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Despite the celebratory cookouts, activities and cards shared over the weekend, dads weren’t quite feeling the love this Father’s Day – from brands, that is. Of more than 1,000 socially active dads surveyed in a recent study by Social Media Link, nearly two-thirds feel that moms steal the spotlight with Mother’s Day in May.
The majority of today’s parents use social media, often turning to these platforms as parenting resources. Though the mom audience is known to be more heavily engaged on social, the dad audience also maintains a strong presence here and shouldn’t be overlooked. The Social Media Link study revealed that men are more active on social as fathers than before they had kids – proving that the social arena is key for brands wanting to connect with dads.
But how do we reach them? Below are a few strategies to keep in mind when aiming to appeal to dads on social.
- Specify/get to know the generation. What generation of dads do you want to reach? Identify an era to focus on – every generation is different, and should be treated as such. Or, if aiming to tap the overarching dad audience, make sure you know enough about each generation that you don’t accidentally alienate one.
- Encourage existing habits. If you’re going to have an “ask,” make it an easy one. Dads are already sharing about their kids on social – 70 percent do so at least a couple of times a month, and 21 percent admit they have uploaded a video to YouTube with the intent of going viral. Share a message that aligns with your brand, but is also applicable to dads. Encourage them to share moments in fatherhood that relate to your campaign message. Offer an incentive to increase engagement.
- Enlist their biggest fans. Does your message transcend the dad-sphere? If so, expand your audience by inviting family members to participate by sharing about their dads. It broadens your participant pool, and encourages celebration of your key audience.
- Interact with contributors & content. Share/retweet/repost user-generated content that reiterates your message – it can tell a powerful story of brand loyalty. Encourage use of a unique hashtag to track these conversations and identify opportunities for interaction.