Buttholes Be Damned! Companies, Build Followers and Enhance Engagement

The model, one of five performers assembled for a seminar on social media, shrugged. She’d been sharing a tale of woe – her Instagram account, which had had approximately 650,000 followers, had randomly and unceremoniously been shut down. Luckily, she still had her Twitter, which, though shadowbanned, had nearly as many friends and fans.

“By being myself, by talking with my fans — and by sometimes showing them pictures of my butthole,” she answered with a laugh.

From my seat in the audience, I couldn’t help but wonder… Certainly this wasn’t all about the model’s butthole? I mean, there’re variable approaches to social media. Some say “no buttholes” — as in, don’t give explicit content away for free. Others suggest placing all your cards on the table, strategically. But what if one’s butthole-sharing strategy wasn’t even a question because it wasn’t even a possibility?

For brands without a human proxy, this is often the case. Consequently, social media strategies must be formulated accordingly.

We asked the masterminds at Evil Angel and Gamma Entertainment about building up followers and augmenting engagement in the absence of buttholes. What are some of the most effective strategies for brands without a human proxy to build their social media presence?

Liz at Evil Angel recently took over the company’s online marketing, including managing the company Twitter account, @EvilAngelVideo.

According to Liz, the following are the three most effective strategies for brands to build their social media presence.

1. Promote your product and be consistent

Liz said: “[Evil Angel is] an adult entertainment company, so a lot if not all of our posts are going to be about that. People follow us to see what new scenes we have out, what new movies are coming up and the sexy talent. When I post a new scene, I tag the talent, director and link to the scene. I like to add a small sexy description on what’s going on in the scene to make people intrigued and hopefully make them want to click the link.”

2. Time out your posts

Liz said: “We have fans all over the world, so we make sure we have tweets going out at all hours of the day and night to cater to everyone. We also don’t want to overwhelm people who follow us, so we space out our tweets.

3. Engage

Liz said: “I try to interact with fans when they comment on our tweets or simply thank them for being a part of Evil Angel. I think that makes them feel appreciated. I meet a lot of fans in person when I work at [expos], so putting a face to the Twitter name is cool when I get to talk to them. Also, doing a contest here and there to give out signed DVDs or merchandise [is effective].

Insights from Liz point to three-dimensional thinking. This includes being mindful of the needs and diversity amongst people who consumer your products, as well as taking care to make sure people know there is a real human behind the content-curtain. The need for mutual interactivity is a common theme that comes up often in today’s world. Social media, not surprisingly, is no different.

Example of an on-brand, socially relevant tweet with good engagement.