The daily Post

Last month, social media managers across the country likely opened their inboxes to find them flooded with meeting invites and subject lines titled something along the lines of “What is our Threads Strategy?”

As the new and currently ad-free social platform by Meta and Instagram has blown up the internet, growing exponentially over the last month, so have the questions about how brands can best use it as a marketing tool.

Here’s what we know so far:

The platform gained over 100 million followers (and counting) in just under a week and there’s no telling what Mark Z. has planned for it next. While the future of the app seems unpredictable, it’s no mystery that the text-forward platform is representative of a Twitter alternative, and most users are treating it as such. These early days of Threads feel intimate and personal, like a big group chat where everyone is posting exactly what’s on their mind. And because Threads is directly connected to your Instagram account, once you join your entire feed becomes populated with content directly from accounts you follow on Instagram or similar, curated content. The beauty of it is, it’s so new, so there’s no right or wrong way to use it.

How brands are using Threads 

Without an understanding of an algorithm or any prior metrics to guide them, many brands are currently applying similar tactics to Threads that they would use on Twitter, and even cross-posting the same content. Threads presents an opportunity for brands to create a more personalized connection with their audience. It gives brands the ability to communicate with their followers on a more human level. Brands can share behind-the-scenes moments and exclusive content, and easily communicate directly with their followers. This level of intimacy and exclusivity can help foster a stronger sense of community and brand loyalty.

Follower growth seems to be the main focus of these early days of Threads. With the option for users to auto-follow their Instagram following list on Threads, brands that have established a large following on Instagram may have an advantage in retaining their audience on this new platform. Some brands are even going a step further by offering freebies and incentives to their followers in order to gain more traction on the platform.

If your brand is ready to try out Threads, here are some tips to get started:

1. Solidify your brand’s Instagram presence

Right now, there’s a direct thread from Instagram to Threads (no pun intended), almost as if Threads is an extension of Instagram. So if your Instagram presence isn’t a huge priority for your brand, it’s time to make it one. First, you want to ensure you’re maintaining brand consistency in your Instagram profile details. That way, setting up your Instagram Threads will be easier because your profile information and settings will carry over. 

Additionally, your Instagram followers can be notified to follow you on Threads. The stronger your Instagram presence, the more successful you’ll have in your Threads launch. Not only that, but you can reshare your Threads to your Instagram Story or posts to encourage your current followers to find you on the new platform.

2. Take a look around 

Download the app and spend some time browsing to get a feel for things. Check out what your competitors are up to, and how other brands in similar or adjacent industries are using the app. What kind of content are they posting and which posts are getting the most likes, replies, or reposts? Look to them for guidance but also think about how you can put your own individual spin on it. 

This is definitely the time to observe and absorb, but don’t be a lurker forever. Even if you don’t have thousands of followers yet, someone will see your posts eventually, so try out a few different types of posts to get your voice out there.

3. Set Goals

While the recipe for success on Threads isn’t black and white, you can still establish goals within your team that give you some direction and framework to track against. Take this time to decide what you want to get out of Threads: is it brand awareness? More engagement? An increased following? And what metrics do you want those goals to be defined by? Let these metrics guide you through your approach, but also be open to trying new things and strategizing as you go, and as the platform grows.

4. Start interacting 

As mentioned before, Threads’ main feed is heavily curated and highly intuitive for each user, so now is the time to join conversations with relevant content and establish your brand within a community. This will help determine what types of content you’ll see as a user and likely promote your content to others in the same community or circle. Also, there’s a high chance your Instagram followers will cross over to follow you on Threads too, so this is your chance to start connecting with them right away with text forward-posts to get conversations started. This will be even more effective if you maintain a lighthearted, conversational tone and try to fit humor in when you can (memes always win)

5. Don’t overthink it!

We’re all learning this as we go, so there’s no right or wrong way to approach Threads. Don’t put too much pressure on it and try to have fun. If Instagram and Facebook are your core curriculum, right now Threads is recess. 

Overall, Threads presents an exciting new opportunity for brands to further engage with their audience in a more personalized and intimate way. As with any new platform, it’s important to approach it with an open mind and experiment with different strategies to see what works best for your brand. Good luck!

It should come as no surprise that TikTok is now the premier channel for brands to reach their most engaged audiences. TikTok is one of the most used social platforms today, and the buying power of its users is an opportunity that shouldn’t be missed!

According to Socialinsider, an average TikTok user spends 52 minutes per day on the platform, while 90% of users access it daily. 9 out of 10 TikTok users open the app several times per day. TikTok is outperforming Instagram when it comes to engagement, having an average engagement rate of 7.11%, six times higher than Reels. Overall, more users prefer watching videos and interacting with shared content instead of uploading content themselves. Knowing this explains why 40% of Gen Z now use TikTok for search instead of Google!

