Many consider content creation to be the most important part of today's marketing strategies. It is estimated that 90% of companies are dedicated to content marketing buy personalized facebook comments, but few manage to create viral content on social networks.
We all know that social media management is cumbersome and that you need help to make the process easier. You may have invested a lot of effort in creating content for social media, but you haven't gotten the engagement you had in mind from your viewers and followers.
You can create engaging social media content, like an online flip book, without wasting energy, spending a fortune on a marketing budget, or abandoning your social media presence entirely.
In this blog post, we'll describe many ways to create engaging content that is more likely to spread on social media, how to create a social media strategy, rate some of the most popular social media content ideas, and which sites to share. use social networks.
What is content for social networks?
Content created by individuals or companies specifically to be shared on social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter is known as "social media content." Social media is about sharing information and transmitting it, whether photos, videos or texts. interesting.
Social platforms such as Facebook and Reddit are increasingly replacing traditional news sources such as television and newspapers. They are also an excellent marketing medium, allowing for more personal interaction with customers than traditional advertising methods. However, for maximum effectiveness, any social media content should be carefully targeted to your audience. This is easily achieved with a well-designed social media strategy.
The reach of content shared on social media channels can be significant, and the proximity to the user can make it more effective than traditional advertising. A good social media score can even improve your main website's ranking in search engines. However, content for social media has its own peculiarities and requires a separate approach from any digital marketer.
How to create a successful content strategy on social networks – 11 tips
Think about your target audience
You can't plan a social media strategy without analyzing your customer. Your social media posts should largely (but not exclusively) target members of your target demographic. For example, if your product is aimed at young men, posting on Pinterest probably isn't the best idea.
However, do not overlook neighboring followers on social networks or people who can influence your target market and, therefore, serve as a gateway to that audience: Pinterest users can, however, Repost your content if it's interesting. Being present on several social networks is not a problem, but you should focus on the main one. Any social media management platform offers a suite of useful tools that can help you segment your posts by groups and collect response data.
Choose the right social media marketing strategy
If you've developed a social media content marketing strategy , you probably already have an idea of which social media sites you're going to use.
When it comes to distribution, some content will work better on other networks. For example, 500 million users view Instagram Stories every day, making video the most popular type of content on Instagram, more frequently than photos. Similarly, most Facebook users prefer to watch videos instead of reading long text posts. And tweets with GIFs receive 55% more engagement than those without. For its part, LinkedIn, focused on business, prefers posts with a single multimedia element, such as a photo or video.
Provide customer service
Many brands publish content on social networks and provide links that do not attract the public. A crucial part of any social media content strategy is realizing that you have to strengthen relationships with your target audience and customers, talk to them and express your opinions. With social media, you can communicate with your target audience directly and personally.
Direct contact with customers is the best source of information about the position of your company, its services, its products, etc. Social proof is always useful data that you can use to improve your business, and with thoughtful feedback, many conversations can go viral.
tell stories
Stories, especially inspiring ones, have a great impact on people. You can spend hours convincing a customer that your product or service is fantastic, but if you tell them an interesting story, they will put themselves in the shoes of the protagonist.
When writing on social media, create a character readers can relate to, present a problem, and describe how you went through it. Although some social media platforms focus more on graphics, all can benefit from adding narrative elements. Facebook and Instagram are better suited for in-depth storytelling, often episodic, while Twitter's character count limits users to shorter texts.
Take care of the corporate brand
Creating a memorable brand is often the goal of marketing, including online marketing. A consistent design, such as visual style and graphics, is crucial. The impression a customer has of your company can sometimes be more important than the words he uses. A company can say “Hello friends, here is a new offer” or be very formal by saying “We invite you to learn about our offer” – this is also an element of corporate branding.
Branding is the voice of your brand. It's the way to connect with the people you're trying to reach. Your social networks and your image in general must be consistent in this sense if you want to maintain the interest of your target audience.
