Emily in Paris: The Dos and Don’ts of Social Media Marketing
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What is Emily in Paris?
Netflix is renowned for its binge-worthy series. From sitcoms to dramas, the streaming platform has something that will make everyone forget ‘portion control’ and devour a series in one sitting.
One of the latest in this lineup is ‘Emily in Paris’, a girly rom-com series filled to the brim with high-end fashion, Parisian backdrops, and frivolous love affairs. Love Rosie’s Lily Collins stars as ‘Emily Cooper’, the driven, and (perhaps fatally) optimistic marketing executive who leaves her life in Chicago behind when she unexpectedly lands her dream role in, you guessed it, Paris.
The Social Media Frenzy
Now, I must admit, ‘Emily in Paris’ isn’t my usual cup of tea, but after the drop of Season 2, my TikTok For You page was flooded with commentary. People expressed a wide range of opinions on the series. Some were outraged at its inaccurate portrayal of French culture, whilst others were in awe of her outfits, recreating them at affordable prices. The TikTok algorithm had catapulted me into the depths of Emily in Paris-Tok. But it was TikTok’s like these that really captured my attention…
@biteable Ib: @Brittney Bertier #smm #socialmediamarketing #socialmediamanager #socialmediamanagerlife #socialmediamanagercheck #socialmediamanagertiktok
As a Social Media Executive, the idea of having a pop-cultural reference for my industry was fascinating. I wanted to watch out of pure curiosity – how was my career being portrayed? Was it as trivialised as TikToks like this made out?
And one fateful Sunday afternoon, I caved…
After a solid few weeks of compulsive viewing, I had completed the first two series. (only to be met with a frustrating CLIFF HANGER. But we won’t go there…)
Emily’s glamorous socialite lifestyle provided some light relief to my weekday evenings. (Think modern Sex and the City vibes.) But as a Social Media Executive, I definitely noticed some interesting faux-pas when it came to Emily’s work. Viewing the series from the lens of my role on Embryo’s social team gave me an interesting perspective. I think there are some valuable lessons that can be learned from the series for people looking to start their career in social media.
So here they are, the dos and dont’s of social media marketing, as revealed by Emily Cooper herself.
1.Do take time to build an effective strategy
A recurring point of criticism of the series from people in the industry is Emily’s lack of social media strategy, and I wholeheartedly agree.
Where was her research? Her KPIS (beyond vanity metrics)? Her reporting/monitoring?
Whilst spontaneous posting/being in the moment does come into play for certain clients, this is underpinned by a cohesive and well thought out strategy.
2. Don’t rely on buzzwords
One thing I really noticed is that Emily has a tendency to rely on buzzwords in client pitches. (‘gorgeous content’, ‘authenticity’)
This isn’t to say that these words shouldn’t be used, but rather that oversaturating your speech with them is ineffective . My advice to Emily would be to really focus on illustrating the value that she would be creating. (I can send her a fantastic google slides template for her pitches if she needs it.)
3. Do engage with your audience
We see a lot of Emily’s process of creating content, and gaining followers and likes, but we don’t really see her engaging with the audience that she builds.
Replying to comments, and interacting with the followers that you have gained is crucial in order to build a sense of community, and to keep those numbers growing.
4. Do have fun creating content
One rule of thumb for the social team is that if you wouldn’t engage with it, why would anyone else? Content creation should be enjoyable, and you should be excited about the ideas that you’re presenting to clients. There will always be ways to make social media content engaging, or interesting to look at.
Whilst I don’t think that some of the content that she shares would do as well as portrayed (e.g random mums in athleisure going viral…?) I do commend her excitement for creating content, and willingness to be spontaneous.
This is a big no-go. Also, she just seems to pluck the hashtags that she uses out of thin air. Hashtags should be used with real thought. Make sure they’re specific and relevant to your brand.
It can be easy to fall into the trap of working all day, every day in digital marketing. This is especially true for those dealing with e-comm clients. There will always be results coming in, and things to monitor. Emily seems to pride herself on her inability to switch off, which I don’t think as a good thing.
You should always strive to have a good work-life balance, and to manage your working hours efficiently.
Concensus
All in all, the series is obviously harmless.
I should imagine Emily Cooper is to social media marketers what Carrie Bradshaw is to writers and journalists. Of course, the job has to be glamourised to a certain extent (45 minute episodes of me sat in the office with my meal deal wouldn’t be particularly interesting) BUT I do think that the series had a platform to really showcase the industry. A little bit of realism for Season 3 wouldn’t go amiss.
If you’re thinking about getting into digital marketing, check out Embryo’s vacancies here.
