ONA MEDIA / FEED

Call Us Crazy If You Want, But We’ve Turned PESTO into a Social Media Framework

Who here knows the recipe for Susi’s Homemade Pesto

Just 3 seconds into her 75-second video, as Susi finished her opening sentence, “Call me crazy if you want, but I’ve never liked store-bought pesto…,” thousands of users began interrupting her by stitching their videos with actual crazy stories – the original video now has over 9M views! 

No, we aren’t here to over-analyze the virality of this trend.

Following a caffeine-infused morning marketing meeting here at Ona, we made a little homemade PESTO of our own and decided to share it with you. 

Here are five things you should know about the recipe for success on social media. 

P – Platform Selection

Choose the right social media platform that aligns with your target audience and content type. You must create at the intersection of audience desire and algorithm – none of this one-size-fits-all platforms approach. 

E – Embrace Trends

Stay updated on current trends (conversations, platforms, etc.) and join relevant conversations. Feel free to ride the wave of viral trends while staying authentic to your brand. Let’s face it: stitching Susi’s infamous pesto recipe isn’t for everyone and certainly not for every brand, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t trends happening among your audience and within your industry that are the right fit for you. 

The better understanding you have of who your brand is will help you identify which trends to embrace. Also, we have similar thoughts to Design Scout on brands and humor

S – Shareable Content

To create shareable content means, you have to know what your audiences want to share. It’s time to embrace the unsexy part of social media and do the research to get to know who your audience is online – as people – and create for them. We talk more about research for building an effective marketing strategy in our free template here

T – Test

A/B test different elements of your content, such as headlines, images, and posting times, to optimize your strategy continually. Pro Tip: You can post about that article more than one time. Consider different formats, storytelling angles, people you can tag for amplification, etc., and analyze trends in what people respond to more frequently. 

There are also some great AI tools that we’re going to talk to you about in our upcoming post, “Tricks and Treats for Using AI for Better Marketing.” Subscribe to our newsletter to be alerted. 

O – Optimize for Performance 

Beyond leaning into what is working via your testing, optimize using platform features. Optimizing social media posts through platform features like tagging can significantly enhance organic visibility. You can increase your content’s reach and engagement by strategically tagging relevant accounts, using trending hashtags, and harnessing new features such as Instagram’s Reels or TikTok Stitches.

 Leveraging these tools boosts discoverability and demonstrates your adaptability and creativity to algorithms, fostering a more robust online presence and community.

We hope you made it this far that we didn’t get interrupted 3 seconds in like (not-so-poor) Susi and that you are walking away with a few actionable ingredients for social media success. 

Need help? We’re here.