Social media has become a massive part of our lives. Users share content to connect to their peers, endorse their favorite brands, and share their opinions with the world. Brands can leverage this popularity to generate leads and strengthen their online presence too.
The best way to do so is by creating engaging content. In this post, we’ll share expert tips from renowned marketing professionals on crafting social media content that appeals to the masses and drives business for you. Happy reading!
Table of Contents:
- Why Do Users Share Content?
- What Makes Social Media Content Engaging?
- How to Write Engaging Social Media Content
Why Do Users Share Content?
Users share social media content for many reasons. According to various studies, here are some of the top motivations people have when sharing content on social media:
1. It provides informative and entertaining content for other readers.
When we see something we think our friends or family will enjoy or find resourceful, we share it with them. Informative content not only adds value to our lives but also provides a new perspective and helpful tidbits of information that may come in handy.
For instance, a 2017 study reveals that 5 out of the 10 most viral posts that year were about practical life hacks. While the third most shared content was an exclusive news article about a celebrity’s death.
2. It represents our feelings, mood, or personality
In the digital age, our social media profiles have become a venue for us to share our thoughts and feelings. When we’re mad at someone or something, chances are you’ll rant about it on social media. Or if you’ve encountered a quote that coincides with your values and beliefs, we can’t hit the share button any faster.
This is one of the reasons why we share content on social media.
According to a New York Times study, 68% of social media users share content to give people a better sense of who they are and what they care about.
3. It enables us to connect with our loved ones
In these busy times, one can’t always have a long phone conversation with the people they’re close to. But with one click, you can send them a post or a meme that’ll reestablish that connection. We can share our opinions and experiences with them or simply just laugh at a silly picture!
A study by the Pew Research Center also suggests that parents use a wide range of social media platforms and as much as 74% of them are on Facebook.
4. To support a cause they believe in or to endorse a brand they like
We like posting about the causes we support to raise awareness or sway opinions. The same goes for brands. When we like a brand, we want more people to know how amazing it is too. Statistics also suggest that up to 36% of Instagram users and 35% of Twitter users use social media to follow brands and companies. These users are more likely to share branded content too.
5. To get a sense of self-fulfillment
By sharing content, we feel more connected and relevant. We feel like we have something to contribute, and that’s always a good feeling.
6. Managing information
According to the same New York Times study, 85% of people said they understood and processed things better after reading other peoples’ posts about them. About 73% of those people said that they were better able to digest information after sharing posts from other people. Social media posting helps these people manage and comprehend information as it comes.
7. Emotion
When something appeals to us emotionally, we tend to share the post. According to Jonah Berger’s research, positive posts received more engagement while negative emotions increased virality. Sad posts, however, decreased it. One study also found that advertising campaigns with purely emotional content performed twice as much as those containing a purely rational message.
8. For an incentive
When companies post about giveaways or social media contests, they generally make a CTA asking readers to share their page or their posts. Many readers do so to get a chance to win the gift/prize.
In fact, a survey conducted in 2018 revealed that more than 90% of brands use social media to organize giveaways.
What Makes Social Media Content Engaging?
Many factors come into play to make a social media post engaging. Here are a few:
1. Cater to your Audience
What type of posts does your fan base respond to? Do they enjoy funny posts or serious ones? Are they casual or professional? Formulate your posts according to their style and address them in the first person to connect with them better.
2. Keeping it Short
Readers have short attention spans. Their interest will be gauged by the first 3 to 4 words in your post so choose them carefully. And if they have to click the “Read More” button, chances are they won’t do it. A good rule of thumb is to use anywhere from 100 to 250 characters.
3. Add a Photo
Posts that have pictures get more likes than ones without. Also, visuals with color are known to increase people’s willingness to read a post by 80%.
Photos make your posts more engaging. They enhance the user experience. According to research, it has been constantly proven that posts with colorful, appealing images get more shares and clicks than other content.
4. Having a Call to Action
You can get people more involved in your posts by asking them a question, asking them to like or share your content, and even setting up a poll.
5. Emojis are your Best Friend
Colorful little visuals make a post stand out. They add a casual, friendly vibe to your page. Just like pictures, they look engaging.
6. Hashtags
These clickable keywords increase the visibility of your posts, allowing you to increase your reach among audiences.
How to Write Engaging Social Media Content
With all the effort you put into your social media page, you’ll obviously want to reap the benefits. So we’ve rounded up some of the most game-changing tips from social media marketing experts to help you elevate your social media content creation process.
1. Mark Schaefer: “Develop your Audience.”
According to marketing expert Mark Schaefer, when you’re just starting out in your niche, it is best to focus more on growing your audience first than on writing content.
If you look at Twitter, it categorizes people into lists according to their niches or locations. For example, you may be on a list of marketing experts. You can scour these lists to find an influencer in your niche. Then, follow their followers, and some of them will eventually follow you back.
You can also use these lists to stay updated on what conversations people are having. Twitter also has an advanced search option, which allows you to search for people and reach out to the audience or demographic that your brand caters to.
Twitter is essential in helping your business generate leads because it helps you find likely customers. You can start looking for these people on Twitter and ultimately build stronger connections with them using other marketing platforms.
Another tip that Schaefer gives us is to make sure we’re posting at the right time. You want your post to reach the maximum audience, and you can only do that by publishing at a time when your audience is most active. This could mean that you’ll be posting all day, but make sure you leave a 30-minute to one-hour interval between each post.
