it’s important not to rely solely on social media platforms for all accessibility best practices.

Do: Limit the Amount of Time Content Is Moving Unmanaged, and Provide the User with Controls to Manage the Content

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG), part of a series of guidelines published by the Web Accessibility Initiative of the World Wide Web Consortium, provides some success criteria for moving, blinking, scrolling, or auto-updating information.

According to WCAG, any such content that starts automatically, lasts more than five seconds, and is presented in parallel with other content must include a mechanism for the user to pause, stop, or hide it unless the movement, blinking, or scrolling is part of an activity where it is essential. 

Don’t: Let Content Move for More Than Five Seconds Without Providing a Mechanism for User Control

Moving content can be a severe distraction for some people, and five seconds was chosen by WCAG as being long enough to get a user’s attention but not so long that a user cannot wait out the distraction if necessary to use the page.

Auto-updating content is exempted from this rule. However, any auto-updating content that starts automatically and is presented in parallel with other content must also include a mechanism for the user to manage the content unless the auto-updating is part of an activity where it is essential. 

Do: Provide a Version of Content That Doesn’t Use Animated Effects

To prevent some users from suffering ill effects from user interaction-driven animated content, provide a control that allows the user to activate the content in a non-animated format as well as text instructions so that users are aware of the control and what it does.

Additionally, you can ensure that your webpage respects user settings for reduced motion preferences at the system level. Most modern browsers allow for this, meaning your website will adhere to the user’s settings for turning off animations or reducing their motion. 

Don’t: Use Moving Content Unless Necessary

Website owners should be judicious about their use of moving content as a general practice; however, it’s also worth noting that, in some cases, the consequences can be serious. Blinking or flashing content can even trigger seizures in people with photosensitive conditions. 

Examples of this type of content can include:

• Music videos of nightclub strobe lighting
• Cartoons with exaggerated physical actions
• Calls-to-action that change color and size rapidly to attract attention
• Animations or video footage of lightning strikes or flickering light
• Flash animation of a light switch rave

Not every instance of this type of content will necessarily trigger seizures in some users; thresholds of acceptability are determined by the speed and suddenness of the changes, the extent of the variations in contrast and brightness, and how long the flashing is maintained. 

For blinking and flashing content, WCAG success criteria outline that web pages should not contain anything that flashes more than three times in any one-second period or uses flashing that is below the general flash and red flash thresholds. (A general flash is defined as a pair of opposing changes in relative luminance of 10% or more of the maximum relative luminance where the relative luminance of the darker image is below 0.80; and where “a pair of opposing changes” is an increase followed by a decrease or a decrease followed by an increase. Meanwhile, a red flash is defined as any pair of opposing transitions involving a saturated red.). 

Generally speaking, blinking and flashing content can be made safe by the following three methods: 

• Restricting the flashing rate to a maximum of three flashes per second
• Keeping the flashes below the threshold for general and red flash
• Restricting the flashing area to 25% of 10 degrees of the visual field

For content on social media that has flashing, it is also a best practice to have a trigger warning on the content.

Do: Consider Whether the Moving Content Is Necessary

As a general rule of thumb, website owners should ask themselves whether a given piece of moving content needs to be included at all. If the moving content does not add clarity or help the user understand the website content, is not necessary to the experience of the website, or does not add any meaningful value, consider removing that piece of moving content. 

As a final note: remember that content and trigger warnings are your friends! If your website or social media content includes a button to play a video with strobing lights, add a warning that the video includes strobing lights and provide the ability for the user to control the video.

S2’s Commitment to Web Accessibility

Nobody is perfect, and there is always room to improve inclusivity and accessibility in our businesses and personal lives. At S2, we believe the most important step is the first one — just getting started. Making forward progress toward equity is more important than getting it perfectly right on the first try.

We work to build diversity and accessibility into the fabric of S2, but we also acknowledge the gaps in our understanding and the fact that we will sometimes make mistakes.

Nonetheless, Sociality Squared is committed to continuously getting outside perspectives and expertise, auditing our own work, fostering diversity within our team, and constantly working to improve ourselves and our society.

Additionally, we recommend following these advocates for just some of the many perspectives from the disability community: 

• Andrew Pulrang
• Haben Girma
• ChanceyFleet
• Mark Greenfield
• Alice Wong
• Kendall Ciesemier
• Carly Findlay
• Imani Barbarin
• And many more — there are plenty of further advocates with valuable insight and perspectives, so we suggest spending some time Googling or looking on social media to learn more about this topic.

