How to Win at Social Media and Dating

With so many new brands jumping on social media everyday, it’s easy to feel like I’m trapped in a speed-dating circuit. Every brand wants their hot minute to sit me down, test my attention span, and bore a “LIKE” out of me. The sad truth is, 90% of brand pages fail to land another “date” with me because they lack one major thing: PERSONALITY.

One brand that did win me over, however, was Irish Spring. As a member of its target demographic, I was wholly and shamelessly wooed by Irish Spring’s irresistible social media personality. So much in fact, that I think other brands can learn from Irish Spring and takeaway some valuable pointers about what makes up brand personality on social media.

Tone of Voice: Something Siri Can’t Help You With

Tone of voice reflects the overall character of your brand. If you don’t figure out your tone of voice, you’ll end up sounding robotic, like Siri, and missing the target completely. Think for a moment: Is your brand funny or is it serious? Are you aiming for lively 20-somethings or family-minded parents? Can you liken your brand to a living celebrity/persona? These questions will help you build a foundational understanding of your brand’s voice.

Irish Spring carries a humorous, self-aware tone of voice that is geared to appeal mostly to young active males, like myself. Their language is always brief (for us active folks), humorous, and relatable to their demographic. In other words, Irish Spring sounds like any casual member of its digital community.

For example, Irish Spring posts about fighting the “summer sleep sweats,” a common annoyance amongst its young male followers. In the next post, they resort to simplicity and humor to generate engagement by saying: “LIKE if you showered with Irish Spring this morning. If not, COMMENT to leave an apology.” Each post is dripping with so much character, that you could almost envision what Irish Spring would look like if it were a person!

Depth: How Low Can We Go?

It’s 2013 and nobody likes a one-trick pony. Once you’ve found your tone of voice, come up with a variety of posting formats/strategies that will help bring your personality to life and win the interest of your users. Like all strategies, you must build to suit your objectives. Are you trying to interact, inform, engage, or entertain?

Irish Spring uses a variety of tactics to keep their users hooked. They mix up their posting format/objectives frequently, keeping their posting game fun and fresh (pun intended). This photo prompts users to tag friends with “stinky pits” that should use Irish Spring. This post displays both character and an excellent outside-the-box tactic for engaging new and existing users alike.

Irish Spring gives back to its followers by hosting fun giveaways to keep users interacting with them. It doesn’t matter how big or small the prize is, the idea behind hosting a giveaway is to show your community that following you has its benefits. Note that regardless of posting format, Irish Spring’s tone of voice is consistent. “I write on Facebook for a living, so you know how I do” is my new favorite quote!

Profundity: Cool Story, Bro. Tell It Again!

Imagine you’re on a dinner date with someone and he/she starts listing off the reasons why he/she is so great. Would you really want to date that person again? This scenario is equivalent to brands that jump on social media only to post about how great their product/service is.

If you want to peak someone’s interest, you gotta be profound! Don’t post something for the sake of posting. Irish Spring never promotes by saying: “Hey check out this product by us!” No, they present it in much more profound fashion that is true to their personality.

When Irish Spring isn’t promoting a particular product or giveaway, it shares fun “fresh facts.” These posts mix hygiene facts with conversation-starting questions, all delivered with Irish Spring’s typical sense of humor. The fact that one can recognize Irish Spring’s “typical sense of humor” alone means they have personality which must mean they’re #winning at social media!

Now, Walk the Walk

At the end of the day, it’s important to remember that social media is about being…well, social. If you wouldn’t bore (or scare) your date by telling them how great you are, then your brand shouldn’t do the same on social media. If you want to hold someone’s attention, in life or on social media, you’ll need your own personality, dude!

Everyone encounters a little bit of identity crisis once in a while. At Metaverse, we’re always ready to help your brand do some soul-searching. Contact us to learn how our team can build the kind of social media personality that your target demographic wants at their party!

Vincent Grippi
Social Media Manager