So as a brand, how can you capitalize on this? Check out our newest video on the dos and don’ts of TikTok (from the perspective of a pet brand) so you can build brand awareness, credibility, and engage with your audience in new, fun ways! No matter your industry, these tips are sure to help you kickstart your TikTok strategy today:

So how exactly do you get where you want to be in life?

That is the multi-million-dollar question for many people. Here is the 40-cent answer- you work your butt off (as if the title didn’t already give it away).

Yes, there are a rare few who are fortunate to be “naturally” ahead of the curve: the generationally wealthy, the born athletes and artists, the genius prodigies whose inherent intelligence and talent catapult them forward with relative ease. Let’s be generous and say this select group represents 5% of the population. What are the other 95% of us regular people supposed to do?

We work really hard at whatever it is we do. And we keep doing it.

The hard-charging work ethic has been coming under fire of late. For the past several months the Medias (Social and Mass) have been filled with stories of burnout, of quiet quitting, of people wanting less work and more life in their work/life balance, and of the joys of Zooming through your career in pajamas.

Yet the truth of it is this: practically anything worth doing takes hard work.

So perhaps it’s time we reversed course and celebrate working your butt off for what it is: a powerful, motivating, and oftentimes rewarding force that every single one of us can take advantage of. If we choose to.

We have all recently witnessed (or even participated in) the remarkable impact of a strong work ethic in action. During the worst of the pandemic millions of doctors, nurses, police officers, fire fighters, delivery drivers, supermarket employees, and many more collectively put their heads down and did whatever they could whenever they could to get us all through. We saw businesses of every category make extraordinary pivots, their employees changing operations practically overnight to supply the rest of us with crucial and much needed PPE. People at other businesses worked days, nights, and weekends just to keep their companies afloat when the bottom dropped out of the economy. This was the epitome of hard work at its hardest. Because of it all countless lives were saved, millions of people had access to vital resources, and many (though certainly not all) businesses withstood the devastating brunt of the downtown. None of this would have happened if so many people didn’t hunker down and work their butts off for the benefit of so many other people.

This is of course a macro example, perhaps the macro-est, of the power of hard work. It’s also a big reason that the idea of working your butt off should be celebrated, not questioned (and certainly not vilified).

So, let’s bring it back to something far more personal- to you getting where you want to be in life. How can working your butt off end up working wonders for you?

Here’s how…

• It makes you better at what you do. It’s simple math. The more times you do something, the better you get at it. In Malcom Gladwell’s terrific book “Outliers”, he writes about the 10,000-hour rule, which essentially states it takes 10,000 hours of intensive practice (work) to achieve mastery at something*. This rule can be applied to bricklayers, brand builders, brain surgeons, and everything in between. It can also be applied to you.

• It makes you more confident in what you do. You know that great sense of satisfaction you feel when you’ve accomplished something? You feel that a lot when you work your butt off, along with all the pride and self-assurance that comes from a job well done.

• It makes you more indispensable in what you do. As in “we don’t know what we’d do without you”.

• It makes you more rewarded for what you do. As in “please accept this well-deserved (raise/bonus/promotion) as a token of our appreciation.”

• It makes you surprisingly more work/life balanced in what you do. Nowhere here does it say working your butt off requires 14-hour days and weekends on top of that. This isn’t about hours, it’s about output- about producing whatever it is you produce at the highest level of quality you can. While the occasional extra hours can certainly help you get there, it doesn’t have to be the norm. Consequently, the more you produce at this level, the more satisfied with your efforts you feel and the less you think about work when you get home. The life part of work/life is always more fulfilling and enjoyable when you get ahead and stay ahead of the work

Two final thoughts on this. First, people tend to associate hard work with miserable work. It can actually be quite the opposite. The ongoing sense of accomplishment you achieve is an incredibly positive, energizing sensation that drives people to want to feel that more often.

Finally, everyone can have access to this powerful capability (if they choose to). There is nothing exclusive about a great work ethic. It transcends gender, race, income, religion, political affiliation, and yes even age. There is talk out there about the younger generation not having the same work ethic as previous generations. In some cases, this is true, but it’s also true with some people in every generation. I’ve had the pleasure of working with many young employees today who will run through walls to get the job done and then ask what more can they help with. Also, I am very proud to be the father of three 20 and 30-somethings who are the exact same way.

Encouraging evidence that working your butt off isn’t just the old-fashioned way of getting to where you want to be. It’s still the best way.

Here’s to enjoying every minute of it.

Marty Donohue
Founding Partner
Full Contact Advertising

* Just so your head doesn’t explode, 10,000 hours is by no means insurmountable. It essentially equates to 40 hours per week of work or practice for 49 weeks per year (with three weeks off for vacation) for just over 5 years to become a master at something.

Meet my current furry friend, Cheddar Cheese.

I am a lifelong pet owner.  I am also someone that thinks about brands and their business for a living. As I was researching the idea of inviting a dog into my home during the Pandemic, I found myself bombarded with pet product messaging. Whether it was traditional channels like TV and radio or the virtual takeover of my online and social feeds. I couldn’t stop seeing pet company marketing.