2. Amy Porterfield: “Build Instant Rapport and Create Relevance.”
In real life, we connect with people who share our interests. The same goes for social media. According to Amy Porterfield, your content must sound friendly and personal. Meaning, you should write your posts like you’re talking to a good friend.
This encourages people to reach out to you and develop a relationship of trust with you. Once you develop this engagement, you should continue to dish out relevant, engaging, and actionable content for your audience.
Back up your posts with evidence of how your advice has been successful, and don’t forget to include a call to action at the end of your posts.
3. Ian Cleary: “Use Social Ads.”
According to Ian Cleary, targeting your audience on social media and gaining new fans can be done by creating “page like” ads that will show up in their social media feed. This will also help drive them to your blog and increase engagement for your brand.
4. Neal Schaffer: “Analyze Past Content.”
Instead of looking at the analytics after making a social media post, Neal Schaffer advises us to look at them beforehand. Check historical data from social media analytics sites to see what kind of posts have already had success with social media popularity.
To do so, simply type up the keyword relevant to your post, and most of the platforms will show you a list of the most popularly shared content for that keyword.
In addition, since the success of the content varies by social media platform, you can categorize your content by the type of social network and create posts accordingly. Some platforms also allow you to look at content based on time so you can get hold of content that’s been popular in the last 24 hours and emulate it.
5. Matt Navarra: “Engage with your Audience.”
It’s pretty common for brands to engage with their audience for a particular campaign and then stop there.
According to Matt Navarra, social media managers must engage with the audience daily, whether that means messaging them privately or replying to comments. Doing this consistently can help you build rapport and relationships with your customers.
6. Madalyn Sklar: “Know your Mission and What You Stand For.”
Having a good sense of your vision and mission for your brand helps you show up in a better way, says Madalyn Sklar. When you know your values and what kind of brand you’re building, you automatically develop more confidence. And that confidence is attractive.
Focus on incorporating your goals and values into your content every day. This way, you’ll attract the right audience to your social media profiles.
7. Mike Allton: “Demonstrate Authority.”
According to Mike Allton, setting yourself as a competent authority in your industry will get you far. If you blog about food, make sure your posts are full of appetizing food photos or innovative recipes. If you’re a fashion blogger, you should post visually appealing images.
By uploading relevant and high-quality material, you’ll quickly establish yourself as an authority in your field.
8. Mari Smith: “Create a Facebook Fan Page.”
Facebook is used daily by 300 million users at an average of 55 minutes a day. That’s a lot of attention! Mari Smith says you should take advantage of this engagement by starting your very own fan page.
You should start by building your opt-in list of email contacts, selling products, enhancing customer service, and increasing your community reach. Also, ensure that you present yourself as a credible source in your field.
Mari Smith states that there are six steps when it comes to creating the perfect Facebook page, and they’re as follows:
- Have an objective: Why are you making this page? Is it to raise brand awareness or lengthen your email list? By prioritizing your objectives, you can design your page accordingly.
- Create a design strategy: For example, if you decide you want to increase your email contact list, you will need to have an opt-in option on your page.
- Create top-quality content for your page: Use a content matrix to publish your posts. Feature a variety of posts that incorporate links, photos, and videos. You can post other bloggers’ content too.
- Promote your page: There are numerous ways to build your fan base, like having a video on your landing page that explains the purpose of your fan page and why you should become a member.
- Engagement: Engagement is vital to creating a relationship with your audience. Respond to your customers in a friendly, personal tone.
- Conversion: Once you’ve amassed a significant following, you want to convert these followers into buyers and customers. Here’s where you make a CTA by offering them discounts, coupon codes, or encouraging them to register for events.
9. Brian Carter: “If you’re not sharing video, but your competitor is, then they have a persuasion tool you don’t.”
According to Brian Carter, videos are one of the most effective tools for social media engagement. Explainer videos are brief videos that mention a problem and a solution to that problem. They’re usually very short (from 60 to 90 seconds long).
Make your video as engaging as possible by creating a story around the problem. Put your product/service in the spotlight by demonstrating how effectively it gets rid of the issue. With these, you’ll surely be getting customers in no time!
End the video with a CTA asking them to buy your product or contact you.
10. Marsha Collier: “Be customer-focused.”
Instead of making your page sound like a business page, give it a personal touch. Post as if this is a personal page. Customers trust people more than businesses, so this will help you in the long run.
Listen to people’s feedback on social media. That way, you can improve your strategy to attract a bigger audience. Besides, they’ll respect you for keeping their views in mind.
Bottomline
According to experts, you need to give your readers a personalized experience and build their trust through high-quality content that aligns with your values as a brand. Engagement with your audiences is also essential in establishing rapport with your customers.
People post on social media for many reasons, whether that’s to gain attention or share posts that represent their opinions. If you want individuals to talk about you, you need to post appealing content that speaks to your audience. In addition, you have to keep audience feedback in mind to ensure that you’re winning the masses and enhancing your fan base.
We hope these tips help you enhance your social media presence. Remember, instead of starting up numerous social media channels that you can’t manage, you could focus a long-term strategy on one platform and go a long way with it!
If you have any questions, leave them in the comments below. Good Luck!
