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Okay, this is pretty coolâIâm giving a free digital talk next week on the future of social media! Agorapulse invited me to give the closing keynote at their Agency Summit! Iâll hit on emerging platforms like Mastodon & Lemon8 & what they mean for your brands, why organic reach is back, Twitter predictions & more, along with a 30 min AMA afterwards! You can register for your free ticket right over here. |
As much as I wanna wax about Across The Spider-Verse (which is maybe my new fav movie of all-time?), letâs talk about social. |
How Sesame Street launched on TikTok How to win free social consulting for small businesses Where social should be placed in your org
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âJack Appleby |
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How Sesame Street launched on TikTok |
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I grew up a Sesame Street kid (even though I was terrified of Cookie Monster). Maybe lanky kid me related to Big Bird? Maybe still relate to Big Bird? Jokes that arenât jokes aside, the show has entertained and educated over 80 million Americans over its 53 seasons, watching several generations grow into adults who tell their kids how to get to Sesame Street. |
TikTokâs grown up as well. Far too many marketers casually claim itâs a Gen Z app, when in reality over 53% of TikTok users are 30+. Thatâs why it made so much sense for Sesame Street to start Tokingâthey can reach the grown-ups whoâve harbored those fond memories, but only engage the brand by comfortably tossing their kids in front of the tube. |
Letâs take a look at how Elmo & Oscar hit 1 million views in 4 days, 19 million views in a year, and grew to 500,000+ followers in 365 days. |
The content strategy |
Sesame Street kinda nailed their content pillar thinking by keeping it simple. As you peruse their TikTok, youâll notice most pieces fit into one of three types: |
Original content: totally new pieces starring Sesame Street characters, usually tied to TikTok or cultural trends Nostalgic content: fan-favorite scenes from the show with little to no edits Engagement content: intentional swings at encouraging TikTok user-generated content via attempted viral sounds + videos that encourage stitches + duets
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Featuring âThe Talentâ in trends |
The open secret of brand + team sports social: itâs tough to secure the spokespeople or pro athletes to make original content for social. Most companies donât give social teams enough support in this area, choosing to tippy-toe around celebs & stars instead of confidently asking for their help to make great marketing. |
Fortunately, Bert & Ernie seem plenty comfortable lending their time to TikTok. Itâs clear that Sesame Street has prioritized their social, securing the puppeteers, voice actors, and presumably the showâs writers in the name of content. |
Take this Fit Check TikTok from B & E. Itâs so great! And it rightfully earned all 1.5 million views by blending creative strategy (understanding a cultural trend + a platform trend) and blending it with fantastic writing (classic banter from our favs). Thatâs not just a team effortâitâs a full company effort, and itâs makes for great results. |
 | Watch now on TikTok | @sesamestreet | All this drip, and itâs not in the bathtub! đ§đ #FitCheck #OOTD #Bert #Ernie #SesameStreet |
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The 1st TikTokâs always a wave |
Itâs customary for a brandâs first TikTok to be a hello of sortsâa self-aware introduction, often referencing TikTok itself within the content. Take Fortniteâs 1st TikTokâthe caption literally says âYou called? Weâre now on TikTok đâ alongside a trending audio Earth, Wind & Fire x Post Malone clip. 20.5 million views and an immediate jump in following. |
Sesame Street recruited their own Yip Yip Martians to kick off their Toking. I giggle every single time I watch this clip. |
 | Watch now on TikTok | @sesamestreet | Yip, you read that right. #SesameStreet is on TikTok! đ |
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Caveat time: while I think this moveâs worth doing for every brand, those with significant brand awareness & equity certainly have an advantage from the tactic. Seeing Sesame Street joined TikTok drives more follows than your B2B SaaS company joining TikTok. |
Play your greatest hits |
Honestly, your TV show can build quite the following by just reposting scenes from the show. Check out Communityâs TikTokâthe show hasnât ran for years, but theyâve reached 400k followers by just recutting clips for vertical video. Sesame Streetâs got a vaultâs worth of episodes ready to be cut up, like The Pigeon Song. |
 | Watch now on TikTok | @sesamestreet | Youâre either doing the pigeon, or the pigeonâs doing you. đđș #OldSchoolSesame #TBT #SesameStreet #Dance |
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The most liked comment on that TikTok: âoh my god, I just unlocked a core memory.â Itâs the ultimate nostalgia content because itâs literally the content we saw as kids. You canât beat that! |
Planning ahead |
Okay, I know weâre running long today, but I want to specifically call out one element of preparation for Sesame Streetâs TikTok launch. The show had 40+ videos specifically made for TikTok before they posted their first piece of content. No flying by the seat of their pantsâthatâs at least a month in the bank. |
Iâve seen a weird trend in social media manager world of arguing that real-time content should be a bigger % of our overall content strategies. No. No, it shouldnât. We should always have the flexibility to call audibles and create extra content to leverage moments, but you do that by having a bunch of content already prepped. |
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Free social + brand consulting?! |
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Iâve always enjoyed working with Paysafe & am excited to partner up again. Last time around, I wrote a social for small business 101 series for their blogâthis time, they had an even better idea. |
Weâre offering 5 small businesses free consultation sessions with me! Whatâs moreâthose winnersâ stories will be turned into editorial + video content for my social + the Paysafe blog, so youâll also get some free promo. |
Interested? Just sign up right here. Weâll choose winners shortly! |
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Social Cues |
There are so many social big thinkers out there, writing all kinds of amazing strategies, analysis, and breakdowns. All ships rise with the tide, so here are a few reads from other places I think you could learn from. |
No, you canât just stick content anywhere in your org (Social N Sport) |
Social media is a function of marketing. Itâs related to PR, itâs tied to operations⊠it can touch every part of your company, but where itâs placed within your company matters quite a bit. A great read from Jess Smith on how to ladder your social team to your org. |
The first social-media babies are growing upâand theyâre horrified (The Atlantic) |
We knew this day would comeâwhen the kids of millennial parents woke up and realized their faces are all over the internet. A great read & wonder on documenting kids before they know theyâre being documented. |
Free social consulting sessions for small businesses?! (Paysafe) |
I wanna help small businesses learn social, so I teamed up with Paysafe to offer 5 SMBs free consulting sessions, which weâll turn into blog + video content! Sign up via the above link. |