Posted by Content has been at the forefront of online marketing for the past couple of decades, and the influence of social media is bigger than ever. However, there are a few tricks to using the right content to improve your social media marketing strategy. We will explore what advantages different content types have when used to push a brand through social media.
Written Content
Written content is one of the most popular pieces of content – and it’s popular for a good reason. Written content is snappy, shareable, and engaging. Through written content, you can generate leads, create lead capture pages, and engage with your followers.
Written content can also be used as a supplement for other types of content. The best style for written content on social media is short, snappy, and engaging. A very appealing part of written content is that it can pass through SEO, making it more visible to potential audiences.
A) Blog Posts & Articles
Depending on the social media in question, you’ll want to employ different blog posts and articles. While the two can be one of the best tools in your marketing arsenal, it all boils down to how your content looks. Creating a blog to accompany your brand is essential.
One of the best things about blog posts and articles is their versatility. You can make them on any topic, no matter how complex or simple. Studies show that the most popular blog type articles are How To’s with 77%, which are more than applicable to social media.
Video Source: youtube.com
B) White Papers
Unlike blogs and articles, white papers are reserved for more serious matters. White papers are authoritative reports or guides on various matters and present content in an intricate, complex, and complicated manner.
While white papers might not be applicable for most businesses – they could be key players in building up reputability. This type of written content does very well on more serious social media sites that are business orientated. It’s usually employed by companies that are looking to build authority in a particular field.
C) Case Studies
Case studies are a fantastic research-orientated informative piece of written content. They’re fantastic for companies looking to build reputability without harboring their company’s philosophy in their content.
This type of content is particularly useful for social media marketing, presenting statistics, and building trust. In short, this type of content is a long review or testimonial on a given topic and works great with social media.
D) eBooks
eBooks work well with particular types of social media. While these are usually quite long, they’re a fantastic way to present a lot of information, and you can simply leave a link to one in a shorter promotional post.
eBooks work, as long as the content within them works.
Visual Content
Visual content is equally as important as written content. While written content can communicate a lot of information, visual content is far more digestible. People are far more likely to engage with visual content than written content – especially if it’s well-designed.
Humans are highly visual creatures and respond very well to visual stimuli. Most social media users prefer simple, engaging, and digestible images as opposed to written content. Visual content is also very referral, marketing, and advertisement friendly. Over 3.9 billion people use social media, and most of them love visual content.
A) Images
Images are one of the best ways to convey a message in short, shareable, and digestible content. Images can be whatever you like and can present virtually anything. A good image should speak a thousand words, especially if it’s a part of your marketing strategy.
Another appealing thing about images is that they’re versatile. As long as you have a clearly defined goal, you can convey virtually anything through an image and make it digestible. Images are very social media friendly and are applicable on most platforms.
B) Infographics
Infographics are a blend of information, statistics, or stats, and visual imagery. They’re a fantastic way to present complex data simply. Infographics are also very social media friendly and work on most platforms.
They’re also easy for consumers to scan, and allow you to present information in a quick and easy to understand manner. Infographics are also fantastic at presenting trends and patterns.
C) Videos
If image is king, video content is the emperor. Videos have all the traits of image content but can present way more information in an even more digestible manner. It’s also a fantastic tool for marketing and advertisements.
They’re also a superb branding tool, and allow companies to connect with consumers on a new, exciting, and deep level.
D) Live streams
Live streams are a relatively new concept. While they’re not new in the general sense, their use in social media is. Popular social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitch, and YouTube all support live streams. Live streams drive a completely new audience towards your content and can be used for many things.
They’re a fantastic way to present content engagingly. Live streaming prompts viewers to engage with the content more than in any other visual manner.
E) Stories (Video & Image)
Particular visual social media such as Facebook, Instagram, or Snapchat allow you to create stories. Stories are simple images or short videos that usually convey a simple message. They’re very useful if you’re looking to send a brief but informative message and appeal to younger audiences more than older audiences.
User-Generated & User-Participation Content
Screenshot Source: amazon.com
User-generated and user participation content is some of the most important content for social media. It’s the type of content that drives consumers towards your company and product through peer recommendations and enticing real-life stories.
Some types of user-generated content work extremely well for referral advertisement purposes, while others allow you to engage with your users and generate leads.
Through user-generated content, you’re building an active community around your brand, service, or product – which is a surefire way to attract new customers.
A) Reviews
Reviews are a fantastic way to present your content to potential customers on a social media platform. Reviews are usually created by consumers that either loved or hated your product or service. Paid reviews mimic real reviews and usually present your content in the best light possible, but can often be spotted miles away and may damage your reputation.
Enticing your existing clientele to leave reviews is a fantastic way to grow your community, revenue, and make potential users trust your brand. About 78% of people trust online reviews if they seem genuine enough.
B) Testimonials
Testimonials are very similar to reviews but are usually in a much longer and in-depth format. Testimonials explain the user experience with your product, brand, or service, and serve a key role in marketing.
They do much the same as reviews – bring another layer of trust to your brand.
C) Contests
Contests are a very engaging form of content that makes your users directly interact with your brand. They’re a fantastic way to develop a relationship with your customers. Contents usually come with some kind of reward that drives people to interact with your brand. It’s a fantastic way to organically generate new leads and potential consumers.
Video Source: youtube.com
D) Quizzes
Quizzes are a very applicable form of content to most businesses as they make the user engage with the content. Depending on the type of quiz in question, it can be very interactive and brand-oriented.
Creating quizzes isn’t easy. Many tools help you do the job, but procuring the questions and inquiries based on your target demographic while promoting your content can be tricky. If done right, quizzes are one of the best kinds of user participation content for generating leads.
E) User-Created Content
Social media is a buzzing community, and a fantastic way to get as much user-created content as possible. Sharing top of the line user-created content is great for interactivity and will drive engagement considerably.
Sharing user-created content will also prompt more people to create content, thus creating a community around your brand.
In Conclusion
Many types of content do fantastic on social media. We’ve covered the most important pieces above, so make sure to implement as many of them as you can in your social media strategy.
As long as you stick to the content mentioned above, you’re going to drive engagement, generate leads, and have a fantastic ROI as a result.
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