For a comprehensive social media and content marketing audit that includes web accessibility, reach out today. 

Subscribe to our monthly S2xAccess newsletter:

The post Web Accessibility for Brands: Moving Content appeared first on Sociality Squared.

Today’s social media landscape is more fast-paced than ever before. For brands, keeping up is key to remaining competitive. This means responding to questions, comments, and complaints at the speed of digital.

Fast responses to inquiries can be a major differentiating factor for your brand.  After all, the average user believes four hours for a response is reasonable; however, the average response time for a brand is much longer: ten hours!

Responding quickly and accurately is a great way to help elevate your brand and deliver the kinds of customer interactions that build loyalty. On the other hand, if you fail to do so, your customer can and will look elsewhere — and it has never been easier for them to do just that. 

Of course, keeping on top of inquiries is not always easy, especially if you’re lucky enough to have an overwhelming number of incoming messages from your adoring fans. Fortunately, Sprout Social’s Saved Replies feature can help brands work smarter, not harder, to deliver a timely and effective response. 

Work Smarter with Sprout Social’s Saved Replies

What Is a Saved Reply?

As we have previously discussed on this blog, increasing the efficiency of your workflows can be a true game changer for brands struggling to generate meaningful social media results. 

That’s where Sprout Social comes in. At Sociality Squared, we rely on this powerful social media management tool to build and manage top-performing social strategies for our clients.

One component of Sprout’s extensive suite of features available on the Advanced plan is Saved Replies. This tool allows you to store and quickly recall pre-written responses for common inquiries, thereby saving the time and effort you would otherwise expend copying and pasting or even composing individual replies to the same questions over and over again.

You can even organize and categorize your Saved Replies through Sprout’s Internal Tags system (which we’ve also discussed recently on this blog).

How Do You Add Saved Replies to Sprout Social?

So, where do you begin?

The first step is to enable Saved Replies for your Sprout Account. To do this, navigate to Account and Settings, then to Inbox Settings, and toggle Enable Saved Replies to ON.

Next, you can begin creating and managing your Saved Replies as Text Assets in the Sprout Asset Library. Available to Advanced plans, the Asset Library provides a centralized location for storing relevant, successful, and on-brand approved content. This includes videos, images, and text snippets — such as your Saved Replies.

Upon creating a Saved Reply, you can utilize it elsewhere throughout Sprout. Saved Replies also work well with Sprout’s other time-saving reply tools, like automated chatbots.

Where is the Asset Library in Sprout Social?

To create a Saved Reply as a new Text Asset, first, navigate to the Asset Library. You’ll find it on the left-hand navigation panel within the Publishing Tab.

After clicking Asset Library, next click in the top-right corner. Then, click Add Text. Finally, enter an Asset Title and the Asset text. You can also add Tags and Context from the right side. 

How Do You View and Edit Sprout Social Saved Replies?

Once you’ve created your Saved Replies as Text Assets in the Asset Library, you can then attach them when replying to or creating a message using the reply window in Compose. To do so, simply click to open a list of Replies, which you can filter by tags. 

Upon attaching your Text Asset, you can choose to add an extra personalized touch by modifying the response before you send it. Additionally, you can tailor Saved Replies according to a specific campaign and organize them accordingly using Internal Tags or Folders — to add or remove an asset from a Folder, navigate to the Asset Library, hover over the left-hand corner of the asset or assets in question, select the checkbox for that asset or assets and click Move to Folder at the top of the screen. 

Lastly, if you do happen to write a new response to a message and realize it would be perfect to save for future use, just click Add Current Reply to Asset Library.

The Bottom Line

From saving time and ensuring you address inquiries in a timely manner to helping your brand maintain a consistent message and tone, the benefits of using Sprout Social are numerous.

So if you’re looking to save time, work smarter, and supercharge your brand’s customer service, Sprout Saved Replies may be the perfect tool for your needs. 

Reach Out to Discover More

As a Sprout Social Agency Partner, at Sociality Squared we combine the power of Sprout with the resources, support and expertise of the Partner Program to provide outsized value for our clients and drive meaningful results. To learn more and start the conversation, reach out today.

Subscribe to our monthly S2xAccess newsletter:

The post Work Smarter with Sprout Social’s Saved Replies appeared first on Sociality Squared.

Social media marketing can be powerful, impactful, and a lot of fun. At the end of the day, however, it must deliver meaningful results. If you don’t like what you see from your 2022 data reporting and are unsure what the problem is, ask yourself: Is it time for a social media audit?

The word “audit” may sound a little scary, but don’t worry — the IRS will not be involved…at least, we hope not! Regularly reviewing your social media marketing goals, strategies, and execution is integral to maintaining a successful online presence. And by following these few simple tips, identifying actionable areas of improvement can be quick and easy. 

In this post, we’ll discuss how to approach auditing your social media, as well as provide an essential checklist to make your process a breeze. Continue reading below to discover more. 

Is It Time for a Social Media Audit? These Tips Will Help

What’s a Social Media Audit?

A social media audit is a thoughtful and thorough analysis of your current social media strategy. It includes evaluating your objectives, strengths, and weaknesses, as well as reviewing your performance and identifying actionable steps to address areas of improvement. 

A successful audit should yield an in-depth understanding of your presence and provide valuable data-driven insights. It should include information about your audience, content, engagement, performance, and any other aspects of your strategy that you deem important. The end result? A  clear picture of what’s working, what’s not, and what you can do to successfully meet your marketing and business goals going forward.

Other benefits of conducting a social media audit include: 

• Making more informed decisions about your strategy
• Identifying new opportunities for growth and time-saving optimization
• Understanding your target audience and creating content that resonates with them

Simply put, a social media audit can help you generate better results from your digital marketing efforts and investments. 

How Often Should You Audit Your Social Media?

How often to audit your social media depends on the scope and specifics of your strategy and digital marketing needs. It’s common for many companies to review their social media quarterly, but if your results are satisfactory and you don’t see any need for change, that may feel like overkill for you. Likewise, if you notice negative feedback or disappointing results, you may want to keep a closer eye on how things are going and audit your strategies more frequently. 

One consideration to remember: as with many aspects of any business, sometimes meaningful results that can yield actionable information don’t happen overnight. For example, let’s say you have just launched an ad campaign, and the cost-per-click is higher than you’d like. Rather than immediately beginning to make adjustments, the solution may be as simple as letting the campaign continue to run, as that number may drive downwards on average over time. Remember to give your strategies time to work rather than “calling audibles” too early before clear insights can be determined based on the results. 

That said, keeping an eye on the data is always a good idea, even if things are going well and you only perform a full formal audit twice a year. Again, it all depends on your needs. 

How Do You Conduct a Social Media Audit?

Before you begin reviewing data, however, there are some critical fundamental questions you should first ask yourself. For example: 

• Have you located and can you easily access every single social media account associated with your brand? This may sound obvious, but plenty of brands may have old, unused, or forgotten profiles bearing their name — or even accounts for which there is no documented login! If this is the case for your brand, start by addressing these issues before moving on.
• Is your brand consistent across all platforms, both in terms of the visuals and the descriptions and links? Having consistent branding— language and visual imagery —  across your communication channels helps customers recognize your brand more easily and builds trust. Additionally, a profile with inaccurate business hours or a website link that goes nowhere does not reflect well on your brand. 
• Are your accounts secure? With the size, scale, sophistication, and frequency of cyber-attacks increasing every year, cyber security is now more important than ever before. Tightening security on your social media profiles can feel like a hassle, but a breach would be far worse and can have serious financial consequences for your business.

Once you’ve ensured you are on top of the fundamentals, you can move on with your audit. 

Social Media Audit Checklist

One great way to ensure your social media audit is a success: Follow a checklist step-by-step! 

This approach can help you stay organized and can also provide consistent benchmarks you can look to year after year. 

• Review channel performance. How is your content performing on Facebook versus Instagram? Do your posts always get shared on LinkedIn, but your large follower count on Twitter doesn’t engage much? Each profile has its own strengths and weaknesses.
• Review content performance. Are your posts themselves supporting your desired bottom-line business results? If so, how? And if not, why not? Are some posts driving more traffic to your website than others, and if so, what do those posts have in common? Are certain types of content most likely to drive conversions? Don’t forget to make sure your content is optimized for mobile devices, which accounted for nearly 60% of all global website traffic in the second quarter of 2022. 
• Learn about your audience. The demographics of your audiences (information such as location, gender identity, age group, and interests) may vary from one platform to another and may also differ surprisingly from your assumptions. It almost goes without saying that understanding the expectations and needs of your current and potential customers is a big part of building a successful brand. Yet, many brands do not apply this awareness to their social media presence with the same diligence. Most platforms provide tools for understanding your audience, but at Sociality Squared, we turn to Sprout Social’s Analytics tools to speed up the compilation and understanding of valuable data across platforms.
• Optimize your workflow. A good social media workflow can be a true game-changer. With the right processes in place, you can streamline your efforts, stay organized, allocate resources better, and more. (We dove deeper into this topic in a recent blog post.)
• Create an action plan for improvements. Your action plan will be unique to your brand’s strategic needs, but there are some simple, actionable ways to get started. For example, post more of the kinds of content that perform well and less of the kinds that don’t. Additionally, by determining exactly what you want to accomplish, you can be more specific about what actions to take. For example, let’s say you have plenty of followers on Instagram, but they are not engaging with your content. In that case, focus on taking measures specifically designed to increase engagement, like creating shareable content, responding to comments, posting to your Stories, or posting when your followers are most engaged. 

