Do you have a content creation strategy? If you want to increase your social media engagement and followers, you should.
Perhaps you have been posting to social media regularly but have seen your followers stagnate. Posts that used to get hundreds of views or likes are now barely having an effect. While this could be due to social algorithm changes there’s another, simpler factor: the content itself.
Too often, we see businesses making several mistakes with their social media:
- Posting too much of the same content — only photos, blogs about the same topic, etc.
- Posting only product shots or posts advertising the business.
- Not posting enough because content takes too much time to create.
Unfortunately, these mistakes can hold your business marketing back. To illustrate this, let’s consider the example of a teapot company.
Teapot Company A makes beautiful, bespoke teapots that are extremely visually appealing. They take gorgeous pictures and for a while their social media is doing very well. However, at a certain point, their followers stagnate, and they are having a hard time reaching new people. Plus, they only have so many teapots and are finding it hard to keep up with consistent postings as they a) have to create all of the photography and posts in-house, and b) just don’t have enough product to keep the photos looking different.
Eventually, with any type of business, if you post only product shots you are going to reach a cap of people who want to see pictures of your products.
Teapot Company B also makes gorgeous, bespoke teapots and their product shots are just as nice. But they mix up their content.
In between the product shots, they share recipes for tea blends, stress management tips, pictures of cups of tea in relaxing spots, alternative uses for tea, quotes from happy customers, articles about the benefits of tea, behind-the-scenes videos, answers to frequently asked questions, and more.
With this approach, they attract a much higher number of followers because they are appealing to a wider audience and creating a lifestyle with their brand.
Today’s social media consumers are all about authenticity. They don’t want to feel “sold†to. It’s more important than ever for brands to have a voice and share value-added information — not just try to persuade clients to purchase the latest product or service.
You might consider including in your content strategy:
- Photos
- Videos
- Infographics
- Blog posts
- Third-party shares, such as relevant article links
- Testimonials
- Advice and how-tos
- Industry news
- Surveys and polls
- Good news about your clients (if you are B2B)
- Behind-the-scenes look at your company
- Contests, promotions, and social media-exclusive content
- Plus more
The approach that will work best for you depends on your audience, but the principles can be the same. Not only will doing this help you reach a wider market, but it could even increase your appeal to social media algorithms. For instance, Facebook is encouraging content that garners more engagement, so the more meaningful you can make your posts, the more they will be pushed out organically.
To make the most effective content strategy, look at:
- Building an editorial calendar, including all major upcoming events for your company (product launches, trade shows, etc.)
- Assigning content to be created and determining who will create it. Try to estimate the time it will take to make. This way you can realistically assess if the ROI is too high and readjust.
- Batch content creation. If you know that you are attending a conference in three months, pre-write content for that now. Set aside an afternoon for taking photos, another for writing posts, and another for taking videos. A few hours could give you months’ worth of content.
At Pulsion Marketing, we take a strategic approach to digital marketing. We can help create an effective content calendar to reach more people and get more engagement.
Contact us today to get started. Call 1-888-701-4441 or visit www.digiforcemarketing.ca.
What does your business’ social media strategy look like? Let us know on Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.