Hootsuite blog article
Anyone who has been a part of managing social media channels understands how challenging it can be to flush out a well-thought out and strategic content calendar that effectively engages audiences. After all, most brands try to post quality content every single day, if not multiple times a day depending on the platform, which just adds to the volume of content competing for attention.
This process is made much easier and more valuable to your brand/organization by creating a content strategy as part of your social media strategy (check out these blogs from Sprout Social and Hubspot to help get you started). A key part of this content strategy is leveraging both created content and curated content. Created content is produced by the teams managing your brand’s accounts and platforms, whereas curated content is gathered from trusted sources that are relevant to your industry (Social Content Curation vs. Creation, n.d.). Curated content can come from both inside the organization, like other departments and employees, and outside the organization, like fans and influencers. One very important thing to remember is that “consumers are 2.4 times more likely to view user-generated content as authentic compared to content created by brands” (Newberry, 2019, para. 5). Additionally, it’s easier than creating your own (Clarke, 2018)!
With all of the Disney Parks across the world currently shut down, the brand’s social channels have leveraged a great mix of created and curated content, including the use of user-generated content. What’s more, the professionals behind these channels have found a way to cleverly integrate this content into an integrated campaign that brings comfort, joy, and a bit of magic into the lives of Disney fans during this challenging time. Let’s take a look.
Here is an example of a video curated from an Animal Kingdom Cast Member named Katelyn, who works at Kilimanjaro Safaris. This video has received 409,331 views to date on the Walt Disney World Instagram channel alone. Please note the use of both the #DisneyCastLife and #DisneyMagicMoments hashtags.
Walt Disney World’s Instagram account also posted a created video about continuing to fly the flag over the Magic Kingdom, also utilizing the #DisneyCastLife and #DisneyMagicMoments hashtags. This video has received 480,945 views to date.
The Disney Parks Blog Instagram account posted a video that creatively combined both curated and created content. They took home videos from fans (external) and put them together in a fun way with Walt Disney World Ambassadors, also utilizing the #DisneyMagicMoments, resulting in 23,785 views within the first 5 hours.
Lastly, the following Disneyland Instagram account video is a form of both internal curated content and created content. It brings the voices of the Dapper Dans into the homes of fans and includes the hashtags #DisnetCastLife and #VoicesFromHome. This video has received 332,422 views to date on this account alone.
While Instagram was the only platform covered here, posts leveraging both created and curated content have been appearing across all of Disney’s platforms and accounts. As you will likely note, these videos are linked through several hashtags, including #DisneyMagicMoments and #DisneyCastLife. Additionally, the tone of all these posts are fun, uplifting, and share that Disney spark with the brand’s audiences.
Other brands/organizations can learn from Disney’s use of created and curated content, both from both a creative and strategic standpoint. Ultimately, leveraging both kinds of content within your content strategy will unlock new possibilities, save some time, and help better connect and engage with audiences.
References
Aboulhosn, S. (2019, September 27). How to craft an effective social media content strategy. Sprout Blog. Retrieved from https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-content-strategy/
Clarke, T. (2018, October 24). The complete guide to content curation: Tools, tips, ideas. Hootsuite Blog. Retrieved from https://blog.hootsuite.com/beginners-guide-to-content-curation/
McGill, J. (2019, December 6). How to develop a content strategy: A start-to-finish guide. Hubspot. Retrieved from https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/content-marketing-plan
Newberry, C. (2019, March 12). A marketer’s guide to using user-generated content on social media. Hootsuite Blog. Retrieved from https://blog.hootsuite.com/user-generated-content-ugc/
What is Social Content Curation vs. Creation? (n.d.). Hootsuite Academy. Retrieved from https://education.hootsuite.com/pages/content-curation-vs-creation
7 Responses to Disney: A Case Study in Leveraging Created and Curated Content