Have you considered your club’s social media strategy for 2024?
Picture this: instead of merely observing, imagine being one of the clubs harnessing the potential of social media to connect with members and the wider community. A well-crafted social media plan has the ability to set your venue apart, ensuring that upcoming events, specials, meals, deals, or noteworthy days receive the attention they deserve. By adopting a thoughtful approach, your club can genuinely engage with the local community, fostering meaningful connections.
The power of social media isn’t just about vanity numbers; it’s about creating a space where your audience feels heard and involved. Let’s explore how your club can use social media to not only increase visibility but also to build a vibrant and connected community around your shared interests and activities, which leads to increased patronage, growing memberships, and stronger income for your venue during the upcoming difficult economic period.
In this post, we’ll go over some of the foundational tips, tactics, and ideas to help your club make the most of social media in 2024.
1. Choose the Right Social Channels
Not all social media channels are created equal, and you need to select the ones that work best for your club. When selecting channels, consider who your audience is and what type of content you’ll be creating.
For example, if you’re targeting younger members and want to share visual content like photos and videos, Instagram might be a great choice.
If you’re looking to share news and updates with a more mature demographic, Facebook and LinkedIn might be more suitable. Finally, if you’re looking to build a community and want to have discussions with members in real time and regularly, Facebook Groups might be the way to go.
It all comes down to time and how you want to engage with your audience. You should always start by deciding on what you are trying to achieve with your social media and finding out where your current members or community hang out online! Knowing these two key pieces of information means you can quickly and easily choose the appropriate channel(s) from there and forget the rest.
You don’t need to be on every conceivable channel, or be across every new fandangle thing, keeping up with all that the internet has to offer is exhausting and leads to social burnout. Simply choose the most appropriate channels for your club and your community needs and do them well!
2. Leverage Special Days & Events
One of the easiest ways to build a following and generate buzz online is by leveraging special days and events. From National Donut Day to Bring Your Pet To Work Day, there seems to be a social media holiday for every imaginable event.
But these celebrations actually present a great opportunity to create engaging social media content. With a social media calendar packed with public and special holidays, you will never be short on ideas for posts on the most popular social media platforms. Moreover, they provide a chance to show your venue’s personality, share your team culture, and genuinely interact with your community.
For example, you could create social media posts and campaigns to promote anything from the well-known and celebrated days like ANZAC Day, Diwali, Christmas, Hanukkah, Chinese New Years, and Australia Day; to hosting a mega trivia night on national trivia day or special deals in the café for National Chocolate Cake Day!
There are so many different days to choose from, and when you create content around these events, you’ll tap into the existing interest and excitement people have and increase your social media reach and engagement, plus get people through the door to celebrate with you in the club!
3. Create Valuable Content
Another pivotal strategy for establishing a distinctive presence on social media revolves around the creation of highly valuable content. It goes beyond mere self-promotion and centres on delivering meaningful substance that resonates with your followers and community.
Diversifying your content is crucial; consider incorporating a variety of engaging formats and information such as informative videos, available specials as gifs, current deals or promotions in carousels, upcoming events with links to more info, special and fun days with staff in the mix, captivating images or time lapse across the kitchen pass, and getting to know the team behind the venue. You can share behind-the-scenes glimpses of your club’s activities, providing a genuine and relatable insight into the passion that fuels your collective endeavours.
In addition to showcasing your club’s achievements, share inspirational quotes that align with your values, fostering a positive and uplifting atmosphere within your online community. Offering practical tips and advice related to your club’s activities and shared interests not only positions you as an authoritative source but also enhances the overall user experience and desire to engage in the real world.
The ultimate goal is to create a content mix that not only captures attention but also encourages active engagement, prompting followers to tag, like, comment or share your content with their networks. By consistently delivering valuable content, you cultivate a loyal and engaged audience, solidifying your club’s presence as a go-to source for enriching and shareable social media experiences, which will roll into physical world experiences they will want to be a part of.
3. Engage with your community
Finally, don’t neglect the social aspect of social media. The whole point of social media is to connect with and engage your followers and community. Make sure you reply to comments and messages promptly and use social media as a way to have conversations with your members, visitors, and supporters. Don’t underestimate the massive value social engagement can have on your bottom line.
When your followers feel heard and valued, they’ll be more likely to engage with you and share your content with others, which in turn means they will be more likely to visit the club, recommend it to friends and spend their valuable time and money with you over your competitors. And with the current decline in disposable income, you will want to be people’s first thought for entertainment.
With these tips and ideas in mind, your community club can start to hone your social media strategy for 2024 and beyond, to truly take advantage of one of the most cost-effective tools in your marketing arsenal.
Remember to leverage special days and events to generate buzz, choose the right social channels, create valuable content, and engage with your community. By following these tips, you’ll be well on your way to a successful social media plan that will help you reach more people, grow your membership, increase your bottom line, and have a positive impact in your community.
If you and your team would like some support to make the above happen in your venue for 2024 and beyond, get in touch with Lauren by email or call 0490 332 462.