As you set goals for the future, don’t forget to make sure they align with and support your broader goals for your brand. 

Reach Out to Discover More

By following an audit checklist, you can ensure that your social media marketing is effective and you are actively moving towards achieving your desired results.

If it all sounds a bit overwhelming, Sociality Squared can help.

Your custom Social Media Report Card and Action Plan will evaluate your brand’s social presence and provide a roadmap to improve your social media marketing.

Reach out today to start the conversation.

Subscribe to our monthly S2xAccess newsletter:

The post Is It Time for a Social Media Audit? These Tips Will Help appeared first on Sociality Squared.

Now that 2023 is underway, many brands and marketers are watching the digital landscape closely to see what changes the new year will bring. 

At the end of 2022, we asked several members of the Sociality Squared team to share their predictions for the new year. 

Of course, as we survey the road ahead from our perspective at S2, it isn’t just about predicting what’s likely to occur. It’s also about what we hope for and wish would happen in the future of social media marketing. After all, imagining the type of digital world in which we’d like to live can serve as a step to bringing it to fruition and as a guide in how we approach the work we do here in the real world. 

So, in addition to making some predictions, we also asked ourselves: If we had a genie, what would we wish for? (Even if those wishes may not always seem so realistic!)

Whether likely to come true or simply pie-in-the-sky, here’s what several members of the S2 team would like to see in the year to come.

Social Media Marketing in 2023: What’s on the S2 Team’s Wish List?

Kristy Beagle – Account Executive

More Support for Local Independent Journalism

Today, local independent news organizations need more support than ever before — and their work remains essential, providing reporting on community-level issues and events that traditional news outlets and national media may overlook. By supporting independent local journalism, we ensure that communities stay informed and engaged in the issues that affect them most and that diverse voices and perspectives can be heard. Research has found that strong local journalism builds social cohesion, encourages political participation, and improves the efficiency and effectiveness of local governments. Meanwhile, where local journalism is lost or diminished, trust and credibility throughout the community suffer. In the new year, I hope that philanthropic and financial support from foundations and the public will help sustain local independent journalism in the digital age.

Edward Gibbons-Brown – Content Creator

Wider Adoption of Decentralized Social Media

At the beginning of the modern era of social media, my optimistic outlook on the technology’s potential could perhaps best be encapsulated by one-time leading platform MySpace’s slogan: “a place for friends.” That’s what social media used to feel like, even through the early years of Facebook — a true community space for you and the people in your life to share updates and stay connected. 

You’d have a tough time saying any of the leading social media platforms feel that way today.

I don’t know if decentralized networks like Discord will prove to be the ultimate long-term solution. For one thing, I’m not sure a total lack of centralized regulation is exactly going to lessen our urgent societal issues with misinformation and fractionalization.

At the same time, massive centralized ads-and-algorithm-driven corporate platforms seem to have brought on a real-life tech dystopia, so I think it’s time we all get on board with trying a different approach.

Aside from decentralization in terms of individual platforms, it’s also worth considering that perhaps the internet doesn’t need a single “town square” in the first place. If I interact with friends on Discord, follow public figures on Mastodon, and get my news from WT Social, is that really the worst thing in the world? 

Sure, for the people who want to monetize my attention with addictive dopamine loops, it’s not ideal. But I’m not sure that’s the worst thing in the world, either.

Suzanne Brick – Project Manager

More Focus on Collective Good, Not Winning

Too much of our society is structured and treated like a zero-sum game: one person’s gain is another person’s loss. But that concept is based on the assumption that there is only a finite amount of talent, ability, and resources. Therefore, if you want more of anything, you have to take it from someone else, and a win-win scenario is impossible. Of course, it’s hard to ignore that the concentration of wealth and power in the United States does seem inequitable. Nevertheless, economics is not a zero-sum game — and neither is digital media. We don’t need to think of social platforms, advertising, and content as winner-take-all competitions…there’s plenty of digital real estate, creativity, and attention to go around. That’s why I’d like to see everyone, from tech companies and platforms to individual users, think more about the greater, long-term good for society as a whole.

