Social media has become a part of our daily life. Many platforms have revolutionized the way we communicate. They provide quick access to infotainment at the touch of a button.
And now, social media provides us with a huge amount of content that makes it very difficult to sift through.
In addition, more than 200 million companies use it Instagram And Facebook to communicate with their customers.
So, with more brands using social media and the boom in posts, how does this affect brands?
Unfortunately, important brand updates and promotions can sometimes be missed.
In order to get noticed on these platforms, brands must create unique and engaging content that stands out from the rest.
Here, we’ll discuss the state of social media further and some tips for creating more engaging content.
What does this tell us?
While the reach of your social media posts may decrease due to the number of platforms and content, your customers still rely on these platforms to help them find information and connect with brands.
It tells us that we must figure out how to reach them in a scene that works against us. Therefore, we must find a way to make social media work for us differently.
Part of this starts with the content itself.
How do we give our audience something that interests them, stands out, and grabs their attention, all while adhering to the boundaries of personality?
We add context.
So, how do you add context to your posts without seeming repetitive or boring? As a user, one of my biggest frustrations is clicking on a link only to be disappointed with the content itself.
Because of this, people can be more reluctant to click on links.
However, if we understand what the content entails before we open it, it can pique our interest in clicking on it.
The great thing is that marketers and brands alike can achieve this with images, extended updates, videos, formatting, and more. Now, let’s dive in.
1. Skip the headline
It’s simple: copy the title of the post and throw it into a social update. Easy enough, right?
The problem with this can be very boring! In most cases, a post doesn’t sell and certainly doesn’t encourage people to click through.
Instead of just sharing the address, consider the following:
quotes
Use callouts in your update, whether it’s a common quote within the piece or a sentence that caught your eye.
Quotes are a great way to connect with your users emotional or sentimental side and get them to read. They also make the content easily shareable and debatable.
statistics
Statistics are a great way to illustrate and support an idea. Moreover, they tend to attract people’s attention.
Do you have an intriguing statistic in your content? Then use that in your social updates.
Statistics provide a strong foundation to build on in your publication and create a sense of confidence in the information you provide.
Challenges and solutions
Is your content solving someone’s problem? Then you drive with that.
Tell your audience about the challenge and how your content helps solve it. In this way, users feel that they are learning something from the post.
There are many ways to connect with your audience and answer questions with a quick Tweet or Facebook post.
Takeaway
One of my favorite content tactics, especially in longer content, is to include key takeaways for your readers.
It calls out valuable points for the reader and ensures that even the laziest of readers can get away with something.
The same goes for social updates. Feel free to focus on the main points.
Want more tips on writing the perfect social media update?
I advise This widget Starting with the Post Planner, which looks at everything from optimal length to passive voice and audience messaging.
2. Make better use of images
This may seem obvious.
However, in my opinion, images are the key to success for social media.
We know that users remember pictures over words, and colors can grab attention better than black and white.
The problem is that we are often lazy with our photo selection. I know I am definitely guilty of this.
We take a stock photo or a featured blog photo and invite it daily. How useful is that?
So how can we choose the images that best engage our audience? Here are some ideas:
Use your words
Remember how I just said to use quotes, takeaways, and stats in your updates? Take those and make them into pictures.
It’s a great way to grab people’s attention and provide additional information for your update.
When you’re scrolling through Instagram or Facebook, what catches your eye the most? For me, it’s a catchy quote or interesting stat that makes me want to read.
Add movement
Whether a GIF or some image is converted into a quick video, it can stop your audience from scrolling and grab their attention.
GIFs and videos are fun. They command attention, and it’s never been easier to create with technology.
Tools like gifoxAnd ezGifAnd cadaverous Free and easy to use.
Add a sound
Want to give your users a preview of what they’re getting?
Why don’t you talk to them directly?
the Indiana Society for Technology and Innovation Publish a conference summary as a video:
Our annual conference is coming up Thursday, August 25th and you won’t want to miss it! #data privacy painting, # Emerging technologyCommunicate with technical leaders and policy makers. Watch last year’s recap video and sign up here: https://t.co/RIa7bhKPkz https://t.co/wUPoaWiNFA
Indiana Association for Technology and Innovation (IndianaInnovate) August 8, 2022
What I love about this post is that it excites me. He tells me about their last conference and what I look forward to in their next conference. It also successfully integrates important hashtags.
In fact, this can be done for any content and can be done directly from your phone.
Like GIFs, the video doesn’t have to be complicated, and you can add subtitles to it Free.
Tell a story
I’m sure you’ve heard the phrase, a picture is worth a thousand words. Pictures allow us to tell a story that we might not be able to tell otherwise. And this is incredibly true on social media.
Let’s say a brand is creating a Mother’s Day or Christmas promotion. A picture of a mother and her children lovingly cuddling or the family gathering around the tree opening gifts can instantly remind someone of their memories.
No words will be able to capture the feeling these ads bring. They tell a story. They achieve the goal without creating long back stories to give proper context to the promotion.
The individual is already immersed in the mindset you want to create. Use your photos to go beyond the norm. Use it to tell the story you want to tell.
Know your meme
The web moves fast, and so do memes. From the Green M&M meme to the Little Miss meme, you never know what you might be headed for next.
As silly as they are, memes can be a great way to add context to your social updates. But just like anything else, don’t jump on a meme for the sake of jumping on it.
Instead, make sure it works with your brand and properly represents the image you’re trying to put there.
3. Use your white space
One thing I’ve noticed lately are the expanded social updates – updates that take up more space but don’t necessarily include more words.
This is an example from CNC activewear.
What I love about these extended updates is that they allow you to give your followers more information about what you’re sharing without being overcrowded.
They feel purposeful and give your audience a break between each idea.
Some tips for creating extended updates:
Use Emojis
As you can see in the previous example, emoji can help you quickly make a point rather than include more words. They also stand out and help break up your text.
Let’s say you are going to list three items. Use emoji numbers instead of just writing the numbers 1, 2, and 3. They make the same point but are a bit more eye-catching.
Get to know the network
If you are creating extended or long updates, remember that Facebook and LinkedIn will interrupt your update. Force the user to expand the text if they want to read.
So, put your most important information first and be aware of the length.
It ends with the hashtag
If you create a longer update, move your hashtags to the end.
While hashtags can be useful for searching and adding context, they can also make an update look cluttered.
Placing them at the end can make your posts look more professional and easier for the reader to read.
Move!
Social media content has become a key component of marketing strategies across countless industries.
However, many marketers struggle to create compelling content to capture the attention of their audience.
Incorporating attractive images, text spacing, using videos, and adding the right number of hashtags and emojis can help take your social media content to the next level.
More resources:
- Top 10 Social Networking Websites and Platforms for 2022
- Top 14 benefits of social media for your business
- Social Media Marketing: A Complete Strategy Guide
Featured image: Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock
