Are you looking for ways to improve your social media content? Have you been scrambling to figure out your next post?
That’s because social media content marketing is not as easy as some may think. There is a lot of strategy and analysis that goes into the process of compiling content. Posting your face because you’re the owner of the business or cute kittens and puppies all day just isn’t gonna cut it. You’ll need to add a little spice to the pot!
Here are a few methods I personally use to populate my social media content calendar or schedule!
Select a Social Media Content Schedule Template
Make life easier for yourself and choose an appropriate content schedule template. Try to populate this monthly or bi-weekly. I’m usually not a planner but in this social world, a schedule will save your life! It will prevent you from scrambling for content on the very same day you should be posting. No one needs that stress.
Download your content schedule below.
Identify Product Solutions
List the ways your product can be useful to the consumer. In fact, think about how your product can add value and tell us! How can your product fix my problem? Your goal is to capture my attention after all and you can do that by offering a solution to my problem. Additionally, a way of measuring how valuable your solution may be is through the number of saves on your post.
Think about relevant topics
Imagine you are in the business of selling swimwear? Think about incorporating a few lifestyle shots. For example, this may take the form of beach or pool images, a beach joke or maybe even some environmental facts. Whatever you feel might be relevant. This will surely give you the opportunity to add some variety to your content mix.
Tell a story
I’m a reader; just the other day my mom pulled out a tonne of old story books while quarantine cleaning my old room. In fact, I think everyone likes a good story, I sure do. Especially that one with the royal family, that’s really got my attention. So, whether you want to tell us a bit about the inspiration for your product or share a customer’s story about how great it is, go ahead. We’ll certainly be listening!
Use pain points
Captions can be a pain! Lol, get it. I know that was corny. Anyhow, you should ask the questions that get the emotions ticking! Also ask yourself why customers would engage your services. You should therefore, conduct some research into why current customers use your product to get some insight into what those pain points may be. Then use them in your content!
Incorporate trendy topics
Trending topics create great fillers. If the story fits or is relevant, you can use it! Trending content fillers will definitely get people to engage. You may be a personal development coach who wants to discuss family matters in your weekly content. Prince Harry and Meghan Markle’s interview with Oprah can be woven into your social media content.
Use a yearly calendar of observations.
This has also been a lifesaver for me. At the start of every year or in February, when I remember, I download a combination of calendar of observations and select the days that apply to my brands. This provides me with lots of great content to use over the year. General observations like international women’s day, Independence Day can be used by a number of brands in various industries.
Add a little personality. Include something about yourself
For personal brands, include things to give your audience a taste of your personality. What you’re stuffing your face with, your favourite shirt or the plant you’re trying not to kill are all interesting facts that can be used as social media content. Make it into a story. For larger brands, candid shots of your employees and branding in interesting places can be used.
Impromptu Inspiration
Ever had an idea randomly pop into your head, impromptu inspiration? Write it down, you’ll use it later. Sometimes we aren’t even thinking social media. Forget I said that, it’s an addiction! But something pops into your head that you think would be awesome content. If you don’t have a pen, type it into your phone. This can be incorporated into your social media marketing plan at a later date.
Incorporate video content
Where possible include animated graphics and short form video into your feed. Categorize your IGTV videos into series so your audience can easily find your content. Video is proven to be more engaging.
Tip: Producing a series allows you to extend the shelf life of your campaigns.
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Use Instagram Carousel
Instagram carousels allow you to post multiple photos or videos at once. Up to 10 posts can be shared which allows you to provide valuable information that may not present well on a single post. Persons tend to positively engage with this format of posts by saving them.
The beauty of including your content in the digital space allows you to analyze and see how your audience responds to it. Therefore, by measuring that engagement, you know what type of content to produce in future.
I hope you are now in a much better position than you were 5 minutes ago. Hopefully your audience will be in for some great social media content for months to come.