Determine your brand voice
It's a good idea to establish the brand voice and all the stylistic nuances beforehand. Start with the guidelines for writing content for social networks. Decide if it's worth adding emoji, for example, or if it's professional.
Determine the length of the texts: Sometimes long, exhaustive descriptions can be interesting, but in general, people prefer short content on social media that is to the point and witty. Consider which hashtags you want to use and how often: in Facebook posts they are less important, but on the other hand they make it easier to find content. However, on other social platforms like Instagram or Twitter, hashtags are crucial.
Additionally, establish some rules for creating coherent visual material. Think about acceptable logo variations and how to use them. Also, determine how much of each color to use and whether it should dominate your social media posts.
Add a graph
On Twitter, posts with visual content receive three times more likes and retweets. The average number of comments on a LinkedIn post containing an image is 98% higher. Many people respond first to images and then to text, hence the simple conclusion: your posts should always include visual elements.
Of course, this is easier on Instagram or Facebook, but even for professional content, it's a good idea to add interesting illustrations related to the topic. They may be stock, but remember that many people may have already seen the model, especially if it is free stock art. It is often better to use infographics, diagrams or even memes, videos or animated gifs.
Be useful
You may want to create viral content, but above all you want your readers and customers to truly benefit from the information you publish. Very few people will benefit from “hey, what's up!” posts.
You have to create content for social networks that really helps users by showing them solutions to their problems. Good solutions, interesting tutorials, tips, and discounts will earn their trust and keep them coming back for more, which is great for your social media strategy. When the information you provide is truly useful, it will be widely shared.
Use a content calendar
It's a good idea to prepare a content calendar that all your content creators can use to stay on track. By committing to a specific publishing schedule that you've organized in your content calendar, you've effectively made a promise to your audience. You're establishing a connection with them, and routine helps viewers get used to your posts.
If you're launching a new marketing campaign and need visuals for it, all members of the content and graphics teams can consult the calendar and prepare a coherent design according to the deadline. Schedule posts when it's convenient for your readers, usually after work or in the morning.
One of the most important factors for success on social media is a commitment to consistent content creation. Stick to a schedule: Post to multiple platforms based on your frequency of use. You can do this five to seven times a week on Facebook, a few tweets a day, a photo or video on Instagram each day, or a story on Pinterest. Keep in mind, however, that more important than content appearing regularly is that it be interesting.
Check the statistics
Feedback is an indispensable part of any strategy. After spending time and effort generating and distributing content on social media, it is important to check the statistics to determine what is working. You have to adapt the relevant statistics to your strategy. If you want more people to visit your website, don't focus on Instagram and visits, for example, because you can't post links there.
Consider what the reach of your content is, the CTR (percentage of viewers who take the desired action), what the engagement rate is. Your engagement rate is calculated by dividing the sum of all your interactions (likes, comments, and shares) by the number of your followers.
If you use hashtags in your content or social media marketing efforts, it's worth tracking their effectiveness to see how they affect your audience. You can analyze your most popular hashtags or the posts that gather the most likes and comments to see which ones are the most effective and have the most potential.
You can also check the performance of your content on social networks when you publish it in the form of an online flipbook. Thanks to Publuu statistics you can check the number of views of your online publication, the pages viewed, the average time spent and much more. This data will help you evaluate your work and improve your social media content in the future.
Choose and prepare the right social media tools
Your material should be well-written, the right length for the platforms you intend to use it on, and be consistent with your overall brand. That's why it's a good idea to prepare the right tool. Although there are literally thousands of tools for content creation, I recommend that you start with the following.
For all your design needs, use Canva, a great free program suitable for both individuals and small businesses. Another great tool is Grammarly, which checks for spelling errors, which is especially useful if you are not a native English speaker. Also consider using other social media tools, such as Hootsuite, Mailchimp, or SEMrush.
Also consider physical tools, such as your mobile device. Today, the cameras and video recording/editing tools on our SMART phones are among the best available. Buy, for example, a light and a tripod, and you will have a complete studio to make live online videos.