Elevating social media content with a 'creative hack session’

Challenge and selection

I work at an agency, where I oversee a large team handling social media for a number of well- known brands. A large part of the work revolves around creating impactful, relevant content for  their respective target audiences. This involves my planning and creative teams working  together to come up with content themes and ideas for each brand, create a content calendar  (i.e. the copy and visuals that will be published on the various social platforms during that  month) and shared with clients for approval. The monthly calendars are based on key  communication pillars we align on with clients at the beginning of each year as they set the  tone for our content strategy. This process has been in place for years and it was working ﬁne until a few months ago; my  team started getting a lot of mixed feedback about content calendars for one brand, and  despite revisions clients were still unhappy with the content. My team started arranging calls to  go through the calendars and discussing them on a more regular basis, as well as pressing for  clearer feedback from clients as it was often vague and open to interpretation. There were  minor improvements, but it still didn’t solve the problem- clients were unhappy and they  started doubting our capabilities.

The challenge was to get everyone on the same page for social media content, so that we  deliver the product clients expect from us and regain our client's trust and satisfaction.

The tool I decided to use for to address this challenge was visualization. Clearly emails and  discussing the content was not working, so by using pictures and charts we can explore and  really understand our clients’ visions for their brand. It would also have clients get more  involved in the thinking process and feel like they have greater ownership over the direction of  content on their social media channels.

Application

I designed a series of visual thinking exercises and arranged for a ‘creative hack session’,  where I invited the brand marketers (our clients) as well as the creative team and senior  planners to take part in a workshop. The format was as follows:

- Everyone was handed a booklet containing the various exercises - I explained each exercise and what they need to do - Participants spent an allocated amount of time to work on the exercise - We then went around the room and each person talked/showed what they did. Discussion

was encouraged, and any questions to further clarify were asked by facilitators.

The ﬁrst part was about establishing the communication foundations for the brand-  communication objectives, brand role on social media, and the the market gaps the brand is  looking to tap into.

The second part was audience proﬁling. In this exercise, participants were asked to ﬁll out a  bio, and really think about this person beyond their age and gender- where did they go to  school; what kind of neighborhood did they live in; how many languages did they speak; what  was their social life like; and what were their hobbies? I used pictures of celebrities (e.g. the  cast of ‘Friends’) to get the ball rolling, so they can start thinking about whether the audience is  more like a ‘Rachel’ vs a ‘Pheobe’ or someone else entirely. Based on past experience, I ﬁnd a  common reference not only helps discussions but also oﬀers a good starting point where they

Elevating social media content with a 'creative hack session’

can ‘edit’ rather than start from scratch (which clients often ﬁnd diﬃcult and end up with an  ambiguous outcome). Participants were also asked to think about the state of mind we wanted the audience to be in  when they were viewing our content (e.g. attentive, relaxed, indulgent), and what their  surrounding environment was like (e.g. alone, with friends, in a social setting). This would  provide us with further insight into how our clients think about the target audience and the  context they’re looking for in social media content.

The third part was discussing the visual tone of the content. A series of images from past  content we created, as well as content by the brand from other parts of the world and  competitor content was shown to participants, and they were asked to mark the ones that ﬁt  the brand in green and which ones didn’t in red.

After doing the ﬁrst three exercises, participants would have a better idea of the brand  direction, so the ﬁnal part of the workshop was for them think about the content pillars for the  brand, keeping in mind all the discussions and previous exercises. They were presented with 3  boxes on a sheet of paper to write the pillars in, as it would force them to prioritize messaging.

Insight and Approach

The ﬁrst workshop we did was not only a hit (the clients loved it!) but also a real eye-opener.  From the ﬁrst exercise we realized that our clients among themselves weren't aligned on the  brand’s role and purpose, which was the root cause of dissatisfaction! Each marketer had a  diﬀerent point of view on the brand- and hence the content- which resulted in mixed feedback  relayed to my team!

The audience proﬁling was very helpful as well; with each proﬁle we were able to visualize the  person our content needed to address. Next time though, I would reﬁne my approach in this  section by having post-its with the various audience attributes and have them choose which  ones characterized the target audience. I found that my clients can’t necessarily articulate what  they have in mind, and so they need a starting point so they can ‘edit’ from there.

The visual tone exercise really dug into why clients didn’t like a piece of content and loved  another. For example, we found that while we were on the right track with the playful attitude  the brand has, the context wasn’t quite right. We also learned that for certain scenarios it  needed to be in a social setting, as well as focusing on the people vs the activity we’re talking  about (e.g. a woman boxing vs boxing gloves hanging inanimately).

The feedback and input from clients during this workshop was extremely valuable, which was  greatly aided by visualization tools. The whole process led to evolving the way we plan  content- from simple pillars to a full-ﬂedged framework that allows clients to also see sub- pillars and context of content, all under the umbrella of the brand role (which they are all  aligned on now!). We also developed clear guidelines of what we should do ‘more of’ and 'less  of' for tone of voice as well as visual tone.

Since implementing the new framework, there have been dramatic improvements in content  and clients are thrilled with the work presented to them. We’re no longer receiving feedback to  revise them as now everyone is on the same page. I learned how much easier it is to unify a  point of view using visualization as everyone sees the same thing and would interpret it the  same way.