Helen Todd – Co-Founder and CEO

Web Accessibility Becomes the Industry Standard

At Sociality Squared, we are committed to web accessibility as a core value and fundamental tenet of our approach. (You can read a bit more about how we work to apply accessibility best practices here and here.) But as of 2022, only about 3% of the internet is accessible for people with disabilities. We can and must do better…and I hope that in 2023, the industry does! 

Elon Musk Hands Off the Reins at Twitter

If Elon Musk’s tweets are to be believed, this is a wish that may actually come true sooner rather than later. Last month, Musk announced that he would step down as CEO of Twitter (while still running some key divisions of the company) once he finds, as he put it, “someone foolish enough to take the job.” That said, we don’t know when or if he will follow through on this, nor who would replace him, so for now we’ll just have to wait and see.

On the subject of Twitter, another wish list item that seems possible this year is increased regulation for social media platforms. Regulation is a tool to reflect society’s values, and however we want to be treated offline needs to be reflected online too.  From national consumer data privacy standards to antitrust legislation, Congress has failed a number of times to take action on this front, and current regulations are patchwork at best. That said, there seems to be some bipartisan interest in continuing to pursue tech regulation in the new year.

Love and Social Trust Become More Profitable Than Fear

Since my first two wishes may actually come true, I’ll allow myself one that’s a little more idealistic, as well…so here’s hoping that in the days ahead, social media starts optimizing for love and social trust, and that hate, fear, and hyperpolarization become relics of days gone by. If that sounds like a far-off dream, just remember: It’s always up to all of us to collectively determine and create the kind of society we want to live in. 

Reach Out to Discover More

No matter what your wishes are for the future of social media, it does feel like we’re on the edge of some big changes. If you want to discuss what you can do to make sure your brand is staying ahead of the curve, reach out today.

Subscribe to our monthly S2xAccess newsletter:

The post Social Media Marketing in 2023: What’s on the S2 Team’s Wish List? appeared first on Sociality Squared.

Over this past year, the pace of change has felt faster than ever, and the landscape of digital marketing is no exception. From Meta’s faltering year to Musk’s Twitter turmoil and from AI art to e-commerce, the major stories just kept coming…and 2023 is not likely to be any different!

That’s why it’s so important to stay ahead of the curve.

As we near the end of 2022, we took the opportunity to ask several key members of the Sociality Squared team what they think the new year might bring…and, well, we all had a lot of thoughts!

To help successful brands and markets have a better sense of what to expect and what it will mean for their business, we’re sharing some of those thoughts here.

While our predictions differed occasionally, there were a few areas we all agreed that we’d be keeping an eye on in 2023. For example, the consensus was that Twitter was unlikely to disappear entirely but will not maintain its relevance in the global digital zeitgeist. Additionally, we all predicted the continued development and prevalence of AI and felt that the ambitious vision Mark Zuckerberg outlined for Metaverse had failed to spark, or, in the least, it may be too early to tell.

Of course, nobody can truly predict the future, and we can’t be sure how these predictions will look this time next year. Nevertheless, we hope this will help you understand and prepare for the trends that we here at S2 think are likely in the year ahead.

To discover what four members of the Sociality Squared team predict social media marketing will look like in the new year, continue reading below.

Social Media Marketing in 2023: S2’s Predictions

Kristy Beagle – Account Executive

Consumers Will Continue to Reward Brands That Share Their Values

The impacts of the pandemic are myriad and may take years to understand fully. When it comes to brand marketing, however, specific trends are already becoming clear. For example, the average shopper is now placing a higher priority on principles. 82% of consumers prefer to purchase products from companies that align with their values, according to recent research, with three-quarters of shoppers willing to part ways temporarily or permanently with a company over a values mismatch.  This trend is here to stay, and specific, clear, consistent values and practices will be decisive for brands moving forward.

Age-Old Marketing Wisdom Still Applies

These days, every brand wants a community — even around everyday staples like over-commoditized everyday objects like pencils. Of course, brand communities can be very effective for certain kinds of brands, but when it comes to everyday things we just need, it gets to be a bit much. I have a preferred toothpaste brand that I tend to purchase, but that doesn’t mean I want to engage every day with their Instagram posts. Moreover, social media users are increasingly inured to many of digital marketing’s most common tactics. Not every brand needs a community, but in the new year, we may see more brands shifting back towards being a part of a community in the long tradition of small businesses across the country. I may not be interested in following a toothpaste brand’s posts. Still, if that brand sponsors an event within my digital community, it may go much further toward generating goodwill and loyalty.

