A beginner’s guide for social media content
Tuesday, February 28th, 2023
Tuesday, February 28th, 2023
Social media has taken over our lives. From marketing to keeping up with the news – almost everything is available just a few taps away on social media platforms.
Social networks have altered marketing, and the popularity of social media platforms is continuously expanding. Here are some statistics from research studies to put these data into perspective:
Over last year, social media users increased by 227 million, reaching 4.70 billion by the beginning of July 2022. The global social media user base has grown by more than 5%, with the most recent global total currently equaling 59 per cent of the world’s entire population. (Datareportal)
The above chart by Datareportal shows the importance of using social media to increase brand awareness and how it has grown.
Social media platforms enable us to interact with one another, share information and connect with brands in a variety of ways. As a result, it has become critical for businesses to prioritise their social media strategy.
However, this is easier said than done.
Most social media marketers and business owners understand how difficult it is to regularly develop compelling material, especially if you need to post every day to stay current and reach your target demographic.
With so many users engaged online, it’s easier for businesses to find their target audience. What’s important is how to keep those audiences engaged. How do businesses make sure that their target audience engages with them, and buys their services/products?
Solving the big question: where to get inspiration from?
You’re probably on this blog mainly because of three reasons:
One, you are running out of time, energy, or content ideas for social media.
Two, managing social media feels like a chore, and you need assistance making the process less difficult. Or
Three, you spent a lot of time and effort developing content but didn’t get the response you expected.
We understand that flying the social media jet can feel like carrying the weight of the world at times, especially if you’re a small business owner or an all-in-one digital marketer.
And while you may believe you are not a good globe-carrying behemoth, we beg to differ.
You can develop interesting social media content without sacrificing your sanity, exhausting your marketing budget, or completely abandoning social media tactics.
Here are our 9 tips to give you more confidence to create content and to aid you in creating content which will make your brand stand out:
1. Less Text, more Video
With the advent of video platforms like Tiktok and the inclusion of Reels on Instagram and youtube shorts on Youtube – people have started relying on videos more and more to get their share of content. Users these days don’t have the time to read a big wall of text(apart from people actively searching – like you!). People want things that are short and sweet.
Even if you’re telling a story, the message must be clear. If you’re marketing your company on social media, make it a point to include an image or video with every post.
Create something unique for your brand. In this manner, you can hit the critical elements for creating a post-trend. Post photographs or videos that speak to your target demographic, and watch the number of likes and comments grow.
2. User Generated Content is the trump card
Everyone struggles with creating content. After all, generating something daily without any breaks can be hard. When you’re struggling or are out of time, tap into the potential your customer base holds. Allow your customers to create it for you. Create a social media challenge to encourage the creation of user-generated content (UGC).
Customers who had an iPhone 13 or iPhone 13 Max were challenged by Apple’s #Shotonan iPhone campaign to take images with the macro capability and post them to Instagram with the hashtags.
After nearly a month, a team of Apple employees and skilled photographers selected the best content and disseminated it across their platforms. Apple received approximately 60,000 posts as a result of the challenge. Even though the contest has ended, customers are still sharing their images.
You may think that this won’t work for small businesses, but the right hashtag and broadening the target audience can yield exceptional results.
3. Say NO to Stock Photos
It’s time to quit using stock photographs in your social media posts. But why? They are easy to find and look great, right?
Unfortunately, stock photos do not perform as well as authentic images. As a result, they are detrimental to SEO.
To demonstrate this, Marketing Experiments compared an actual photo of their client to their best-performing stock photo.
The result? Visitors who saw the original photograph were 35% more inclined to sign up. According to a recent study, 62% of shoppers responded that high-quality product photos were critical in their purchasing choice.
Here are three ideas for creating original social media images:
4. Share Customer Testimonials
Consider the following scenario: You are going to purchase a new product but want to learn more about it first
Who do you rely on when looking for information? Is a salesperson pitching the goods or an honest customer review?
Well, 78% of people trust online reviews, and 67.7% believe it influences their shopping decisions – honest and descriptive evaluations are important to businesses. 72% of consumers will not buy a product until they first read a review on it.
If you’re a marketer, evaluations from satisfied consumers are powerful magnets at your disposal.
Highlighting positive consumer feedback about your products, services, or customer service is a terrific approach to demonstrate that people like and trust your business.
5. Be one with the trend
So you want to share a lot of visuals on social media. But first, you must determine which graphics work and which do not.
To find out, search for visual trends on social media platforms and Google.
You can also examine your social media metrics and insights to determine what has performed effectively in recent months.
Here’s how it’s done:
6. Show behind the scenes (if possible)
Everyone connects more when they can see humans working on products, and things behind the scenes!
Some followers may find it interesting to see how items or people work behind the scenes.
Use your pride in how swiftly you pack an order, develop a positive work atmosphere or brainstorm ideas to your benefit.
This trend recently gained popularity on TikTok and Instagram. Small business owners, for example, can record themselves packing an order or demonstrating how to make something for example – slime shop owners are showing them behind the scenes of slime making. Website developers are showing how they code, their process, and general funny things which are niche specific.
Content like this is a good way to generate attention and stand out from your fellow competitors.
7. Use Hashtags that work
No matter what anyone says, hashtags are the key to reaching more people. Hashtags might be difficult to master. However, when used effectively by marketers, hashtags can put your material in front of a far larger audience.
On Instagram, for example, hashtags cause your post to display on the hashtag’s page. Take a look at these #tbt posts.
But keep in mind that hashtags do not work the same way on all social media platforms. For example, they get a lot of activity on Instagram but not so much on Facebook. Too many hashtags or hashtags that are irrelevant might reduce engagement and disrupt social media content strategy.
Here are some useful hashtag usage tips:
Finding the appropriate hashtags is critical to any social media strategy. Get a spreadsheet to help you manage the hashtags that are most appropriate for your brand.
8. Engage with the users by giving them puzzles, quizzes
Let’s face the truth – everyone procrastinates. We have all been in a scenario where we have to do our assignments or things but instead, we took “what vegetable am I?” quizzes.
Quizzes are tempting. So, if you want to increase engagement, create a fun, hard, one-of-a-kind quiz or riddle and share it on social media.
9. Engage With Industry News
One strategy to connect with your audience is to demonstrate that you care about the same issues that they do. The key is to respond fast to current events that are important to your audience.
Furthermore, thought leadership content can aid in SEO and the development of brand authority.
So, whether it’s industry news on which you have an opinion or insight you’re certain about for your business, include it in your social media plan. You may also publish information from your blogs about industry news on social media, which can assist drive visitors back to your website.
Conclusion
Creating social media content does not have to be expensive or time-consuming. These suggestions can assist you in changing the way you develop, distribute, and analyze content.
You will have more time for other aspects of your business or marketing if they are utilized appropriately and in tandem. When you achieve results, you will receive engagement. Engagement boosts the number of leads as well as client retention and loyalty.
You can generate compelling content that will drive visitors to your website and raise brand awareness with a little ingenuity and effort. If you’re looking for someone who can handle all this for you, GIT Infosys’ search engine optimization services may be the solution for you. The company has years of experience in handling projects and delivering results to clients.
Finally, we believe that loving the process of creating social media content may be empowering. And when the procedure becomes less difficult, that enthusiasm seeps through.
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