It’s time your social channel unbuttoned its shirt, threw off the tie and sat down on a plantation chair with a gin and tonic – and spoke to your audience the way they want to be spoken to.

What works on social media doesn’t always fit in your traditional marketing strategy. Social audiences love candid content. They also respond well to transparency and originality. But these values aren’t typically associated with conventional marketing plans.

Help is at hand; today we’re featuring Captain Blackbeard. He’s a salty sea-dog who grew his social audience to over 26K followers on Instagram and has over 6000 Facebook fans. Now, we don’t need another Captain Blackbeard in our life, but we could all definitely learn some lessons from his social media strategy. He’s creative, interesting and totally real; something our social accounts could benefit from.

Here are his top 10 tips for setting sail on social media. They are featured in the next issue of The Captain magazine. The feature was written in response to readers and marine clients who want to grow and engage with their social audience…

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Captain Blackbeard begins…

This is your Captain speaking! Stop blowing spitballs and passing around pictures of the PE teacher. Listen-up, because there’s a test on Friday and anyone who fails will be walking the plank … BRRRRR!!

BE WARNED. Social media can be highly addictive. Just ask my wife! Use social media to capture your cool story, but don’t let it dictate your story.

KEEP IT FRESH & INTERESTING Tickle people’s minds like an octopus tickles a piano. Keep people guessing and don’t repeat the same stuff over and over and over and over and over again. See, boring, isn’t it?

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WIN WITH FAILS Everyone loves a fail. I ate it on the ocean stones and everyone loved it …BRRRRR!! Didn’t cry (much).

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POST DURING ACTIVE TIMES If you’re trying to market a product this will help you get noticed by more people. Dud post times = dud reach. Do your homework on when people are frothing. Sunday evening is generally a winner.

POST OFTEN The more you post, the more you will show up in other people’s feeds. It’s just like fishing, kiddies!

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TAGGING I’ve never been keen on tagging. I don’t need others to #ridewithmyideals, but hey, it seems to work for others.

FOLLOW LIKE-MINDED PEOPLE You’ll get heaps of cool ideas, whether it’s sports, music, boating or fishing. They’ll tend to follow you back, too.

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HECKLERS & HATERS I’ve had my share of hecklers over the years. Don’t take their comments to heart. It’s usually just jealous rage. Now, where’s my cutlass? BRRRRR!

KEEP IT REAL Don’t mess with the original image by adding extreme filters. Also, try to work different angles. Change it up to catch the eye.

POST WHATEVER MAKES YOU HAPPY Stay true to yourself. It’s not all about the likes.

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That’s all for today. Class dismissed. Now hand me over those pictures … BRRRRR!!

 

 

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