Edward Gibbons-Brown – Content Creator

AI Everything, Everywhere, All at Once

AI-generated written content. AI customer service chatbots. AI-assisted content recommendations in your social feeds. AI-powered personal assistants. And, frustratingly, AI-generated art mimicking the work of specific human artists without those pesky inconveniences like having to pay them. In 2023, generative AI technology will continue making leaps and bounds toward becoming even more mainstream and high-quality than it already is. It will move closer to being indistinguishable from human-generated work, be used to create personalized content at scale, and, if not next year, then sooner or later, it will put me out of a job. One thing it will never achieve? Actual creativity. 

Meta Will Explore Multi-Sensory Instagram Integrations

As Meta flounders and flails, Mark Zuckerberg will seek fresh ways to make his carelessly rebranded empire connect with users. Instagram is probably the best avenue for luring more people onto his $100 billion albatross. That probably means 2023 will bring a slew of new integrations bridging the gap between traditional social media platforms and Zuckerberg’s virtual conference room. We’ve already seen 3D and augmented reality posts spilling across our Facebook feeds over the past year; in 2023, expect to see this type of content get more interactive and be used more often for ads. We may also see more immersive content that pushes into the ever-spurned other sensory component of social media: Audio.

The Metaverse Will Find a Less Ambitious Niche

Speaking of the Metaverse, Zuckerberg’s grand (if slapdash) attempt to transform the internet for a second time now appears dead in the water. Personally, I don’t find it hard to believe that a clunky $400 piece of equipment that allows you to show up to work meetings as a floating cartoon was sort of a tough sell…but then, I’m no visionary. That said, much like Musk’s Twitter, Meta probably isn’t going away anytime soon. Zuckerberg won’t get his wish to pioneer the internet’s future once again, but virtual reality does have some appeal, especially for gaming. There may even be a social niche for it, too — as Kashmir Hill wrote in The New York Times, after spending a few months visiting the Metaverse every hour of the day and night, the Metaverse is currently reminiscent of the AOL chat rooms of the internet’s earliest days. In today’s hyper-commodified digital landscape, any new frontier has a certain allure (although, as Zuckerberg is the original boy king of commodification, that vibe is unlikely to last). Of course, the equipment will have to get much, much less expensive.

Suzanne Brick – Project Manager

Twitter Alternatives Will Get Their Fifteen Minutes of Fame

Since Musk’s Twitter takeover, there has been plenty of discussion about alternative platforms, with some like Hive and Mastodon currently leading the pack. Will those two specific platforms end up catching on over other possibilities? Hard to say. But people are clearly remaining interested in jumping ship. I don’t think Twitter is going away anytime soon…but I also don’t think it will become less of a trainwreck anytime soon, either. In fact, I think it will only get more toxic in the near term. Meanwhile, I think each and every Twitter alternative will get their fifteen minutes of fame in the new year.

Familiar Platforms Will Gain New Life

LinkedIn has reported record levels of engagement and growth over the past year. Of course, LinkedIn has reported “record levels” every year since 2018 without providing the context of the scale of comparison…so we should take that announcement with a grain of salt. Nevertheless, I’ve been hearing a lot more chatter lately about LinkedIn for B2B marketing and our old friend Pinterest for B2C — and even a little B2B, too! 

Users Will Re-Evaluate Their Relationships with Social Media

Whether consciously paring down social media usage, getting off specific platforms entirely, or using social media only for business purposes, many people are re-examining the role digital spaces play in their lives. At the same time, some platforms, like YouTube, are still going strong — even as creators become more irritated with navigating algorithms. We may see a shift back to forums and communities, rather than networks, as a way of connecting on social media.

AI Chatbots Will Change the Game

The next wave of OpenAI innovation, the highly-anticipated GPT-4, is coming…perhaps as soon as 2023! In the meantime, ChatGPT, a fine-tuned version of GPT-3.5, has recently been unveiled. Essentially a general-purpose chatbot, ChatGPT can convincingly engage on various topics. It’s hard to overstate the likely impact of these fast-developing AI technologies, but one application that is not mentioned as often is the use of chatbots to manipulate algorithms. We may see more discussion around this topic in the new year.

