Skip links

Summertime Radness: Stand Out On Social

How to Stand Out on Social This Summer

It’s about that time of year again when your social media feeds will likely become filled with envy-inducing photos of flower crowns, high-waisted shorts, platters of color-saturated fruit and endless music festivals. If you, by chance, aren’t a 17-year-old goddess with Herbal Essences commercial-worthy hair and a VIP pass to Coachella, then you might be wondering what content is going to be most relevant this summer.

Or, in other words, how to make your content 1. relevant and 2. noticeable in the midst of all the clutter? It can seem daunting, but we have a few tips to make your social media rad this summer.

Be you.

Know your brand and stick to it. Don’t try to be someone you’re not (because your audience can tell and this will, in turn, make them less likely to trust you and your company). You can find relevant content that is on topic with what people are talking about and control the conversation simultaneously. For instance, if you are an umbrella manufacturing company, you could post an original photo of an umbrella in the sand with a bright, blurred sky and ocean in the distance. Find a way to make your specialty relevant. Find your niche and stick to it for a while until you’re perfect at it–the best at it. Only then can you branch out and live on the wild side.

Social media pro tip: If you don’t like what is being said about your company or your branding, change the conversation.

Know what looks good on you.

Know when to say “no” to a trend. Trends are trends for a reason. They come and go and sometimes leave you with horribly embarrassing middle school pictures of yourself in newsboy caps, gauchos and ponchos. It is for that reason that I tend to stick to the classics. If your company has no business posting photos of music festivals, then don’t post them. It’s as simple as that. If you can work a summer trend–such as, beach-inspired photos, a platter of local BBQ or a mouth-wateringly red watermelon–into your existing content and messaging, then knock yourself out. Otherwise, stick to what you know.

Social media pro tip: Don’t work for the trend, make the trend work for you!

Find your aesthetic.

Have a meeting with your social media team to discuss what you like.  People have higher expectations from corporate social media accounts than ever before and they are constantly over-saturated with irrelevant content. No one is going to like or retweet an old, lame graphic you found on the SmartArt section of Word. Harsh as it may be, most of your audience is extremely egocentric in their social media demands. If you are targeting someone, they are going to expect your content to be original,  aesthetically pleasing and on-brand, all while being relevant to their current conversation in return.

A good outlet for developing and honing your brand’s aesthetic is Instagram. The new trend on Instagram is having a theme for your feed–meaning all of your photos look nice together when on the grid view, with similar colors and photography style in each photo. Celebrities and fashion bloggers are pros at this because they understand that you have to hone your brand, even if your brand is you.

Social media pro tip: Choose a few key colors, lighting styles, and image content that you like and that fit your brand and live there.

Stick to these tips and you’ll be the one with envy-inducing social media content this summer. Need a social media makeover? No idea where to start? Contact Smarter Searches for help with social media strategy and make this your raddest summer ever.