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This season, our community has seen a strong increase in consumers wanting to get out on the water. RBFF has capitalized on this trend by partnering with Discover Boating for the Get On Board campaign, which is seeing incredible results so far. In fact, our web and social media metrics are through the roof! But these successes aren’t meant to be ours alone. We took some time with our Social Media Strategist, Maria E. Dominguez to get her thoughts on what is driving our success on social media. Here’s what she had to say:

Our audience is eagerly searching for fun, family-friendly activities – especially ones they can do outside of their homes. And with many of their friends in the same boat as them, having the content be memorable and sharable can really help a post catch on.

Let’s take a look at our July 17th Instagram post, where we adapted the Four Ms of Mental Health and applied them to fishing and boating.

 

 

 

 

View this post on Instagram

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Which “M” resonates with you? As we start moving towards our new normal, be sure to integrate activities that speak to the “4 Ms of Mental Health.” @doctorsuevarma lists these as: Mindfulness, Movement, Mastery and Meaningful engagement. Believe it or not, fishing touches each one of them! Share how you’ve been positively affected & achieved wellness simply by being outdoors.

This post was a huge hit with our audience, reeling in our highest number of post shares and saves, as well as driving record engagement and follows. The best part is, the success can be replicated by anyone by focusing on these eight key attributes:

• Purpose: the post has a clear purpose. In this case, shareability. It was crafted to make you want to share it to your stories or with someone you know. Purpose can vary per piece of content, so have in mind what you want your audience to feel, know and do before you craft the post. Thinking about this ahead of time will help you achieve your purpose.
• Audience: both fishing, boating, and wellbeing are aligned with our intended audience interests, so the post is appealing to anyone interested, or who knows somebody with these interests. Have in mind which of your topics are aligned with your audience needs.
• Relevance: Mental health was a huge issue in the U.S. even before COVID-19. During and after the pandemic, people will keep looking for ways to stay healthy. And because of its inherent qualities, fishing has become one of the best social distancing activities to practice during this time. People are looking for both mental health aids and social distancing activities, making this post doubly relevant. Think about relevant topics that align well with your brand purpose and messaging.
• Content: This post hits that sweet spot between what the audience wants to see and our brand messaging, so it’s genuinely authentic. If you were your ideal customer, what type of content would you be looking for on social media? If you find topics that align both with your audience and your brand, consider giving it a try.
• Format: This was crafted specifically for Instagram, presented on a native format to leverage platform features. Which native content usually performs better for you? Make sure to craft your posts with the platform and format in mind.
• Message: The message was crafted by thinking about how to add value to the audience with our brand message instead of thinking about a typical brand pitch. Key message is also reinforced by the visuals.
• Call to Action (CTA): In this case, the CTA was to share the content. When people share, your content reaches a wider audience, and if the content adds value, people are more likely to engage and follow. CTA can also change according to each post purpose.
• Hashtags: it has relevant hashtags for the post topic. Instead of loading a post with hashtags, choose the more relevant ones for better impact and keep just a few.

Following these principles has helped drive consumer engagement with our Take Me Fishing brand across all social media platforms. Now it’s your turn. Use our Get On Board Toolkit and these tips to get more people out on the water and drive revenue for your organization!

Maria Dominguez, a self-proclaimed “enthusiastic” Venezuelan communicator, joined RBFF in 2017. She has 12 years of international work experience in journalism, corporate communications, social media, public relations and radio production.