5 Thanksgiving Foods and Their Social Media Counterparts

Thanksgiving is here and like most Americans, our mind is not on the historical significance of the event, but on the historically significant amount of food we’ll consume. Amidst planning our own menus, we realized that each dish could accurately be pinned to a social medium. That’s just the way we are.

So read on…and hopefully social media won’t interrupt your family gathering like it did ours.

1. Turkey: Facebook

In most households turkey is the staple dish for Thanksgiving dinner. Without it, it seems the entire meal would fall apart.

Facebook is the same way. No social media strategy would be complete without a strong Facebook­–presence

for your brand. From social sharing to community engagement, Facebook is the biggest player of available mediums, and without it—you might as well be eating McDonalds.

2. Green Bean Casserole: Twitter

Green bean casserole is easy and quick to cook, but very difficult to master. Sure, anyone can combine Campbell’s soup, fried onions, and green beans to churn out casserole in less than 20 minutes. But it can take years to perfect the recipe.

In this scenario, Twitter is like green bean casserole. Tweeting out 140 characters may seem easy enough, but there is a strict science behind it that can lead to successfully garnering more leads.

Effectively branding your Twitter profile to drive leads back to an offsite landing page is a key best practice for any brand utilizing Twitter. The same way no one makes green bean casserole quite like grandma—no one knows your niche better than your brand.

3. Buttermilk Biscuits: Google+

The often­–overlooked Thanksgiving side dishes, like buttermilk biscuits, are still a critical component of any feast. They may not be the flashiest or most popular, but they offer a lot of utility for promoting and enhancing the rest of the meal.

Google+ offers the same experience. It’s not the most talked about social network, and it certainly isn’t the flashiest, but Google+ is an extremely critical component of any social media strategy.

Google’s social network was built partly to impact search results (meaning the greater the page activity, the higher your company ranks when key words are searched), while it also allows for creative market segmentation, and user engagement opportunities.

Google+ may not be your highest marketing priority for now…but, much like a biscuit, it’s very useful to sandwich in between other, more active networks.

4. Roasted Brussel Sprouts: LinkedIn

Ah, what a sad life a brussel sprout leads. Unless you’re really into blandness, brussel sprouts tend to be the most boring part of any Thanksgiving meal. In fact, their only real purpose is to inject a semblance of health consciousness into what is otherwise a testament to American gluttony. It’s a necessary, albeit trite, component of a meal centered on gluttony.

Similarly, LinkedIn might be all business, but it’s absolutely necessary for developing professional connections. Yes, it can seem boring and easy to ignore, but frankly, it’s the best tool out there for lead generation. So eat your vegetables and network on LinkedIn…you’ll be happy in the long run.

5. Sweet Potato Pie: Pinterest

The hotshot on the Thanksgiving scene, everyone is convinced they have no room for dessert until they stomach their shame and gobble down the sweet, mushy goodness that is sweet potato pie. The pie is also the most visually appealing of the Thanksgiving bunch. The next day, in between stomach cramps and shameful reflection, you’ll likely see photos of dessert plastered across social networks.

If you have any experience with Pinterest, you can tell where this is going. Pinterest is all about sharing images that present opportunities to gain utility from the site.

In order to attract visitors, you first need to post engaging pictures in your blog posts. Infographics and eBooks work well if you include eye–catching covers. Once posted on your board, you can drive traffic back to your landing pages by including embedded links in your images.

The name of the game is conversion, and if you’re not bringing people onto your site, there’s really no reason to be online—just like there’s no reason to eat Thanksgiving dinner, if you do not taste that sweet potato pie.