8 social media teams to watch

Gone are the days of handing off social media to the company intern. The scope of social media positions has ballooned in the pandemic, with teams having to quickly jump on cultural trends in the right tone.

Among U.S. social network users, those ages 18 and older spend an average of 1 hour, 40 minutes per day on social media, according to an April 2022 survey by eMarketer. That's equal to the amount of time spent on social media in 2021, but up from 1 hour, 36 minutes in 2020.

Here’s a look at eight brands to watch on social media that have been successfully bringing their voices to platform trends.

BarkBox

BarkBox has managed to cater to a variety of pet owners depending on the social platform. For example, BarkBox’s Twitter focuses on images of dogs (or GIFs of Usher) with a funny caption. 
 

On TikTok, the company has focused on a video series of “rejected toys,” ranging from a peach to a centipede baby. 

“These unused toy sketches were just hanging out in a Google deck, so we thought it would be fun to show people what didn't make it into their boxes,” said Lauren Diener, BarkBox’s social media manager for TikTok. Viewers loved the series, and even pushed to have some toys made. “We received a flood of comments on one rejected toy in particular: the 'This is Fine' dog. We took our followers' feedback to the toy designers and we ended up making it.”

Chipotle

Chipotle stands out for using its social media presence to bring trends to the real and virtual worlds. For example, late last year a meme asking, “What if soap tasted like cilantro?” led to a limited edition soap bar that sold out in hours. The brand also tapped into Miley Cyrus’ new album campaign where fans said they would do anything—get married, get a tattoo—if Miley Cyrus commented on their TikTok. Chipotle said it would make a Miley burrito available, and it was in the app days later.

Chipotle has also driven viewers to Roblox for its Boorito event, and the Roblox replica of its original restaurant. 

The company recently introduced a new Watermelon Limeade by going live on TikTok and Instagram to explode a watermelon and lime using rubber bands. “Going live is always intimidating, but we were confident the unexpectedness would hold the audience’s attention and bring some joy to today’s social media landscape,” said Candice Beck, director of social, influencer and Web3 at Chipotle. The chain also asked fans on Twitter to photoshop the new drink into viral photos, and the internet did not disappoint.

E.l.f. Cosmetics

E.l.f was one of the early brands to get onto TikTok. The beauty industry had to revamp during the pandemic—how to make a very physical try-on experience something customers could do from home? On TikTok, the brand has partnered with beauty influencers, or influencers who just sometimes make GRWM (get ready with me) makeup videos, to show off e.l.f products. Recent ones that did well included using products in unconventional ways and a “lazy person” makeup routine.

Last September, the brand acronym was part of a Daily Double Jeopardy question. Then-champion Matt Amodio answered, “Ears, lips, face" rather than "eyes, lips, face." The brand embraced the fumble, changing all of its social logos to ears, lips, face.

“This was one of those moments as a social team that you pray to the social heavens for,” said Alexandria Kasper, senior manager of integrated marketing communications at e.l.f. Beauty. “We had one of those ‘once in a lifetime’ moments that social media was organically responding to and having fun with.”

The brand also recently launched a new line of products called Game Up, aimed at the gaming community, which is the current banner on its Twitter profile. It also loves to remind followers to reapply that sunscreen.

Jack in the Box

Jack in the Box has taken a few pages from other successful brand profiles and implemented them well. To start, the brand TikTok features a 3-D Jack head worn by team members, giving viewers a common face in videos. The brand has also hitched its wagon to the Jack Harlow train, similar to Duolingo’s lust for Dua Lipa.  

“Social media changes all the time and it's no longer about chasing a certain amount of likes or a bunch of comments,” Mackenzie Abuyen-Nuestro, a social media coordinator at Jack in the Box, wrote in an email. “It’s transitioned to ‘how can I get to the Explore page? The For You page? To be recommended as a similar video?’ It’s not just about scheduling posts a month in advance. It’s about being relevant now, tapping into trends, and being culturally relevant.”

Jack in the Box recently tapped into the fan base of K-pop group BTS. The brand learned that BTS member J-Hope released an album titled, yep, “Jack in the Box.” Some tweets even got likes from the official BTS Twitter account.

Lionsgate

The Twilight Saga is alive and well on Lionsgate’s TikTok. The studio has multiple viral videos, many of them related to the “Twilight” movies, including outtakes and takes on trending audio. One video of Bella did particularly well using the “I’m alive, I’m dead” sound. 

The love for “Twilight” fits into TikTok’s nostalgia for Y2K, and is genuinely fueled by the folks behind the account. “Over time, 'Twilight' has become ‘comfort food’ for so many people; people love these movies so fondly because of what it gave them 10 years ago,” said Sebastian Crank, director of social creative and engagement at Lionsgate. “Our overall approach to our brand voice is always ‘we’re fans too.’”

Lionsgate Twitter has a lot of upcoming releases and movie clips, but it’s more fun when it poses questions to its followers.

MLB

The MLB has been clear that it’s looking for younger fans, and a major part of that push has been tuning into social media. The league has been capitalizing on popular audios, and not shying away from painful moments in the game. The MLB also recently hosted its Home Run Derby and All-Star Game, giving fans a chance to get to know individual players a little better beyond their walk up music.

Nutter Butter

Nutter Butter is one of the latest brands to enter “horny Twitter,” recently posting, “N is for the way you nut at me,” but then “apologizing.” The strategy is reminiscent of PBR’s “eat ass” Tweet, or RadioShack’s unhinged feed.

N is for the way you nut at me

Over on TikTok, the Nutter Butter team has put a twist on having a "face of TikTok," making a Nutter Butter the star of its videos, rather than a person, similar to Oreo and Sour Patch kids (all three brands are owned by Mondelēz International).

A few months ago, Nutter Butter’s April Fools' Day post went viral on TikTok. The video was aimed at people who are allergic to peanuts. Nutter Butter said they heard them, so just eat ... butter in the shape of Nutter Butters. 

PacSun

The basics of PacSun's social feeds are pretty straightforward—show off the retailer's clothes. Where PacSun has done well is bringing in smaller fashion influencers and partnerships to expand into other customer categories. It's made sure to loop in a few big names. Last year, the brand named rapper A$AP Rocky as a guest artistic director. The brand was also sported by Anna Sitar (and her then 11.5 million followers) at this year’s Super Bowl.

PacSun recently tapped YouTuber, influencer, and coffee-lover Emma Chamberlain to be part of its Spring ‘22 campaign. 

"Not only is she such a natural within the social space, we also caught her at a very unique time,” said PacSun’s MacDonald. “She recently deleted TikTok and took a break from YouTube, so her fans were hungry for new content from her, and it was pretty special that they were able to get that and reconnect with her through our social channels.”