Imagine you’re scrolling through your social feeds. You see: a video on a breaking news story, a viral listicle on this year’s top marketing trends, and photos a friend posted from their latest vacation. That’s a lot of stimuli! How do you choose what to click through and view?
With the constant inundation of content that consumers view on social media, it’s our job as marketers to make sure we’re creating relevant and engaging posts that catch someone’s eye.
But what types of content are most compelling?
Let’s break it down:
Imagery and infographics
Show of hands – who’s more likely to click on a link with a captivating photo than just a standalone link? Is everyone raising their hand? I know I am.
Social media has become an extremely visual platform. Posts with images see an exponentially higher rate of engagement:
- Tweets with images receive 150 percent more retweets than Tweets without images.
- Facebook posts with images see 2.3 times more engagement than those without images.
Consider utilizing an image in every post, and not necessarily the one Facebook or Twitter automatically pulls from. While stock photography can work in a pinch, I’m a firm believer in creating custom images, as they can take your company branding and brand recall one step further!
While images are perfect for singular stats, infographics are a great way to show a complex concept or multiple data points in an easy-to-read visual format. Infographics are also shared on social media three times more often than any other type of content.
Blog posts
Blog articles are the bread and butter of any content strategy. Blogging is diverse in that it can achieve a number of goals, including:
- Driving website traffic.
- Showcasing thought leadership.
- Building an audience and following.
When creating strategies for my clients, I always make sure to integrate some form of promotional outreach so the content is gaining traction outside of organic search traffic.
When posting content on social, make sure you’re tagging any industry experts you may have interviewed or referenced. Post the piece on your company’s page, but also your own personal page and in relevant LinkedIn groups to showcase your company’s expertise!
I like to tell my clients that social media is just that: social. It involves interacting with people to build engagement and community. Encourage readers to post their own thoughts and questions. It may take time, but it’s worth it in the end.
White papers and eBooks
The most important part of any marketing strategy is making sure all the moving parts are helping to add to your business in some way. White papers and eBooks, or any form of downloadable asset, are the strongest pieces of content you can create to help generate leads.
Smartbug Media released a study that stated white papers are the most frequently shared marketing vehicle (89 percent), with nearly 1 in 3 respondents sharing the assets with at least three of their peers or colleagues. If you’re integrated with a CRM of some sort, make sure you’re utilizing conversion pages that you can post on social to encourage leads from your follower base. Or promote a conversion page with a social ad so you can more specifically target your audience.
Videos
There are endless possibilities with video content:
- A video series of product demos is useful if you sell multiple products.
- Animated videos are the perfect way to visually explain the specific service you offer.
- Customer testimonials can help sell your business to potential new clients and showcase your thought leadership.
With these various video options, it’s no surprise 76.5 percent of marketers and small business owners who have used video marketing say it had a direct impact on their business. Videos are great to push on social, especially now that Facebook’s algorithm specifically favors posts with rich content, such as custom images and videos.
Case studies
According to a study from BrightLocal shared by Search Engine Land, 9 out of 10 people are looking at online product reviews, posts on social networks, etc., before actually making a purchasing decision. Now, in grade school you were told not to brag because it was rude. But in the world of marketing, case studies are the perfect tool to (respectfully) toot your own horn and showcase your success to prospects in the hopes of converting them into clients.
Leverage case studies on social to turn your followers into customers. When posting to your social channels, the key is to make sure you’re clearly stating the success of your case study in the copy of the post rather than a generic message. For example, “How we helped a business achieve a 115% increase in X” is probably going to get more engagement and clicks than a post titled “New Case Study – Read More Here.”
Various types of content will help you reach your goals on social, whether that’s building a following, gaining leads for your business, or simply driving clicks back to your website. It’s important to keep your content relevant to your audience, but compelling enough to cut through the noise.
