Creating Content for Social Media

Content Marketing doesn’t just exist within the realm of email marketing, websites and blogging. The world of social media is now one of the most compelling reasons for users to jump on the Internet. You’ve got Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pinterest, Google+, Instagram, Snapchat, Tumblr… the list really does go on and on, and truthfully, not every single one of these platforms is going to be suited to your business. But if you think you can continue to ignore the importance of having a social media presence, think again.

Australian consumers have jumped on-board with numerous platforms, and it’s not just about Facebook anymore. Instagram, Snapchat, LinkedIn and Pinterest are becoming major league players too. Google+ is always going to be important so long as you care about your ranking on Google. But don’t expect your audience to always be sitting at a desktop computer. Internet connected devices are huge business, and Australians love them. The Sensis Social Media Report findings from May 2015 suggests that the average Australian owns three internet connected devices with laptops at 75%, smartphones at 70% and tablets at 55%. (Sensis Social Media Report May 2015).

Social Media use is inherently linked to just how many internet connected devices Australians own. Sensis reports that 68% of people who use the Internet have a social media profile and that of this figure, 70% use their mobile devices to access their social media profiles (mostly through an app).

So what about the content on these social media platforms? Content creation is all about creating something your audience will engage with. It makes sense then that different platforms attract different types of people for different reasons. It means you need to tailor your content depending on who your target audience is.

For example, you may have a special promotion on some stock you want to clear. You can still deliver the same message across several platforms, but the way in which it is delivered will need to be adjusted for each platform. So let’s say on Facebook, you might have an image with some accompanying text promoting the special promotion, but on Twitter you only have 140 characters to work with, so your text needs to be short, to the point, and you need room to provide a link to your website. Or if you use Instagram, you’ll have an image promoting the special and you might include some relevant hashtags in the copy. Pinterest is highly visual as well, so here you could have an image of a piece of stock you want to clear, with a clear description of the item, the price, and include a hyperlink within the image back to your website.

It definitely is not as easy as duplicating the exact same content across all platforms. Each platform is designed to engage with users in a different way, so it makes sense that your content must reflect this.

As you will have noticed from the example earlier, content marketing is not just copy and text. It’s also all of the visual content you see, such as graphics and video content. While this type of content popularity is on the rise due to the increasing engagement it attracts on social media, don’t fall into the trap of posting this type of content just for the sake of it. It must still have a purpose and align not only with your business, but you target audience as well.

Here are some statistics on why visual content is amazing for businesses on social media platforms:

• Facebook reported this year that they have seen a global increase of 75% in terms of the number of video posts per person (Source)
• Tweets on Twitter which have an image are more likely to be clicked by 18%, than those that don’t (Source)
• “…our brain decodes visual information 60,000X faster than text” (Source)

Essentially, don’t tell it if you can show it. It’s why platforms like Pinterest, Instagram, Snapchat, and YouTube are rising in popularity and engagement. It’s why Facebook has made it easier for people to upload and share visual content.

But creating all of this content can be a timely (and costly) exercise. It’s why you need to learn to re-purpose content you have created elsewhere. Think about the content you will generate through your blogs. You could section this down into multiple bite sized pieces, for which you can create accompanying visuals to make it even easier for your audience to digest. You can then filter these through to the social media platforms you are active on. Think about mobile viewing as well. Mobile Internet usage is expected to climb to 90.1% in 2017 (source). So is content also tailored for mobile viewing? Is it short, sharp and snappy? It needs to be! People will soon scroll past your content so you need to grab their attention.

You can make things a lot easier for yourself through creating a content calendar too. Fill it out with information such as promotions, events, specials you might have going on in-store, anything you can use which will bridge the gap between you and your audience. Think about interactive promotions you can initiate which will get your target audience involved with the content you post. Getting them involved is a fantastic way to increase engagement. It is also the perfect opportunity to get your target audience creating user-generated content, which is the pretty much hitting the jackpot in the world of content marketing.

So get thinking of ways that you can create content which will allow you to connect with your audience in authentic ways. Your customers will thank you for it! And you’ll thank yourself if you attend our Content Marketing Optimise Webinar coming up on Wednesday 22nd July at 10:30 am AEST. We can’t wait and we hope you can join us, so register today and let your colleagues know as well!

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