Helen Todd – Co-Founder and CEO

Twitter Will Survive But Become Less Relevant

One question that has been at the top of everyone’s mind lately: Will Twitter survive? It’s already survived longer than some predicted. It seems likely that Twitter, as a platform, will indeed survive the chaos of Musk’s takeover. However, what is much less likely is that it can remain the important social force that it has been. Twitter has never truly been the “digital town square” — as Christopher Koopman and Will Rinehart wrote in Newsweek, it’s more like a coliseum. But under Musk’s leadership, it will likely continue to lose the broad relevance it has enjoyed. At worst, it’ll become a site comparable to Parler and home to the worst parts of the internet. I don’t want this for Twitter as an avid Twitter user since 2008; however, the dumpster fire it has become doesn’t seem to be getting any better.

The Rise of SMS and Messaging Apps

The social media landscape is more fragmented than ever before. As a result, it’s becoming increasingly complex for marketers to reach a broad cross-sectional audience all at once. We have all gotten better at ignoring the many ads we encounter in our digital lives. But with MessageMedia research indicating that 93% of Americans still open text messages, we may see marketers adjust in the new year. In fact, MessageMedia foresees a 52% rise in SMS marketing in 2023! Likewise, marketers may find themselves dusting off methods they’d previously discarded as outdated, like phone lists, to find ways to break through the noise. Marketers are also looking at ways to leverage messaging apps to reach their audiences — there’s a myriad to pick from, so just make sure your audience is on it!

2023 Will Be the Year of AI

The groundbreaking impacts of AI will only continue to increase and improve in the new year. It’s not hard to focus on the discourse surrounding the negative potential of the technology, like the social and economic consequences of machine learning or the ethical and IP questions surrounding, for example, AI-generated art. But as we approach the new year, I think it’s also useful to remember that there are positive possibilities, too. AI will dramatically change the creative landscape and is already being used as a brainstorming tool, editing, and collaborative tool for the team here at S2. We’re seeing text in and text and images out. It won’t be too long before we see text in and video out. This opens up the potential to do more creative at scale. There’s plenty to be concerned about as we watch the explosive growth of AI technology, but in “the year of AI,” there will also be positive innovations, too, especially for anyone in the creative industry. 

Video, Video, and More Video!

As TikTok users are turning to the platform for search and eating into Google’s lunch on this front, don’t be surprised if we’re all thinking about how to create video to optimize for search in the coming year. FAQ lists as text? That’ll be so 2022 next year! Turn your content, especially searchable content, into video. Instagram has Reels, and YouTube has Shorts which will all likely be following TikTok’s lead on this video search frontier. Beyond short-form video, there’s a place for long-form too. It’s all about answering: Is this interesting to the viewer? (And for those who monetize their YouTube channels, long-form is where the moolah is!) Brands need to invest in video, especially as more and more people consume content on their smartphones. Just make sure it’s accessible with captions so that any viewer can enjoy the content with or without sound. As e-commerce has merged with live video for Live Shopping which is already popular in Asia, it’ll only be a short time before we see that more prevalent in other parts of the world too. 2023 will definitely see the rise of more video, even potentially video that AI creates for or with us!

Reach Out to Discover More

To learn what these predictions could mean for your brand and to start the conversation about maximizing your opportunities in the new year, reach out today.

Subscribe to our monthly S2xAccess newsletter:

The post Social Media Marketing in 2023: S2’s Predictions appeared first on Sociality Squared.

A strong social media strategy is an essential tool for any business, brand, or organization in today’s digital world. Successful social media marketing can help you reach potential customers, build brand awareness and loyalty, drive sales, and more. 

However, for many brands, achieving social media marketing objectives can seem frustratingly challenging. Posting across multiple accounts can be overwhelming, and constantly having to come up with new ideas for content is time-consuming. Even if you ask an employee to help create posts, you still need to find the time to approve them (often at the last second). 

The result? Inconsistent and often poor-quality content that doesn’t align with your brand. Your business is not represented well, and it’s an inefficient and ineffective way to pursue your goals.

Here’s the good news: You may be able to address these issues by instituting some simple workflow processes.

“Processes solve most problems.”

Social Media Marketing Frustrations? Your Problem May Be Workflow

What Are the Benefits of a Defined Social Media Workflow?

A social media workflow is simply a set of steps, tasks, and processes that you establish to help optimize efficiencies and get the most out of your social media content. 

A good social media workflow can be a true game-changer. With the right processes in place, you can streamline your efforts, stay organized, plan ahead, avoid errors, track results, improve your content, better allocate resources, benefit from the unique strengths of each platform, save time, focus on growing your audience…the list goes on and on.

Of course, the perfect workflow doesn’t just happen by itself. You must develop and implement the appropriate processes according to your needs.

