8 social media best practices for conscious brands inspired by a concert

Inspiration for your ethical & sustainable brand’s social media strategy can be found all around you, if you know what to look for!

I went to see French singer Julien Doré in Paris recently and was struck by what a great showman he is and how surreal it felt to see so many people reunited in one space for such a joyful experience. But more than that, I couldn’t help but notice the similarities between various aspects of his show and some of the best practices I recommend to, and implement for, my clients for their purpose-driven brands.

Here are 8 aspects of French singer Julien Doré’s recent concert to apply to your social media strategy (if they aren’t already!).

Click on any of them to skip straight to the section where we dive deeper into how they were incorporated into the concert and how I can picture them integrated into your social media strategy, or keep scrolling to read them all.

1/ Amplify the voices you believe deserve more recognition & think your audience will appreciate as much as you do

2. Collaborate with others who have similar target audiences and/or values

3. Lean into what makes you unique & show off your personality

4. Incorporate parts of your personal life & story

5. Be honest about how you’re feeling or what you’re going through

6. Acknowledge & highlight those who’ve helped along the way and behind the scenes

7. You can take a stand on important issues & acknowledge difficult things happening in the world… while also spreading joy & positivity

8. Encourage your audience to actively participate! It’s more fun for everyone & creates a strong bond

Allons-y !

(that’s Let’s go! in French)

1. Amplify the voices you believe deserve more recognition & think your audience will appreciate as much as you do

For a concert, that can be who you choose to have as an opening act

For conscious brands: Sharing your love (in stories or posts) of other conscious businesses, inspiring accounts, amazing eco & ethical activists, associations & initiatives whose causes resonate with your brand values.

2. Collaborate with others who have similar target audiences and/or values

For a concert, that can mean having guest performers come on stage for certain songs. In Julien Doré’s case, he had fellow French singers Clara Luciani & Eddy de Pretto come on for a song each.

For conscious brands: Co-creating something together (whether it’s an event, a piece of content or something else entirely). For example: going live with another conscious business owner or making a post / video / reel together. This collaboration can also go deeper than just social media.

3. Lean into what makes you unique & show off your personality

For a concert / performer, that can be through the outfit(s) you wear, your signature look, your song lyrics & music style, the stage decor, etc.

For conscious brands: Embody your brand’s personality and values through the topics you take on, the style of your photos / graphics, the words you use…

4. Incorporate parts of your personal life & story

For a performer like Julien, that can mean incorporating your dogs into the concert creatively & dedicating a song to family members.

For conscious brands: Talk about why you started your biz, why your brand values matter to you, how you got to where you are today, etc. You can also feature your kids, pets, plants, hobbies… in a way that you’re comfortable with & that makes sense for you, your brand & your audience

5. Be honest about how you’re feeling or what you’re going through

For a performer, that can mean admitting you’re tired after a demanding part of the concert & that that’s why there’s a piano interlude at that moment.

For conscious brands: Talking openly about things you want to improve in your business or if there’s something major (good or bad) going on in your personal life. Honesty & transparency are powerful, perhaps more so than ‘perfection’.

6. Acknowledge & highlight those who’ve helped along the way and behind the scenes

For a concert, that can mean singing tributes to your late mentor & the show that launched your career or thanking all those who made the show happen (+ prominently featuring the photos/names of everyone, from the band to catering, etc.)

For conscious brands: Presenting your team, suppliers, biz partners… Bonus points if you share why they’re so great to work with.

7. You can take a stand on important issues & acknowledge difficult things happening in the world… while also spreading joy & positivity

For a concert, that can mean incorporating climate change into your song lyrics & video behind you on stage, or taking a moment mid-concert to acknowledge that things are complicated these days, from the pandemic to the war between Russia & Ukraine, the French presidential elections…) and then singing a moving song about togetherness and positivity.

“They’ll go on the ice cap, spend a few summer months / Photograph a few beaches, for a little cash.” Julien Doré – La Fièvre (lyrics translated from French)

For conscious brands: You can talk about your brand’s conscious values and how you implement them, share resources for local & global issues that matter to you & your audience… but also posts & stories that make you smile, good news, hopeful messages. The key is to do it mindfully & for the right reasons.

8. Encourage your audience to actively participate! It’s more fun for everyone & creates a strong bond

For a concert, that can mean getting your audience to sing along to (or take over singing) several songs and interacting with them in different ways throughout the show.

For conscious brands: Asking your followers questions or for their preferences, their feedback, their experiences with your products / services and incorporating that into your business & social media strategy

Wrap up time!

These are just some of the best practices you can incorporate into an effective social media strategy for your conscious business. But these are not hard and fast rules to be applied to every brand on every social media platform. It’s important to customize your social media strategy to your own unique brand, your business goals and your ideal customers. I go deeper into all of that in this article, if you want to give it a read.

I’ll leave you with this excerpt from Julien Doré’s 2017 interview in the Tribune de Genève (translated from French to English) as further food for thought:

“How can I tell myself that, for thousands of reasons, my generation won’t take care of this nature for the one of tomorrow, potentially for my children? How can I accept the idea of not fighting so that what’s left lasts a bit longer? We still have the possibility to preserve it.”

A great reminder that, whether we are performers, business owners, or something else entirely, we all have the power to act positively to help preserve this beautiful world of ours for as long as possible.