Social Media & Digital Communications Tips from Ragan PR

By Megha Pai

Seattle is home to much more than the Space Needle and urban greenery – earlier this summer, the Emerald City played host to the Ragan PR Social Media & Digital Communications Conference at Amazon HQ. For those who didn’t get the chance to attend, below are some exclusive tips from the conference.

Create Content That Captivates

Andrew Davis, bestselling author, thinks content creators should take a note from reality TV shows. “Create suspense,” Davis says – by raising the stakes in your content, you’re giving your audience a story that can’t be ignored. Don’t reveal all the answers in the beginning, either – leverage the audience’s curiosity to weave a narrative they can’t walk away from.

Cultivate Community

Algorithms can be tricky to work with – but your social media strategy can be successful without catering to fluctuations in these algorithms. The secret? Nadia Petschek Rawls, director of social media and audience development at TED, urges communicators to focus on their audience. “Give your community a place to gather,” Rawls says. By identifying your unique value proposition and leveraging it in every piece of content you make, you’re creating a unique experience for your audience – and that experience will keep them coming back to your social channels time after time.

Keep Content Crisp

Bentley McBentleson, digital marketing manager at KFC, notes that keeping your content fresh sometimes requires “making nods to meme culture.” KFC did precisely that by including cats climbing on Colonel Sanders in a livestream. The quirky collaboration fit well with the brand’s identity, and caught viewers’ attention.

Curious about the rest of the conference? Catch more insights at the #RaganAmazon hashtag on Twitter.

Megha Pai is an assistant account executive at Havas PR. Connect with her on LinkedIn.