At Sociality Squared, we have devoted years to honing our workflow processes to create and execute memorable, meaningful content that serves our clients’ business goals.

We use these processes as a starting point with each new client to define and standardize everything from brand voice and visual identity to community management and hashtag strategy. Voice and visual guides, along with creative templates, are important to make sure everyone is on the same page, and expectations are set on how content should look and feel for your brand.

Although we tailor our strategy to the unique needs of each client, we feel our approach represents the best starting point for the development of efficient and effective social media marketing workflows.

Here are some of our secrets to success…

Secret #1: Consistency Is Key

When posting content across multiple communications channels, consistent visuals and voice help members of your audience quickly recognize your brand. It is also a key building block of brand trust. 

Visual consistency starts with your logo and brand colors, but it is just as important that your social media feeds have consistent style and design. Does your brand use stock imagery? Product photos? Bright and colorful backgrounds? Moody black and white? Cartoon graphics? Text on top of images? Whatever the visual style of your brand, it’s a good idea to clearly define and templatize your content to ensure your feeds look thoughtful and coherent. 

Likewise, your brand’s use of language should reflect a consistent personality and tone across platforms and situations. Is your brand’s voice informal and playful? Technical and serious? Knowledgeable and conversational? What kind of vocabulary does your brand use, and what words does it avoid? And how does your brand voice support your overall marketing strategy?

As mentioned above, the answer to these questions starts with the creation of voice and visual guides. These documents help define your brand’s visual and written identity, making it easy to maintain a consistent look, feel, voice, and tone when creating content.

Secret #2: Templatization = Efficiency

Another secret of the Sociality Squared client playbook: Developing high-level tools that enable us to apply voice and visual guidelines directly to content creation. 

For example, one step we often take early in the process is to define content pillars. Basically, this is a set of topics, themes, or “buckets” — types of content that your brand will post, which we identify and flesh out in advance. Perhaps you’d like your brand to post news and updates about your products sometimes and post about the emotional benefits your customers experience when using your products at other times. These are both examples of content pillars; defining and templatizing how you approach posting about these topics makes it much easier to generate content that resonates with your audience.

Speaking of templates, we also frequently recommend templatizing visual content, as well. This goes beyond simply establishing brand colors, fonts, and visual guidelines; creating graphic design templates makes the process of generating content even easier. For added efficiency, you can even pair a specific visual template with a content pillar. Then, all that’s left to do is update imagery and fill in the copy! 

To that point, we also often work with clients to create base copy addressing key communication points, as well as messaging libraries, which can be used to collect and organize anything from unused copy ideas to polished brand language.

This saves hours of work and also makes approval a breeze. After all, with a brand’s base copy, messaging library, visual templates, and content pillars pre-approved, creating a content calendar becomes practically “plug and play.”

Secret #3: Plan Your Content Calendar in Advance

This brings us to another critical workflow process: batch-creating content ahead of time. 

For many business owners, one of the most frustrating aspects of do-it-yourself social media content creation is constantly reviewing and approving posts the same day. Not only is this a distraction, but it is also a good way to ensure you are never optimizing your content — for example, by posting at peak times. 

That’s why one of the best ways to streamline your workflow is to create your content well in advance. We generally create content a month at a time, but you can go further if you desire and if it makes sense for your business.

Our process usually involves a document wherein we map content pillars and templates onto a calendar and then write each corresponding post, organized by date, below.

Ideally, you work a month ahead at a time. Here’s an example timeline. Let’s say it’s December 1, and we need content for January.

Week One: Create your base calendar with dates, content pillars, holidays, and anything else going on (ex. giveaway or product launch).

Week Two: Create your visuals (graphics, photos, GIFs, Reel, etc.) and write corresponding copy.

Week Three: Get necessary approvals/feedback.

Week Four: Edit and finalize the calendar, so it’s in tip-top shape! Once finalized, schedule content to go out at optimized times.

Last-minute posts do happen, and those can be plugged in as they arise. However, by planning and scheduling your calendar in advance, you have a foundation for success with a clear strategy.  

Plus, you can spend more time monitoring and managing engagement than creating content each week.

At Sociality Squared, this process is customized for each client, but the general workflow is the same.

Reach Out to Discover More

The workflows outlined here are just one part of the S2 social media toolkit. If you’d like to learn more about how we help brands develop comprehensive social strategies that achieve meaningful results, reach out today.

Subscribe to our monthly S2xAccess newsletter:

The post Social Media Marketing Frustrations? Your Problem May Be Workflow appeared first on Sociality Squared.