Social Media

What 2017, Year of the Rooster Means for Social Marketers

2017 is the Year of the Rooster on the Chinese Zodiac calendar, commonly known as the Farmers’ Calendar. In the digital age of social media marketing, it is also relevant for marketers and content creators looking to tap into new markets.

What 2017, Year of the Rooster Means for Social Marketers

The Year of the Rooster officially arrives on February 3, 2017, about six days after Chinese New Year. Social marketers interested in appealing to new markets should jot down the following characteristics of the Rooster. After all, there’s a pretty good chance some of your customers are born in a Rooster year, such as 1969, 1981, 1993 and 2005.

In Chinese culture, the Rooster represents punctuality and integrity. Therefore, it is said that people born in this year are watchful, dedicated and kind-hearted. They are also independent, truthful and even funny. This is often reflected in order, stability and neatness. They exert self-confidence that draws many people toward them. This is probably why they’re always in the spotlight.

People born in a Rooster year tend to do very well in the Year of the Monkey. Since 2016 was the Year of the Monkey, Roosters are probably coming off a great 12 months in terms of career, wealth and relationships. Successful content managers may want to tap into the year that was for Roosters, and how they can build off that success in 2017 and beyond. However, that won’t be easy, as the Rooster Year doesn’t particularly bode well for Roosters.

If you’re a Rooster, years that correspond with this zodiac sign tend to be rather unlucky in all aspects of life including career, wealth, love and health. For content marketers, this is a unique challenge. How do you highlight the previous year’s success while also warning of imminent risks over the next 12 months?

While there’s no easy way to go about this, marketing strategies that emphasize careful planning, budgeting and flexibility may be effective. If you offer a product or service that can help Roosters plan and budget more effectively, you may have a better time appealing to this target market during a down year.

According to Chinese zodiac experts, Roosters tend to be more career-oriented when compared to others. They have multiple talents and are very ambitious. Excellent career choices for Roosters in 2017 are teacher, business owner (i.e. entrepreneur), salesperson, athlete, travel blogger or hair stylist. For content marketers, this is a lot to work with.

Regardless of whether you take the Chinese Zodiac calendar seriously or not, it does inspire great conversation and can help you think about your target market in unique ways. Your outreach will likely be more literal if you’re directly serving the Chinese market. If that’s you, the theme of the Rooster will be much more apparent in your marketing and outreach. For the rest of us, the Year of the Rooster provides unique food for thought in our global marketing campaign.

What is your birth year? Tweet me @Charli_Says