Reactive social media is something we’ve seen a lot of recently and was considered a growing trend in 2020 after everyone turned to social at the start of the pandemic. When done well, this type of content can really pay off, but it doesn’t come without its risks.

Let’s start from the top. What is reactive social media?

A timely piece of content that responds to a trending topic or of the moment situation, whether an original post or simply responding to another’s.

Let’s take the infamous Weetabix and Heinz post from last week. 

https://twitter.com/weetabix/status/1359074254789165059 

Within minutes brands were flooding in with their responses, some genius, some comical and others just responding to be part of the conversation. Of course, some brands will have been in the know to help the post take off the way it did, but doing this opened up the conversation to everyone, starting a trending tweet and giving community managers a chance to shine! 

But time is of the essence when it comes to reactive social, the sooner you react/respond, the better your content will perform. Take the TikTok Tortilla trend for example. One person’s hack became the hype on social, with everyone giving it a try, and allowing brands such as Mission the perfect opportunity to jump on board.

https://www.tiktok.com/@missionfoodsuk/video/6917613042876599554 

However, it’s not always about the trends. Reactive social can be used as the perfect way to respond to a situation that didn’t always go to plan. 

If you’re a watcher of our Serious Social videos then you’ll be in the know about the technical issues we were faced with on Friday – in true remote working fashion! But, we didn’t let that dampen our spirits. No, we saw this as an opportunity to have a bit of fun, get creative and make the best out of a bad situation.

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:6766004441549180928 

Reactive social can range from anything like jumping on a hashtag, creating content for a specific day or holiday such as Pancake Day tomorrow or joining in with unrelated conversations online. But to be reactive you have to be in the know. You have to be on social for it to work. Sometimes it might not work the way you wanted, but where’s the fun in always playing safe? Be smart, be bold and have a bit of fun!