Social Media Marketing Trends week of July 14th

“The key to meaningful work is in the decision to keep returning to the efforts you find important. Not in getting everything right every time.”

- Cal Newport

At our company we have something called ‘sprints’ from time to time.

I issue the start of sprint when I realize we need a special effort to accomplish a goal.

A push outside of the standard work flow…

A big movement to overcome a hurdle…

or get momentum going…

While the last few months I have talked a lot about having strong habits around creating content,

I also want you to know the power of a sprint, or one big push.

With a sprint, we set a goal and divide and conquer. I have done this both as a team, and by myself. (So if you don’t have employee to help you - don’t worry, you can divide and conquer tasks and still experience the wins of a sprint!)

Here are my best practices for a sprint:

1. Set a meaningful goal, and give it a name. For example, 20 reels will give me a bank of content I can post for a month. Our last sprint was called ‘Code Orange’

2. Set a timeline. I will complete the 20 reels by end of 8 hours. I will do captions and final touches in a half day.

3. Plan the messaging FIRST. Make sure it’s evergreen, not trend-based. For example, I know I want to showcase: my thought leadership in my niche, my personal story, and my client transformations. Go so far as to write out the on-screen copy you want for the 20 reels.

4. Collect/Organize the video assets you will use to support the messaging. Do an analysis of your video assets and determine if you need to shoot anything, or if you have enough to work with in your camera roll.

5. Set in stone your edit style. Choose what text and colors you will use on every reel. If you have a favorite creator, or brand you idolize, make sure you look at the visual edit style and make note of how quick their cuts are, what types of transitions, filters, or fonts they use. Establishing this ahead is going to save you so much time and make your content look so much better.

6. Now it’s time to create! Time box it and eliminate distractions. You cannot work on anything else during Themis time. You cannot respond to emails or texts. Full focus to accomplish the edits. You will be thrilled to see how you can in knock out reels with this strategy!

7. Finishing touches - captions and reel covers. I recommend doing this as a separate session, like the following day.

Did you notice how in this I never mentioned open up Instagram and scroll for a trending audio?

Don’t. 

Audio is something that fluctuates and shouldn’t be the basis of your evergreen content. It’s too trend-based and modeling your content around audio can hurt you. Additionally, most folks scroll reels and TikTok’s with no audio on. So your visual hooks are the one thing you have to get them to stop the scroll. 

I hope breaking down this process was helpful for you!

You can set yourself up to really get ahead with 1-2 days of focused work on intentional, thoughtful brand content that represents you well. 

BTW, if you’re feeling like this would be amazing but you want professional help to do it all, we offer this! It’s all the planning, prep and editing + a half day shoot day. You get you 24 done-for-you evergreen reels for $5k.

I promise doing this gives you so much more room to breathe, establish your strong brand, and hop on trends when you’re inspired, instead of relying on them.

Let me know if you have any questions at all about structuring your sprint and I am happy to help lend an ear or personal advice.

Now, onto the ‘of the moment’ content prompts to keep you in the conversation, and your brain rot to a minimum :)

The Gen Z Edit

Who is the closest Gen Z in your life?

Your child, nephew, or cousin?

Your babysitter?

Intern?

Gen Z’s have a wonderfully fresh perspective on life, and guess what - they love the ‘real and the raw’

So much so, that it has started an awesome trend on social that compiles the most bloopers, PBS low-budget documentary style edits on social.

AND WE LOVES IT!

So make use of your awkward B roll with this fun trend!

Examples: Realtor, Amber, Workshop Tour, Mortgage Company, Movie Theatre

For more prompts like this delivered to your email, join the Authentic Creators Network our ct-based social media marketing agency’s content creator network!