As social media coordinator for UT Austin, I'm always looking for content that is now - in the moment - and Longhorn-centric. If I make good use of this, Longhorns on Facebook (and other social) usually will take care of sharing our posts. For special occasions, like Mother's Day, I will look for content I can share but I do not always try to "capitalize" on holiday or special day moments. I couldn't resist wishing mothers a great day though.
FTD, and I'm sure other florists, sell burnt orange and white roses. I found the image (below) and added the standard greeting and a hashtag. Surprisingly (to me), the post did quite well, reaching nearly 300,000 people and counting, liked 6,700-plus times, shared more than 2,750 times and 108 comments (as of this writing). What was even more surprising was that 70 percent of the people who saw the post was viral - the number of people who saw the post in a story from a friend. Can we dare say viral?! Shareable media, in my opinion, not social media wins the day. Your brand message is spread and followers added when it's shared, not when people reply to the brand. Find your content that's immediately receiving likes, comments, and shares...the microviral content. Why did your audience like it? How can you replicate it with new content?
Thursday, May 16, 2013 
Pictured: Sol LeWitt, Circle with Towers, 1985/2012. Photo by Sandy Carson.