Think of those social apps you scroll through tirelessly on the daily, the ones you can’t make it without. Maybe they’re the channels Iconoculture calls the Core Four — Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, and Facebook. Or, if you’re more like us at Spawn, it’s more like the Fundamental Five: Instagram, Snapchat, Twitter, LinkedIn and Facebook.
You love the filters, boomerangs and threads of the social world and you know exactly what you’re doing on them as a person. But do you feel confident that you’re using them in the right way as a business? After all, what drives engagement and ROI on Instagram won’t earn you the same response on LinkedIn.
If you’re worried that you’re not getting it right, you can stop now: We’ve put together this quick, seasonal guide to help you remember that social media is social. If you approach each channel like a party, you’ll quickly figure out what content will work, and which might feel just a little out of place.
In the spirit of the holiday season, we’ve framed these ideas in line with five festive themes that underscore the personality of each platform. See if you can guess which is which, and make sure your content matches the mood of each celebration.
Cookie Exchange
What Kind of Party Is It?
There’s no sweeter way to celebrate the holidays than with an office cookie exchange! Guests bring their favorite homemade cookies to swap with others, giving everyone a chance to taste a variety of new and tasty recipes. A cookie exchange is an event that motivates sharing, relationships, and friendship.
How to Act
Share content that’s fun and friendly and feels like it comes from the real people behind your brand. You know you’ve done it right when your posts spark a conversation that everyone can join in on. Limit the jargon and over-the-top tech-talk and keep things human and conversational.
The Guest List
Who will you find when you enter? This party’s large enough that it welcomes folks of all kinds, but you’ll definitely notice a higher percentage of boomer (56- to 74-years-old), white (70%) and suburban (50%) users who share a desire to stay connected to their inner circles.
Who’s Your Host?
Established in 2004, this company is the largest of the bunch. However, that’s no match for their willingness to maintain a traditional, tight-knit culture.
Do you know who it is?
Scroll to the bottom of the page to see the Answer Key (caution: spoilers!) or keep reading!
Ugly Sweater Party
What Kind of Party Is It?
This platform is a lot like an ugly sweater-themed holiday party. Guests are able to express themselves and showcase their individuality through the threads they’re rockin’. Whether they grab one from the store or craft their own kooky design, the uglier the better.
How to Act
Find creative and inspirational ways to celebrate and talk about individualism and cross-culturalism. Empower people to share their stories and find similarities within your experiences. Making a point to include everyone in your discussion will make a lasting impression on your audience.
The Guest List
This sweater party stands out for its diversity, having more urban invitees and higher percentiles of Asian, African American and Latino descent than the other Fundamental Five channels.
Who’s Your Host?
The youngest to join the market with the second youngest workforce, they have a common love for showcasing their accomplishments and daily life highlights.
Holiday Dinner Social
What Kind of Party Is It?
Bring your table manners and mingling skills, at this holiday bash you’ll not only be accompanied by your coworkers but also your companies’ clients, partners and leads. What better way to connect with your corporate colleagues than over a hot meal and glass of merlot?
How to Act
Come willing to share new and exciting insights related to your profession. Preferably something you can back up with real-life stories or experiences. Developing a conversation around your unique capabilities and expertise will help you gather a network of like-minded professionals to your corner of the room. You’ll also raise your professional profile with colleagues, experts and potential partners in related fields.
The Guest List
This soiree features a near-equal amount of men and women, and draws both urban and suburban partygoers, but the guests are usually past their school years (25- to 49-years-old).
Who’s Your Host?
The eldest of the five social platforms, this company was established in mid 2003, and proudly maintains its professional stature. They share a willingness to keep in touch with their career connections, a desire to be aware of relevant news and trends and have recently redoubled their efforts to grow in the educational space.
Après Ski Party
What Kind of Party Is It?
Bring in the holidays with all the fun of a ski days-end. Guests can fulfill their yearning for adventure with an early start on the slopes and bring it in with the crew for warm goodies and a turn on the shotski.
How to Act
This place is a party, and if you want to fit in, you need to enhance the mood: Introduce an activity or game to liven things up. You’ll receive a positive response with content that initiates a good time.
The Guest List
This ski trip extravaganza takes the cake for having the youngest workforce with Millennials and Gen Z’ers making up the 86% majority.
Who’s Your Host?
It should come as no surprise that they are also the most digitally adept, but prefer videography opposed to other forms of media.
White Elephant Gift Exchange
What Kind of Party Is It?
Nothing like a little friendly competition to stir up the office. In a White Elephant gift exchange each guest brings one wrapped gift to swap for another. It all starts with everyone drawing a number from a hat. Number one gets the first pick from the gifts brought and every person that follows either decides to “steal” someone’s gift or open a new one. A game perfect for those with a passion for gift giving and a knack for making the right decision.
How to Act
Gift swapping naturally creates a space to engage with others. You’ll see tremendous payback from simply acknowledging and interacting with those around you. Lighten the mood by creating a fun conversation around popular trends or cracking a couple clever jokes.
The Guest List
A more male dominant list of attendees that fall between white, older, suburbans and diverse, younger, urbans.
Who’s Your Host?
Having been established in later 2004, this company falls not far behind the second oldest option. They take pride in their devotion to be well informed and having their resources at their fingertips.
Answer Key
- Cookie Exchange: Facebook
- Ugly Sweater Party: Instagram
- Holiday Dinner Social: LinkedIn
- Après Ski Party: Snapchat
- White Elephant Gift Exchange: Twitter