Elevating social media content with a ' creative hack session ’ Challenge and selection I work at an agency , where I oversee a large team handling social media for a number of well- known brands . A large part of the work revolves around creating impactful , relevant content for their respective target audiences . This involves my planning and creative teams working together to come up with content themes and ideas for each brand , create a content calendar ( i.e. the copy and visuals that will be published on the various social platforms during that month ) and shared with clients for approval . The monthly calendars are based on key communication pillars we align on with clients at the beginning of each year as they set the tone for our content strategy . This process has been in place for years and it was working ﬁne until a few months ago ; my team started getting a lot of mixed feedback about content calendars for one brand , and despite revisions clients were still unhappy with the content . My team started arranging calls to go through the calendars and discussing them on a more regular basis , as well as pressing for clearer feedback from clients as it was often vague and open to interpretation . There were minor improvements , but it still did n’t solve the problem- clients were unhappy and they started doubting our capabilities . The challenge was to get everyone on the same page for social media content , so that we deliver the product clients expect from us and regain our client 's trust and satisfaction . The tool I decided to use for to address this challenge was visualization . Clearly emails and discussing the content was not working , so by using pictures and charts we can explore and really understand our clients ’ visions for their brand . It would also have clients get more involved in the thinking process and feel like they have greater ownership over the direction of content on their social media channels . Application I designed a series of visual thinking exercises and arranged for a ‘ creative hack session ’ , where I invited the brand marketers ( our clients ) as well as the creative team and senior planners to take part in a workshop . The format was as follows : - Everyone was handed a booklet containing the various exercises - I explained each exercise and what they need to do - Participants spent an allocated amount of time to work on the exercise - We then went around the room and each person talked / showed what they did . Discussion was encouraged , and any questions to further clarify were asked by facilitators . The ﬁrst part was about establishing the communication foundations for the brand- communication objectives , brand role on social media , and the the market gaps the brand is looking to tap into . The second part was audience proﬁling . In this exercise , participants were asked to ﬁll out a bio , and really think about this person beyond their age and gender- where did they go to school ; what kind of neighborhood did they live in ; how many languages did they speak ; what was their social life like ; and what were their hobbies ? I used pictures of celebrities ( e.g. the cast of ‘ Friends ’ ) to get the ball rolling , so they can start thinking about whether the audience is more like a ‘ Rachel ’ vs a ‘ Pheobe ’ or someone else entirely . Based on past experience , I ﬁnd a common reference not only helps discussions but also oﬀers a good starting point where they Elevating social media content with a ' creative hack session ’ can ‘ edit ’ rather than start from scratch ( which clients often ﬁnd diﬃcult and end up with an ambiguous outcome ) . Participants were also asked to think about the state of mind we wanted the audience to be in when they were viewing our content ( e.g. attentive , relaxed , indulgent ) , and what their surrounding environment was like ( e.g. alone , with friends , in a social setting ) . This would provide us with further insight into how our clients think about the target audience and the context they ’re looking for in social media content . The third part was discussing the visual tone of the content . A series of images from past content we created , as well as content by the brand from other parts of the world and competitor content was shown to participants , and they were asked to mark the ones that ﬁt the brand in green and which ones did n’t in red . After doing the ﬁrst three exercises , participants would have a better idea of the brand direction , so the ﬁnal part of the workshop was for them think about the content pillars for the brand , keeping in mind all the discussions and previous exercises . They were presented with 3 boxes on a sheet of paper to write the pillars in , as it would force them to prioritize messaging . Insight and Approach The ﬁrst workshop we did was not only a hit ( the clients loved it ! ) but also a real eye - opener . From the ﬁrst exercise we realized that our clients among themselves were n't aligned on the brand ’s role and purpose , which was the root cause of dissatisfaction ! Each marketer had a diﬀerent point of view on the brand- and hence the content- which resulted in mixed feedback relayed to my team ! The audience proﬁling was very helpful as well ; with each proﬁle we were able to visualize the person our content needed to address . Next time though , I would reﬁne my approach in this section by having post - its with the various audience attributes and have them choose which ones characterized the target audience . I found that my clients ca n’t necessarily articulate what they have in mind , and so they need a starting point so they can ‘ edit ’ from there . The visual tone exercise really dug into why clients did n’t like a piece of content and loved another . For example , we found that while we were on the right track with the playful attitude the brand has , the context was n’t quite right . We also learned that for certain scenarios it needed to be in a social setting , as well as focusing on the people vs the activity we ’re talking about ( e.g. a woman boxing vs boxing gloves hanging inanimately ) . The feedback and input from clients during this workshop was extremely valuable , which was greatly aided by visualization tools . The whole process led to evolving the way we plan content- from simple pillars to a full-ﬂedged framework that allows clients to also see sub- pillars and context of content , all under the umbrella of the brand role ( which they are all aligned on now ! ) . We also developed clear guidelines of what we should do ‘ more of ’ and ' less of ' for tone of voice as well as visual tone . Since implementing the new framework , there have been dramatic improvements in content and clients are thrilled with the work presented to them . We ’re no longer receiving feedback to revise them as now everyone is on the same page . I learned how much easier it is to unify a point of view using visualization as everyone sees the same thing and would interpret it the same way .