Elevating social media content with a ' creative hack session ’ 

 Challenge and selection 

 I work at an agency , where I oversee a large team handling social media for a number of well- known brands . A large part of the work revolves around creating impactful , relevant content for   their respective target audiences . This involves my planning and creative teams working   together to come up with content themes and ideas for each brand , create a content calendar   ( i.e. the copy and visuals that will be published on the various social platforms during that   month ) and shared with clients for approval . The monthly calendars are based on key   communication pillars we align on with clients at the beginning of each year as they set the   tone for our content strategy . This process has been in place for years and it was working ﬁne until a few months ago ; my   team started getting a lot of mixed feedback about content calendars for one brand , and   despite revisions clients were still unhappy with the content . My team started arranging calls to   go through the calendars and discussing them on a more regular basis , as well as pressing for   clearer feedback from clients as it was often vague and open to interpretation . There were   minor improvements , but it still did n’t solve the problem- clients were unhappy and they   started doubting our capabilities . 

 The challenge was to get everyone on the same page for social media content , so that we   deliver the product clients expect from us and regain our client 's trust and satisfaction . 

 The tool I decided to use for to address this challenge was visualization . Clearly emails and   discussing the content was not working , so by using pictures and charts we can explore and   really understand our clients ’ visions for their brand . It would also have clients get more   involved in the thinking process and feel like they have greater ownership over the direction of   content on their social media channels . 

 Application 

 I designed a series of visual thinking exercises and arranged for a ‘ creative hack session ’ ,   where I invited the brand marketers ( our clients ) as well as the creative team and senior   planners to take part in a workshop . The format was as follows : 

 - Everyone was handed a booklet containing the various exercises - I explained each exercise and what they need to do - Participants spent an allocated amount of time to work on the exercise - We then went around the room and each person talked / showed what they did . Discussion 

 was encouraged , and any questions to further clarify were asked by facilitators . 

 The ﬁrst part was about establishing the communication foundations for the brand-   communication objectives , brand role on social media , and the the market gaps the brand is   looking to tap into . 

 The second part was audience proﬁling . In this exercise , participants were asked to ﬁll out a   bio , and really think about this person beyond their age and gender- where did they go to   school ; what kind of neighborhood did they live in ; how many languages did they speak ; what   was their social life like ; and what were their hobbies ? I used pictures of celebrities ( e.g. the   cast of ‘ Friends ’ ) to get the ball rolling , so they can start thinking about whether the audience is   more like a ‘ Rachel ’ vs a ‘ Pheobe ’ or someone else entirely . Based on past experience , I ﬁnd a   common reference not only helps discussions but also oﬀers a good starting point where they 

 Elevating social media content with a ' creative hack session ’ 

 can ‘ edit ’ rather than start from scratch ( which clients often ﬁnd diﬃcult and end up with an   ambiguous outcome ) . Participants were also asked to think about the state of mind we wanted the audience to be in   when they were viewing our content ( e.g. attentive , relaxed , indulgent ) , and what their   surrounding environment was like ( e.g. alone , with friends , in a social setting ) . This would   provide us with further insight into how our clients think about the target audience and the   context they ’re looking for in social media content . 

 The third part was discussing the visual tone of the content . A series of images from past   content we created , as well as content by the brand from other parts of the world and   competitor content was shown to participants , and they were asked to mark the ones that ﬁt   the brand in green and which ones did n’t in red . 

 After doing the ﬁrst three exercises , participants would have a better idea of the brand   direction , so the ﬁnal part of the workshop was for them think about the content pillars for the   brand , keeping in mind all the discussions and previous exercises . They were presented with 3   boxes on a sheet of paper to write the pillars in , as it would force them to prioritize messaging . 

 Insight and Approach 

 The ﬁrst workshop we did was not only a hit ( the clients loved it ! ) but also a real eye - opener .   From the ﬁrst exercise we realized that our clients among themselves were n't aligned on the   brand ’s role and purpose , which was the root cause of dissatisfaction ! Each marketer had a   diﬀerent point of view on the brand- and hence the content- which resulted in mixed feedback   relayed to my team ! 

 The audience proﬁling was very helpful as well ; with each proﬁle we were able to visualize the   person our content needed to address . Next time though , I would reﬁne my approach in this   section by having post - its with the various audience attributes and have them choose which   ones characterized the target audience . I found that my clients ca n’t necessarily articulate what   they have in mind , and so they need a starting point so they can ‘ edit ’ from there . 

 The visual tone exercise really dug into why clients did n’t like a piece of content and loved   another . For example , we found that while we were on the right track with the playful attitude   the brand has , the context was n’t quite right . We also learned that for certain scenarios it   needed to be in a social setting , as well as focusing on the people vs the activity we ’re talking   about ( e.g. a woman boxing vs boxing gloves hanging inanimately ) . 

 The feedback and input from clients during this workshop was extremely valuable , which was   greatly aided by visualization tools . The whole process led to evolving the way we plan   content- from simple pillars to a full-ﬂedged framework that allows clients to also see sub- pillars and context of content , all under the umbrella of the brand role ( which they are all   aligned on now ! ) . We also developed clear guidelines of what we should do ‘ more of ’ and ' less   of ' for tone of voice as well as visual tone . 

 Since implementing the new framework , there have been dramatic improvements in content   and clients are thrilled with the work presented to them . We ’re no longer receiving feedback to   revise them as now everyone is on the same page . I learned how much easier it is to unify a   point of view using visualization as everyone sees the same thing and would interpret it the   same way . 


EMAIL: 
ID_NUM: 
NAME_STUDENT: 
PHONE_NUM: 
STREET_ADDRESS: 
URL_PERSONAL: 
USERNAME: 

### Task: You are a PII (Personal Identity Information) Detection. Given a essays written by students, you have to identify ONLY the following:
NAME_STUDENT - The full or partial name of a student that is not necessarily the author of the essay. This excludes instructors, authors, and other person names.
EMAIL - A student’s email address.
USERNAME - A student's username on any platform.
ID_NUM - A number or sequence of characters that could be used to identify a student, such as a student ID or a social security number.
PHONE_NUM - A phone number associated with a student.
URL_PERSONAL - A URL that might be used to identify a student.
STREET_ADDRESS - A full or partial street address that is associated with the student, such as their home address.
### Input: Elevating social media content with a ' creative hack session ’ 

 Challenge and selection 

 I work at an agency , where I oversee a large team handling social media for a number of well- known brands . A large part of the work revolves around creating impactful , relevant content for   their respective target audiences . This involves my planning and creative teams working   together to come up with content themes and ideas for each brand , create a content calendar   ( i.e. the copy and visuals that will be published on the various social platforms during that   month ) and shared with clients for approval . The monthly calendars are based on key   communication pillars we align on with clients at the beginning of each year as they set the   tone for our content strategy . This process has been in place for years and it was working ﬁne until a few months ago ; my   team started getting a lot of mixed feedback about content calendars for one brand , and   despite revisions clients were still unhappy with the content . My team started arranging calls to   go through the calendars and discussing them on a more regular basis , as well as pressing for   clearer feedback from clients as it was often vague and open to interpretation . There were   minor improvements , but it still did n’t solve the problem- clients were unhappy and they   started doubting our capabilities . 

 The challenge was to get everyone on the same page for social media content , so that we   deliver the product clients expect from us and regain our client 's trust and satisfaction . 

 The tool I decided to use for to address this challenge was visualization . Clearly emails and   discussing the content was not working , so by using pictures and charts we can explore and   really understand our clients ’ visions for their brand . It would also have clients get more   involved in the thinking process and feel like they have greater ownership over the direction of   content on their social media channels . 

 Application 

 I designed a series of visual thinking exercises and arranged for a ‘ creative hack session ’ ,   where I invited the brand marketers ( our clients ) as well as the creative team and senior   planners to take part in a workshop . The format was as follows : 

 - Everyone was handed a booklet containing the various exercises - I explained each exercise and what they need to do - Participants spent an allocated amount of time to work on the exercise - We then went around the room and each person talked / showed what they did . Discussion 

 was encouraged , and any questions to further clarify were asked by facilitators . 

 The ﬁrst part was about establishing the communication foundations for the brand-   communication objectives , brand role on social media , and the the market gaps the brand is   looking to tap into . 

 The second part was audience proﬁling . In this exercise , participants were asked to ﬁll out a   bio , and really think about this person beyond their age and gender- where did they go to   school ; what kind of neighborhood did they live in ; how many languages did they speak ; what   was their social life like ; and what were their hobbies ? I used pictures of celebrities ( e.g. the   cast of ‘ Friends ’ ) to get the ball rolling , so they can start thinking about whether the audience is   more like a ‘ Rachel ’ vs a ‘ Pheobe ’ or someone else entirely . Based on past experience , I ﬁnd a   common reference not only helps discussions but also oﬀers a good starting point where they 

 Elevating social media content with a ' creative hack session ’ 

 can ‘ edit ’ rather than start from scratch ( which clients often ﬁnd diﬃcult and end up with an   ambiguous outcome ) . Participants were also asked to think about the state of mind we wanted the audience to be in   when they were viewing our content ( e.g. attentive , relaxed , indulgent ) , and what their   surrounding environment was like ( e.g. alone , with friends , in a social setting ) . This would   provide us with further insight into how our clients think about the target audience and the   context they ’re looking for in social media content . 

 The third part was discussing the visual tone of the content . A series of images from past   content we created , as well as content by the brand from other parts of the world and   competitor content was shown to participants , and they were asked to mark the ones that ﬁt   the brand in green and which ones did n’t in red . 

 After doing the ﬁrst three exercises , participants would have a better idea of the brand   direction , so the ﬁnal part of the workshop was for them think about the content pillars for the   brand , keeping in mind all the discussions and previous exercises . They were presented with 3   boxes on a sheet of paper to write the pillars in , as it would force them to prioritize messaging . 

 Insight and Approach 

 The ﬁrst workshop we did was not only a hit ( the clients loved it ! ) but also a real eye - opener .   From the ﬁrst exercise we realized that our clients among themselves were n't aligned on the   brand ’s role and purpose , which was the root cause of dissatisfaction ! Each marketer had a   diﬀerent point of view on the brand- and hence the content- which resulted in mixed feedback   relayed to my team ! 

 The audience proﬁling was very helpful as well ; with each proﬁle we were able to visualize the   person our content needed to address . Next time though , I would reﬁne my approach in this   section by having post - its with the various audience attributes and have them choose which   ones characterized the target audience . I found that my clients ca n’t necessarily articulate what   they have in mind , and so they need a starting point so they can ‘ edit ’ from there . 

 The visual tone exercise really dug into why clients did n’t like a piece of content and loved   another . For example , we found that while we were on the right track with the playful attitude   the brand has , the context was n’t quite right . We also learned that for certain scenarios it   needed to be in a social setting , as well as focusing on the people vs the activity we ’re talking   about ( e.g. a woman boxing vs boxing gloves hanging inanimately ) . 

 The feedback and input from clients during this workshop was extremely valuable , which was   greatly aided by visualization tools . The whole process led to evolving the way we plan   content- from simple pillars to a full-ﬂedged framework that allows clients to also see sub- pillars and context of content , all under the umbrella of the brand role ( which they are all   aligned on now ! ) . We also developed clear guidelines of what we should do ‘ more of ’ and ' less   of ' for tone of voice as well as visual tone . 

 Since implementing the new framework , there have been dramatic improvements in content   and clients are thrilled with the work presented to them . We ’re no longer receiving feedback to   revise them as now everyone is on the same page . I learned how much easier it is to unify a   point of view using visualization as everyone sees the same thing and would interpret it the   same way .
### Output: 