JJ Abrams is known for many things, but one legacy follows him into each new project: the lens flare.

WAIT, before you go watch The Force Awakens for the 14th time, let’s examine why JJ’s lens flare is important here.

Create Your Consistency on Snapchat

While I certainly do not suggest incorporating lens flares into your video and image efforts (unless they would really add to the overall result), JJ’s use of them has a valuable takeaway for all of us.

When you are consistent in any medium, you generate a few valuable characteristics for your audience:

Credibility. Your audience will see you as an authority on whatever topic you wish to share because you share it every day (or at least very regularly).
Reliability. Whatever else happens in the world, your “lens flare” – wherever you share it – forms a foundation for your audience. That may seem sappy, but it’s amazingly true.
Relevance. Sure, you could just share content that’s completely off the cuff, and that often works great for organic reaction. But by putting in effort to provide a consistent presence or element to your audience, you show them they are important enough for your time & creativity.

Examples of Lens Flare on Snapchat

The best Snapchat Stories, in my opinion, create an expectation of content. I’ll give you a few examples which keep me coming back for more (scan their codes to see what I mean!):

Each day, CammySutra takes us on a walk through the streets of Glasgow, Scotland on his quest to find street musicians.

Snapcode for Cammy Sutra: cammysutra6 | Really Social Blog — Snapcode: cammysutra6

Sandra Centorino creates a new challenge for her Snap friends each week called #PSS: Pay-It-Say-It-Forward.

Snapcode for Sandra Centorino: sayitforward | Really Social Blog — Snapcode: sayitforward

The first Snap for Rachel’s Itsasnaptv each morning is seeing her handwrite the date on her writing pad.

Snapcode for Rachel: itsasnaptv | Really Social Blog — Snapcode: itsasnaptv

Joel Comm has added his #10FastSnaps segment to each day where one-second Snaps guide you through a specific place.

Snapcode for Joel Comm: joelcomm |Really Social Blog — Snapcode: joelcomm

And possibly my favorite is JoeWilsonTV ushering each day with a song accompanying his cat, Mike, with the fast-forward filter applied.

Snapcode for JoeWilsonTV: joewilsontv | Really Social Blog — Snapcode: joewilsontv

How do you find your lens flare?

This might be a very organic or a very planned undertaking, but I’d start with your regular day.

Is there something you do just about every day anyway?
When are you most thoughtful or creative? Can you translate that into content?
What is a moment or phase of the day which truly reflects your personality?

Once you think you’ve struck upon an idea, your next question is: how can I use the app (e.g. Snapchat) to present this to my audience regularly? You may or may not want to add a hashtag title to your new segment, though presenting it consistently may allow it to stand on its own.

If you have more insights about how you arrived at our own lens flare, please share it below! Let’s help everyone find what works to keep their audiences engaged.

OK, now you can go watch The Force Awakens. Enjoy the lens flares! OH, and don’t forget to follow me on Snapchat:

Really Social & Rachel Moore on Snapchat (Snapcode) — Snapcode: rachelreallysoc

Over the weekend, Hootsuite shared out their blog post, Why We Sent a Single Tweet 44 Times. (Great headline, right? My neck involuntarily pitched my head sideways when I spotted it.) Mission accomplished, because I clicked to read the blog.

Hootsuite discusses the practice of repeating (duplicating) content because “how people use social media, particularly Twitter, has changed. It has developed into a discovery channel where audiences come to find content.” They refer to Guy Kawasaki, a social media monolith who supports repetitive content sharing in his social practice. (I encourage you to read the Hootsuite blog, in spite of what I’m about to type; they have great tools and insights for social media marketers.)

Don’t Dupe Just Yet

I don’t think everyone should take to their social media plan and hone their Ctrl+C/Ctrl+V speeds – at least not yet. Here’s why: both Hootsuite and Guy Kawasaki have no shortage of followers: 6.73 million and 52.8 thousand, respectively – and that’s just on Twitter.

When you’ve got an enormous following you’ve already cultivated, resharing the same content can make sense because due to the sheer numbers of your followers, the statistical probability that most of them will see that one tweet posted just that one time is uber slim.

So what if you’re not Hootsuite or even Guy, and you’re still building your audience? This is where I stick with the notion that social media is still first and foremost a conversation at heart – especially if you’re still cultivating your followers.

Date A While Before You Dupe

Think about it: you meet a new person for coffee or lunch. The other person, for the most part, likes what you say and share, and so you make plans for a future date. If things go well, you create a regular relationship to where they feel you are credible and interesting. Even if they don’t adore 100% of what you share, they stick with you through the months and even years. At that point, once you’ve developed the relationship, you’re far more likely to be forgiven a repeated thought tossed in amidst the rest of your riveting material.