rahulsingh: Increase Social Media Engagement with Events and Anniversaries ...

Increase Social Media Engagement with Events and Anniversaries in 2013

Did you have a social media plan in 2012? How did it go? Are you planning on doing things differently this year? If so, here is something to ponder and keep in mind when you?re creating your strategy or when using social marketing services:?in order to have engagement through your social media channels, your followers need to care about what you?re putting out there. In other words, you need to stir up their emotions because that is what gets them to comment, Like, share, retweet, +1 and re-pin.

A huge part of being able to have an emotional connection with your audience is the ability to seem real. This means possibly having a face behind your brand, so that there is a person your potential customers can connect with. Strengthening this connection will help keep you in the forefront of their mind and increase their trust in you which could then translate into conversions.

With the advent of mobile technology, we?ve quickly become a two-screen society. We don?t just sit and watch TV anymore. We watch TV and look at our phone or tablet. If something significant, super funny or weird happens on TV, we share it on various platforms. Or we search for others that are watching the same show to see what they?re saying. Come on, you know you quickly started searching Twitter and looking at your newsfeed in Facebook when you heard Christina Aguilera mess up the National Anthem at the Super Bowl last year!

Of course, there doesn?t need to be a faux pas for people to start talking about an event. Anniversaries of important events are another reason for people to start a conversation about where they were when something happened or what they remember. But tread lightly. Sometimes these occasions can be very emotional, so it?s important to mind how you insert your comments. Or there are the fun and slightly random events or ?holidays? that are begging for a creative treatment for your fans (Talk Like a Pirate Day is huge in social media). Don?t let these pass by as you may miss out on a new and interesting way to engage with your followers.

To help you get involved in the potential conversations in 2013, below is a listing of holidays, events and anniversaries that you might want to put on your social media calendar. It?s a mix of a little bit of everything:

JANUARY 2013

FEBRUARY 2013

2/1: National Freedom Day
2/2: Groundhog Day
2/3: Super Bowl Sunday (have the National Anthem lyrics ready)
2/4/04: Facebook launched (thefacebook.com)
2/5: National Weatherman?s Day
2/10: Chinese New Year
2/10: Grammy Awards
2/11 & 2/12: Westminster Dog Show (everybody loves dogs)
2/12: Mardi Gras
2/13: Get a Different Name Day
2/14: Valentine?s Day
2/16: 90th Anniversary of the opening of King Tut?s Burial Chamber
2/18: President?s Day
2/24: Academy Awards

MARCH 2013

3/1: The Bieber?s birthday (for those with a young audience)
3/1: Read Across America Day
3/3: National Anthem Day
3/10: Daylight Savings Time Begins (remind people, be helpful)
3/14: Pi Day (also Albert Einstein?s birthday)
3/15: Ides of March
3/17: St. Patrick?s Day
3/18/65: First Walk in Space
3/20: First Day of spring
3/21: 50th Anniversary of the closing of Alcatraz
3/23: Toast Day
3/31: Easter Sunday

APRIL 2013

4/1: April Fool?s Day
4/5: National Read a Road Map Day
4/11 to 4/14: PGA The Masters
4/15: Tax Day
4/20: Astronomy Day Part 1
4/21 to 4/22: Lyrids Meteor Shower
4/22: Earth Day
4/24: Administrative Professionals/Secretaries Day
4/25: World Penguin Day
4/26: Arbor Day
4/26: National Pretzel Day

MAY 2013

5/1: May Day
5/4: The Kentucky Derby
5/5: Cinco de Mayo
5/5 to 5/6: Eta Aquarids Meteor Shower
5/7: National Teacher Day
5/8: No Socks Day
5/10: Annular Solar Eclipse (Ring of Fire Eclipse)
5/12: Mother?s Day
5/14: National Dance Like a Chicken Day
5/18: Armed Forces Day
5/25: Penumbral Lunar Eclipse
5/27: Memorial Day

JUNE 2013

6/7: Donut Day
6/14: Flag Day
6/16: Father?s Day
6/18: International Picnic Day
6/21: First day of summer
6/23: Supermoon (biggest full moon of 2013)
6/24 to 7/7: Wimbledon
6/26: National Chocolate Pudding Day
6/29 to July 23: Tour de France

JULY 2013

7/1: National Postal Worker?s Day
7/4: Independence Day
7/6: National Fried Chicken Day
7/19: Stick Your Tongue Out Day
7/20/69: First landing on the moon
7/28 to 7/29: Southern Delta Aquarids Meteor Shower
7/28: Parents? Day

AUGUST 2013

8/3: National Mustard Day
8/10: S?Mores Day
8/12 to 8/13: Perseids Meteor Shower
8/13: International Left-Hander?s Day
8/19: National Aviation Day
8/28: 50th Anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.?s ?I Have a Dream? speech
8/31: National Trail Mix Day

SEPTEMBER 2013

9/2: Labor Day
9/4: 15th Anniversary of Google?s Incorporation
9/8: National Grandparents? Day
9/10: Swap Ideas Day
9/12: Jesse Owens? 100th Birthday
9/13: National Peanut Day
9/16: Collect Rocks Day
9/17: Constitution Day
9/19: International Talk Like a Pirate Day
9/22: First day of autumn

OCTOBER 2013

?Baseball World Series
10/1: Homemade Cookies Day
10/12: Astronomy Day Part 2
10/14: Columbus Day
10/16: World Food Day
10/16: National Boss Day
10/18: Penumbral Lunar Eclipse
10/19: Sweetest Day
10/21 to 10/22: Orionids Meteor Shower
10/24: United Nations Day
10/27: Mother-in-Law?s Day
10/31: Halloween

NOVEMBER 2013

11/3: Daylight Savings Time ends
11/3: Hybrid Solar Eclipse
11/11: Veteran?s Day
11/15: National Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day
11/17 to 11/18: Leonids Meteor Shower
11/17: Take a Hike Day
11/19: 150th Anniversary of the Gettysburg Address
11/22: Sadly, the 50th Anniversary of JFK?s assassination
11/24: 50th Anniversary of Lee Harvey Oswald?s assassination by Jack Ruby
11/28: Thanksgiving Day
11/29: Black Friday

DECEMBER 2013

12/2: Cyber Monday
12/4: National Cookie Day
12/7: Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day
12/13 to 12/15: Geminids Meteor Shower
12/17: National Maple Syrup Day
12/21: First Day of winter
12/21: National Flashlight Day
12/21: 100th Anniversary of the first crossword puzzle published in a US newspaper
12/24: Christmas Eve
12/25: Christmas Day
12/26: Boxing Day
12/31: New Year?s Eve

Prepare for a great year by creating engaging content to share with your followers. But be ready when unexpected events happen and you need to ?get into the game.? Then monitor the responses and get involved with them. Make it clear that you do care. Build relationships that will benefit your business.

Know of any other events or anniversaries that should be added to the list? Please share in the comments below. Also, if you have any tried and true ways of customer engagement, please feel free to share.

Ardala Evans

Ardala is a Project Manager working with the Client Services team at Vertical Measures. She supervises the flow and completion of the monthly tasks for the clients. Ardala also gathers data and assists in the report creation process.

+Ardala Evans

rahulsingh

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Increase Social Media Engagement with Events and Anniversaries ...