Why “Staying Hip” Isn’t For Every Brand

In the social media landscape, users are always fighting for the chance to go viral – getting them top billing on timelines and spreading their reach farther than ever before. For personal accounts, this tends to be much simpler since it’s someone sharing their own thoughts in real time. For branded or corporate social media accounts, it can be a little bit trickier. Regardless of the brand, there’s this race towards being “cool” as a bid to remain relevant in social spaces but the truth is, not every brand voice is cut out to be hip. And that’s okay! Here are just a few ways brands trip up when trying to “sit with the cool kids” and why staying hip isn’t for everyone!

Bad Timing

The idea of what cool is never stays the same for too long. It always starts out in a particular niche and then spreads to the larger majority for mass consumption – at which point it is quickly ushered out in favor of something newer and even cooler. There are tons of brands whose names and online brand voices are synonymous with cool – always on the edge of the latest and greatest in style, slang and much more. They might not invent it, but these early adopters make it their own and use it in context before everyone else. Posting about a particularly hot or funny hashtag too late can look desperate, so if your social media team misses peak moments or need to get their messaging approved by several people in a lengthy process, jumping onto viral trends may not be for you.

Wrong Audience

Consumers and followers are always looking to be entertained and impressed with highly shareable content that will make them want to participate but it has to make sense. Brands with a large presence on social media can request things like hashtag use and selfies in exchange for some type of reward in the form of freebies, discounts or even being shared on their respective platforms.  It’s important to be honest with yourself about whether or not the “prize” you have to offer is worth the effort or will even elicit that type of buzz based on the kind of followers you have.

Insincerity – Staying Hip Needs to be Natural

A huge part of being cool and or marketing, in general, is authenticity. With a population that’s more technology and media savvy than ever, they can sense disingenuous messaging from a mile away. Before jumping on the latest hashtag or meme trends, ask yourself if it makes sense for your brand to get involved? Will it be executed well in the same tone of humor? Would your current follower audience understand the reference? It’s important to think about all of these things beforehand to avoid any type of backlash in the long run.

For more information about social media management, contact The Ad Managers today at (647) 350-0357.