How shopping centres should be inclusive when it comes to social media

Today we're in Belfast looking at how competitions should be inclusive on social media. This is Castle Court Shopping Centre in Belfast and it hosts a variety of great stores and loves to be very visual on social media and to promote the stores. On Mother's Day they created a more inclusive competition that would speak to a much more modern customer than ever before. What they did was they recognized that mum is different to different people, that you have stepmoms, grandparents, aunts, siblings and lots of other variations of that mother figurehead in people's lives who simply wouldn't be recognized traditionally by Mother's Day marketing. So they created this competition here. So let's have a look at it. So they started off with a show stopping image, which is great, and it shows you exactly what you're going to win. And then it says at the beginning, for all, all those who mum in inverted commas, this is a treat for you. And then they go on to say, we know that those who mum come in lots of different shapes and different varieties and we're here to celebrate you all. And then it explains what they've got to give away. And then it says that you've got to tag a deserving mum. And by mum they mean literally anyone in that mother figure role. Then you've got to make sure you're following their page share to stories for additional entry. And then they go in and explain and tag all of the businesses that each of the products are from, which is fantastic. And then they go in and explain when it's going to be picked. So basically it takes every single traditional box. In terms of competitions, it's a great one. However, what I loved about it and why I think it did so, so well is actually because it is inclusive. So although it's a really simple mechanic and a strong image and it's easy to understand, it's clear when all the winners will be announced. And it's a very winnable competition, which is great. And tagging in all the retailers means that the retailers are much more likely to share on their fees. Again, fantastic. They saw an opportunity to include more people, basically everyone in this competition. So not just your traditional mum role, they saw that those people who are discounted, whether they're a stepmom or whether it's a grandparent or someone bringing up children, they saw an opportunity to celebrate everyone and therefore much more likely to be shared, much more likely to be engaged with. So it's a really, really strong mechanic and I think any business should just and remember that all families are made up of different shapes and sizes of people and different structures. Therefore, we need to get with the times and lead from the front to connect with our customers. And as you can see, it worked. Lots of people tagging in and just some really lovely emotive comments that you couldn't get a better mommy than you. Lots of people saying, happy Mother's Day. Not just my mummy, but also the best nanny. It's just beautiful. So it's heartwarming. It connects with more people and it's just a really, really strong competition. So any business can follow suit by just being more inclusive and thinking about what the modern family makeup actually is when they're doing any competition or content. Now, if I was Castle Court, I would want to have a look at what, you know, my social media is doing well, so I'd want to have a look at what other maybe shopping centres in my area, what their social media is doing as well. So what they were doing. So it might be, say, Victoria Square in Belfast, this is another shopping center and I would add them to my dashboard, add them here like this. And what this does is it gives me my content on the left and then their content on the right, and then I can start competing, which is amazing because it helps me benchmark what I'm doing versus what they're doing, what my best post is versus what their best post is, and how many likes and how many comments did their best post get versus mine? It tells me what days they're posting, where they're posting. It helps me compare in terms of ranking, it helps me understand where the peaks and troughs are in their week versus my own. I can look at the hashtags that are being used and it just gives you not only inspiration, but also might help you look at where you're doing really well and where you might be able to improve as well. Now, as always, if you've got any questions whatsoever, simply click on the little blue button in the maybe dashboard. We love to help. We.