People’s creativity is already
becoming tragicomic when it comes to conspiracy theories
How do people start in social media? How to manage a pandemic on Facebook? What 2020 was about in terms of social media, how communication channels have evolved and how clients understand them? Trends, hatred, responsibility, fake news and conspiracy theories? A social media person’s survival guide? Well, fasten your seat belts because Ileana Peşte, our Social Media Manager will take you on a past versus present social media journey.
A kind of unexpected destination
Hi! I’m Ileana, I’m a Social Media Manager at The Good Company agency and I can’t imagine that I could do anything else every day. Aside from writing texts, I also do strategy, special projects, relevant content influencer marketing; I align social media campaigns with brand communication. I studied international relations and political studies in Portsmouth, UK. I returned to the country and got my first full-time job – Executive Assistant for an FMCG sales manager. Thanks to my boss’ encouragements to pursue what I was interested in, in less than a year after I was hired as a personal assistant, a junior position was opened on one of the company’s brands. However, I switched to agency life and discovered that I like social media and I am good at it.
Strategy at the heart of any social media activity? Yes!
Before I actually worked in social media, I had the impression that anyone could do it – you compose some texts, you match them to some visuals and that’s it, what a great thing, right? I realized, over time, that everything is diffused in social media, so a strategy is needed to have a coherent communication. You need 360 strategic planning to make sure you have a red thread and credible communication.
What surprised me
That people are very eager to socialize, to express their opinions and that you can be easily charged by your audience if you are around. That you have to analyze everything critically and that it is very important to know well what you communicate, why you communicate and how you have to do this, so that you stand out in the crowd. Nothing can be accidental or only half done.
3 essential rules
| 1 | Think critically – with that idea or with that plan of all the walls, if in the end it stands, you are on the right path; |
| 2 | Learn as much as you can, constantly learn about the brand you are communicating for; |
| 3 | Listen to the community / audience you are communicating with and get out of the bubble your dad and your friends are not necessarily the target of the brand you are communicating for. |
The effects of the pandemic
With the pandemic, the social media communication has intensified. All offline communication has moved to online and, mainly, to social media because it is very generous in terms of tactics. I noticed an increase in communications activities that had to move overnight from offline to online. Regarding the clients, they have seen over time the need to have an efficient, relevant communication, whilst also minding the budget. We all found ourselves in a controversial situation: social media communication has intensified, offline events have moved online, the need for special projects has increased, but budgets had to be handled carefully.
Learnings
I think first of all I learned that we are part of a team, not just a clients and a service provider. We have learned to better understand our frustrations and needs, that the right attitude solves 99% of the problems.
We learned to pay more attention to the little things we overlooked in the past, and we also learned that simple solutions and clean communication sometimes do better than a huge budget. Speaking of practice, one thing we and our clients learned was to do webinars properly.
Consumers & new habits
I think we have gone through a period in which we reevaluate everything and change our habits. Inevitably, the changes also occurred on social media. The more bombarded they are with messages from brands, the more reluctant they are to interact or be more critical.
Communication channels
Facebook and Instagram have remained, at least for our clients, the main platforms. Here the frequency did not necessarily change, but the specificity of the communication.
Clients focused more on video, live events, webinars and all kinds of activities to generate an active interaction with the brand.
Twitter remains a channel that does not progress in Romania, and communication remains, for many brands, casual here. Tik Tok, on the other hand, became a big dilemma for brands in 2020. Many brands didn’t really know how to approach this type of content / communication or have a tone of voice that is much too serious.
| Facebook – One flew over the cuckoo’s nest | |
| Instagram – La dolce vita | |
| Tik Tok – Whatever works | |
| YouTube – The Good, the Bad and the Ugly | |
| Twitter – Lost in translation |
Social Media Person’s Survival Guide
Facebook and Instagram have remained, at least for our clients, the main platforms. Here the frequency did not necessarily change, but the specificity of the communication.
Clients focused more on video, live events, webinars and all kinds of activities to generate an active interaction with the brand.
Twitter remains a channel that does not progress in Romania, and communication remains, for many brands, casual here. Tik Tok, on the other hand, became a big dilemma for brands in 2020. Many brands didn’t really know how to approach this type of content / communication or have a tone of voice that is much too serious.
| Think critically and bring arguments | |
| Be aware of what’s going on around you, but don’t get lost in the details | |
| Get out of the herd, but don’t swim too much against the current – it gets tiring | |
| Strategy, red thread and consistency in communication are often more important than creativity. |
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