Thematic cover image detail, designed by Wunderman Thompson creative team.
This social STRATEGY in Numbers:
Strategy Overview:
— ABOUT THE CLIENT
A technology company that requires little introduction, Microsoft is an American multinational corporation with a clear mission statement: To empower every person and every organization on the planet to achieve more. It fulfills this purpose by developing and selling computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services.
— CHALLENGE
2020 was a challenging year for most brands. However, companies like Microsoft saw the lockdown as a growth opportunity for their products and services portfolio. Admittedly, with offline touchpoints being entirely off the table, this task required a complete strategic overhaul. Add to that the Facebook and Instagram ad boycott of the #StopHateforProfit campaign, and we're off to a tricky start.
— CONTENT SOLUTION
As the social media content lead, I provide my local Community Managers with a monthly content calendar to localize per market/channel. Microsoft currently counts over 70 social media channels across the MEA region. Some serve a generic brand position while others target specific niches like developers, students, teachers, or IT pros. It was essential to assign an exact role and narrative for every page to streamline the localization process from the get-go.
To organize the plethora of on-hand business objectives, I assigned a specific theme per month. This breakdown helped me establish a straightforward monthly storyline to guide followers across various Microsoft pillars while painting a clear, more in-depth picture. Let's say I'm tackling Data & AI as a theme; I can include every product that falls under it while also making space for success stories, facts, highlights, and discoveries that serve this product's narrative.
The rest of my job is a delicate balancing act. I have to set my thematic content pieces, include global Microsoft events/happenings, make room for ad hoc requests, inject engaging content to buff up my organic efforts, and maintain a consistent tone.
Monthly Themes & content Storylines:
Monthly themes help sharpen communication to hit business and marketing KPIs. When the COVID19 crisis hit, Microsoft MEA stakeholders worked together to nest all upcoming marketing efforts under the "Forward Together" campaign. I then adapted the campaign's targeted objectives into monthly narrative themes that tell a relevant, seasonal story. For example, December focused on business continuity during the holidays, and our back to school month helped students, school decision-makers, and educators tackle hybrid education. Here are some of these themes designed into cover images:
Thematic & Ad Hoc Conversion Content:
Conversion posts take up a vital portion of the monthly ad hoc and thematic content. Here are some examples of the link preview designs that I work on to help this format resonate with our target audience: Catchy copy, bright branded color palettes, and clean visuals come together to secure link clicks.
Summary Video Content Templates:
Animated videos are a great tool to boost engagement while summarizing the essence of any content piece. For this reason, I make it a point to include as many vibrant animations as possible within my calendar, this especially when working with in-depth, technical content.
Friendly Engaging Content Templates:
To connect with a younger audience, Microsoft shifted its tone slightly on social channels. I capitalized on this pivot by creating a template for some of these friendlier posts that stands out in feeds while hinting at the referenced product with an unmistakable color palette. As a result, we can quickly adapt corporate content and create our own while keeping everything visually coherent and authentic to our brand.
Corp. Content Curation:
A big chunk of my responsibilities consists of scanning global Microsoft channels for content that will resonate in the region and fulfill business objectives. This content can range from pre-produced campaigns to images or videos. Once selected, I make sure to seamlessly integrate these fragments as part of my content strategy. Here are some examples of these corp. curated posts:
