November 8, 2016 • Jason Dressel
The truth of the matter is, heritage can be very impactful in content marketing and social media, specifically. As an advocate for companies and brands using their heritage, I’ve heard positive feedback from clients regarding the use of historical content in their social strategies:
“A 1960s photograph of a nurse that we posted on National Nurse Day was the single best performing piece of content we ever posted [on Facebook].” ─ Communications Executive for a Fortune 100 Pharmaceutical
“Whenever we post content that conveys heritage, authenticity and craft, it does really well. Better than our promotion of technology and products.” ─ Marketing Director, Equipment Manufacturer
“Marketing may not always like it because of their emphasis on current product lines, but our images from the archives of old designs and classic fashion always performs better and gets more comments.” ─ Social Media Manager, Luxury Retailer
I’d like to see a substantive social media study that assesses the performance of heritage, and by channel. If you’re familiar with one, please share it with me. One day The History Factory may commission one. In the meantime, this past summer we had an intern conduct an informal assessment to gauge my theory that historical assets are one of the greatest secret weapons for social marketers. Consistently, we found that history and heritage-themed content seemed to attract more engagement and commentary than other content. Is it possible this was a self-fulfilling prophecy or the results of an intern angling for a job? Perhaps. But, nevertheless, here are a few notable examples selected from Facebook. These examples are not heritage brands like Coca-Cola, Mercedes or Levi’s, which one would expect to generate strong engagement.
All of these examples reinforce many reasons why heritage is a secret weapon for social media marketers:
Consider these tips if you’re picking up what I’m laying down that heritage can be good for social marketing:
Properly deployed, heritage is a content marketer’s friend. Try it for yourself and let us know how it works!
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