The Social Media Bucket List: 50 Things to do Before You Die

(Image source) This cute bird is gonna kick the proverbial bucket any minute. Tweet that, you fat blue budgie!

If you can do all of these, you’re officially Oli’s hero. Add up how many you’ve done and share in the comments. Whoever has the highest score gets a free hug!

And just so you know, this is intended to be quite ridiculous (with some useful insight added in here and there).

  1. Find someone who still uses MySpace…. Then slap them.
  2. Fill out your Facebook timeline with meaningful events – instead of the usual inane drivel you harp on about.
  3. Purposely set up an auto-follow on your Twitter account. The next day, your feed will naturally be filled full of nonsense – use this to inspire a ridiculous blog post.
  4. Figure out how to really use Google+. Then, actually use it. But don’t get too attached – after all, you’ve got better things to be doing before you croak it.
  5. Host a Google+ hangout – but don’t invite anyone – just talk to yourself for an hour.
  6. If you can’t figure out what a Google+ hangout is for (probably true after the last idea), get someone else from your field to co-host one with you. Then if you don’t get anyone showing up you’ll at least have one friend – and can repackage your mindless conversation as a podcast.
  7. Post a picture on Facebook of you doing the opposite of what everyone else in the office is doing. Like a headstand. (You might need help with the camera).
  8. +K someone on Klout who actually deserves it. On Valentines day. #CreepyMuch?
  9. Identify 100 business prospects by searching your Twitter feed. Then feel good about yourself for a day before you forget all about it and do something different.
  10. Use Skype to meet with a client or colleague on the other side of the world. TIP: have a shower first in case they want to turn the video on! Eww.
  11. Unfollow everyone on Twitter and start over, being more picky, like you would with *real* friends.
  12. Run a Facebook contest to drive follower growth. Go really big with the prize. It might be scary from an ROI perspective, but it could be a real game changer. As long as you’re getting people to do something for you by entering (such as writing a blog post) then you could even buy someone a house! (Too soon to joke about that?)
  13. Attend a Tweetup – and ask a really obnoxious and off-topic question in the Q&A session.
  14. Send a personal message to each of your Twitter followers. But only if you’re super unpopular. I think I’d die before I managed to talk to 24,000 people (did that sound smug?).
  15. Post a picture of yourself you would otherwise regret, like your fifth grade class picture complete with buck teeth and coke bottle glasses.
  16. Start a rumor of your death, sit back and watch the comments roll in.
  17. Cyber-stalk your competitors and copy their social media strategies, but make yours better. Unless of course, you;re a leader in your space, in which case you can just watch others do this to you.
  18. Try to weed out your real friends from your fake ones by posting a cryptic goodbye message and gauging who seems genuinely concerned.
  19. Go viral with video (cos it’s that easy right?). Think Numa Numa or All the Pregnant Ladies. Get creative. Told you it was easy.
  20. Check in to a prestigious conference on Foursquare. *Without* attending. Waaaaay more fun.
  21. Spend a day attempting to make your name a trending topic on Twitter. Enlist your friends and followers to help. This could go well with the fake death one.
  22. Find out what happened to the sparks tab on Google+. Srsly. Try to find it – without Googling it.
  23. Instead of thanking everyone who re-tweets your Twitter posts, reciprocate by re-tweeting a valuable post of theirs. They will appreciate it a lot more.
  24. Host a Twitter chat to answer your customers’ or prospects’ most burning questions.
  25. Actually read the emails you get from all the LinkedIn groups you joined in that moment of enthusiasm (instead of deleting them while you drink your morning coffee).
  26. Post a Facebook or Quora question and use it as market research. BTW good luck asking a good question on Quora without getting it rejected.
  27. Create a custom Facebook landing page and dare people NOT to like you – just to see what happens. Sort of like that classic “Don’t click me” ad.
  28. Post a bizarre image and tag every one of your contacts on Facebook. When they ask what it is, act offended that they don’t already know.
  29. Offer Facebook fans an incentive for liking your business page, such as a free product or consultation.
  30. Add a signup box for your company newsletter to your Facebook brand page. (That was one of the boring real tips).
  31. Tag other pages in posts on your Facebook wall to attract followers.
  32. Find a social media management app that meets every business need.
  33. Use LinkedIn Answers to establish thought leadership.
  34. Start a Quora group. (Do you even know what these are?)
  35. Post a Facebook note and track search engine results.
  36. Run a Facebook ad campaign to promote your brand page and see how it compares to Google AdWords or LinkedIn ads for your demographic. Then create an awesome infographic to compare the different networks. #LotsaInboundTraffic
  37. Use your social media prowess to benefit a charity. If you’re gonna die, you should at least do something nice!
  38. Create a Twitter list of all your company employees, so your customers can get a sneak peek at your company culture.
  39. Use Twitter trending topics to draw attention to your business (this is harder to do than you think while still staying relevant to your audience).
  40. Upload all of your interesting infographics, flow diagrams and other imagery to Pinterest.
  41. Add social sharing widgets to your content, including blog posts and static web pages. If you produce a lot of visual content – make sure you add the Pin It button (scroll down to the ““Pin It” Button for Websites” part”.
  42. Add one self-serving link per day to each social media platform you utilize.
  43. Join Posterous. Why? You ask. No clue really.
  44. Use Dlvr.it or Ping.fm to auto-feed new blog posts to dozens of social networks.
  45. Let your personality shine through. Drop the business persona and comment on real-world events that are meaningful to you. LolCats work wonders I find. :)
  46. Ask your followers to recommend you or your business to at least one new person. Ask and you shall receive. If you do this in a nice way you can see amazing results. Trust me, I’ve never done it.
  47. Add a Twitter favourites widget to your website to display tweets you’ve favourited. The key here is to only favourite positive customer comments on Twitter, to produce a stream of positive social proof. Yupi, awesome.
  48. Learn to use Pinterest as a business marketing tool. (Note, it’s got a current demographic breakdown of approximately 92% women – so consider that when you add content).
  49. Add an empty Google+ circle to create the social media equivalent of a list post. For example, 100 blogs about conversion rate optimization. Then share it on Twitter (cross pollination of networks can help get people more engaged with them).
  50. Create a Noob Guide to something (including an infographic and giant blog post in PDF format) and use viral methods to spread it on Twitter (case study here).

Oli Gardner & Angela Stringfellow

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About Oli Gardner
Unbounce co-founder Oli Gardner has seen more landing pages than anyone on the planet. He’s obsessed with identifying and reversing bad marketing practices, and his disdain for marketers who send campaign traffic to their homepage is legendary, resulting in landing page rants that can peel paint off an unpainted wall. A prolific international keynote speaker, Oli is on a mission to rid the world of marketing mediocrity by using data-informed copywriting, design, interaction, and psychology to create a more delightful experience for marketers and customers alike. He was recently named the "The 2018 Marketer to Watch," in the under 46 category, by his mother.
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