And what stuck out to me more than anything is that nothing stuck out to me at all. As a consumer it was all a bit of a formulaic blur. It goes something like this: Insert pet shots, introduce pet need/want, show pet interacting with product, pet and/or pet parent are happy.

Like this spot:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pYMtx1iRDA

Big picture, there is nothing at all wrong with this ad or this approach. It makes a ton of sense. Pet parents think about pet needs and want to find companies that can help meet those needs.

But I became so obsessed with the idea of pet marketing, we decided, as an agency to conduct a proprietary quantitative research study to explore that pet owner category a bit more.

The data was immediately clear, and it strongly supported the idea that pet parents are highly concerned about their pet’s physical health, and interestingly, also their mental health.

Source: Full Contact proprietary pet owner research, Nov 2022

But we also learned that as the isolated days of the Pandemic move behind us, pet parents are spending more time back at the office, traveling, or just generally leaving their homes or apartments more often. With all this “back to normal” happening, their concerns about the amount of time they are able to spend with their pets has also heightened.

Source: Full Contact proprietary pet owner research, Nov 2022

In short, pet parents are feeling more anxiety about their pet’s wellbeing today. They are thinking more broadly about the things that impact the world of their furry friends, like the amount of time pets now get to spend with their pet parents and even the overall mental health of their pet. Though these things may have always been in the mind of pet owners in some way in the past, the Pandemic has clearly heightened these concerns.

And now I go back to where I started, with the fact that the pet category is one that is plagued by a challenge that we, as marketers, often see: a virtual sea of marketing sameness. And what our own experiences, our categorical observations and our proprietary research have highlighted is that the time has never been better for this category to find ways to really break out of the norm, connect with pet owners in new and breakthrough ways and really build life-long relationships with customers.

Jen Maltby
Chief Strategy Officer
Full Contact Advertising

I’ve interviewed hundreds of people for every agency position there is: creatives, account people, strategists, producers, project managers, accountants, and interns. In practically every one of those interviews I’ve gotten around to asking the same question: have you ever waited on tables?

You’d be surprised how many people who answer “yes” know exactly why I’m asking the question. They get the parallel worlds that exist between the energizing chaos of agency life and a typical Friday or Saturday night in a restaurant. They also appreciate just how many soft skills they learned from waiting tables that could immediately be transferred into a career in advertising.

And here’s the thing: you have no idea you’re learning all those remarkable skills when you’re in the thick of it.

Between the time I graduated college with a BA in writing (“What the hell are you going to do with that?”, asked Dad) and my first job as a copywriter, I spent over five years working as a waiter. It turned out to be the ideal job at the time. It let me have my days free to work on my creative portfolio and go on interviews (lots and lots of interviews). Little did I know it would also be the ideal job for many other reasons.

Here are just a few things I either learned or learned to appreciate from being a waiter:

• Extreme multi-tasking: there is nothing like flying around a full station of tables on a Friday night to prepare you for the barrage of wildly assorted requests, responsibilities, and assignments you will face in the agency world. And just like the agency world, the more different the requests that get thrown at you, the better you get at handling them.
• Reading the room: everyone is feeling something at any given time. This is as true in a restaurant as it is in an ad agency as it is in life. Learning to understand the different moods, wants and needs of your customers and co-workers will go a long way in how well you treat them- and vice versa. It’s called empathy. Having this ability can work wonders for you.
• Rising above the weeds: so many things are happening at once when a restaurant gets busy. Every order has its own deadline. Each deadline gets compounded by the more tables you have This could make for an extremely pressure packed situation for you and your co-workers, one in which it would be very easy to panic and/or lose your sh*t. It is also a terrific opportunity to prove to yourself that you can keep your head down and motor through those weeds, just like you’ll need to do in advertising.
• The awesome power of teamwork: you will not get far in advertising without the help of your co-workers. Some of them will have different responsibilities from you, but their roles can be just as critical when it comes to you delivering at a high level. This type of synergetic relationship is remarkably similar to the busboys, bartenders, hosts and hostesses, chefs, line cooks, and food runners you need to constantly rely on to make you look great in the eyes of your customers.
• Treating every table like a new business pitch (because it is): From the time a customer sits down to the time they leave, you are not just pitching them the menu- you are selling them on you. How much you do to create a positive and memorable impression in the short time you have with them will go a long way in determining the quality of their experience (not to mention the size of your tip). Translated to agency life, the same thing could decide whether or not you get the chance to begin a wonderfully successful client relationship.

The similarities can go on and on, but hopefully you get the point. The restaurant business is an ideal training ground for a career in advertising. And believe me it sticks with you, as does the passion so many of us still have for the whole industry. It may also explain why Full Contact has been fortunate to have so many restaurant clients throughout our history.

Something else I never would have imagined when I waited on my first 4-top all those years (okay decades) ago.

Marty Donohue
Founding Partner
Full Contact Advertising