With millions of social media posts being shared each day, getting your audience to pause and pay attention can be challenging. Whether you are promoting a small business, building a personal brand, or managing social media for a company, creating engaging content is now an essential part of your marketing mix. If you’re just starting out, the key is not just posting frequently but creating content that connects with your audience. Here are three tips to help you get started creating engaging social media content.

Know Your Audience Before You Post

Before creating content, it is important to think about who you are trying to reach. Consider your ideal customer and which social media platforms they use the most. For example, a company with a younger audience is more likely to use apps such as TikTok and Instagram rather than Facebook. And a business audience is mostly to be found on LinkedIn.

Understanding your audience also means adapting to trends, humor and the kind of content your audience enjoys. However, it is still important to make sure that these trends fit your brand rather than simply following every trend you see. When your content feels both relevant and relatable, your audience is more likely to connect with the content and in turn, your brand.

Use Strong Hooks in Your Social Posts

On social media, you only have a few seconds to capture a viewer’s attention. A strong hook can make the difference between someone stopping to watch your content and mindlessly scrolling past it.

Hooks can be verbal, visual or both. You might start the video with an interesting question, a surprising fact, a bold statement or an eye-catching visual. Since users scroll through hundreds of posts each day, your opening should give them a reason to stay. Rather than slowly getting to the point, grab their attention right away with a memorable hook.

When You Post, Be Consistent

Consistency is another important part of building an engaged audience. Regular posting keeps your brand visible and gives followers more opportunities to interact with your company. However, consistency does not mean you have to post every day. Create a schedule that you can realistically maintain with your manpower and your budget.

It is also helpful to learn when your audience is most active and schedule posts around those times. Engagement after publishing is important as well. Responding to comments, answering messages and interacting with other accounts can help build relationships and trust with your audience.

Get Started With Social Media Posts

Overall, creating social media content is about more than simply posting often. By understanding your audience, capturing attention and maintaining a consistent presence, you can create content that stands out and encourages people to engage with your brand. Don’t give up! Social media is constantly changing, but one thing remains the same: the most successful content is content that gives audiences a reason to stop, connect and come back. Need help with that? We’ve got you, just ask!

It’s officially November, so whether you’re ready or not, the holiday content season is here! Chances are you’re busy preparing for your Thanksgiving traditions. With not even a full month to get ready for Christmas after turkey day, undoubtedly Christmas planning is underway too! And let’s not forget about the increased pressures at work as you close out the year.  Raise your hand if you’re stressed out just thinking about it.

While we may not be able to ease your personal holiday anxieties, we can help lessen the burden and set you up for success when it comes to generating last-minute holiday content ideas to engage your online audience and boost your brand. So, sit back, kick your feet up, grab your favorite holiday drink and relax while we share some ideas to ensure the holidays are successful for your business.

Holiday Content Ideas to Fill Your Calendar

No matter if you’re looking to promote a product or service, engage on a deeper level with your audience, or a combination of the two, you can incorporate these suggestions into any online strategy.

• Capture the Festive Spirit of the Season

From turkeys to snowmen, mums to poinsettias and the rustling of leaves to Christmas carolers, your supporting imagery should catch the sights and sounds of the approaching holiday.

• Food, Food and More Food

What holiday festivity have you attended that food isn’t at the center of the celebration. So, why not incorporate your team’s favorite recipes for the season. You can carry this type of holiday content from Thanksgiving into the New Year. From favorite Thanksgiving dishes to holiday cookie decorating, cocktails to ring in the new year and healthy options for January 1.

• Give Back and Spread Kindness

It can be easy to get wrapped up in the hustle and bustle of the holidays and forget that others may need a hand during this time. Organize a team volunteer outing, donate to a local toy drive or spread simple acts of kindness. Share what your team has done, provide additional ideas and encourage others to join along with you.

• Holiday Destressing

You may be feeling a little on edge from all the holiday activities. Not to mention the shorter days and cooler temps. Share how you unwind this time of year as a weekly holiday content tip.  

• Personal Development

As the year comes to an end, we start to think about our resolutions or goals for the new year. Share personal or company intentions and tips on how you plan to reach your objectives.

Get Connected with Holiday Content

The holidays are all about creating meaningful interactions and these ideas will get you started on making those connections. We hope you put your own personal spin on a couple of our suggestions and then put them into action.

A few types of social media marketing

Content Marketing/Content Creating: This is where a company will make content and share it on a social media platform. It can be anything from a podcast, videos, emails, etc. These messages are personal and should help the company achieve its objectives and reach a specific audience.

Advertising/Sponsorship: This is a more formal way of using social media. It is a non-personal message that promotes, or sells a product, service, or concept. You are able to create and place the exact message you want.

Influencer Marketing: This is where a company can use a social media influencer to help promote their product. This influencer is trusted and has a loyal audience, so when they share the product, it raises brand visibility.

Check out this article about 10 different types of social media to learn about other types of social media marketing.

Which type of Marketing high schoolers respond to the best

Overall, most high schoolers respond best to Influencer Marketing or Content Creating/Content Marketing, specifically on popular social media apps like TikTok or Instagram. Personally, I find traditional ads are easy to scroll past compared to an interesting video that grabs your attention. With influencer marketing, these content creators already have a following, making it a perfect place to promote. However, it is crucial to find a content creator that aligns with the idea for your product. Many beauty companies will pair up with a content creator that has an entire page on that specific topic, making it relevant on that page.

On the other hand, making original content for a company or a brand can be extremely successful. Many popular companies now have accounts on popular social media platforms and are active in many different ways. Some comment on posts that mention them or will repost videos made about them as well as making their own.

How to stand out

There are many ways to stand out as a company and gain traction through social media. I think one of the best ways are brand trips. Brand trips are when a company takes a group of influencers on an all-expense paid vacation. These trips always get a lot of attention and influencers spend the duration of it promoting the brand and what it sells. These have proven time and time again to be an effective way to bring attention to a company and product.

Another great way to bring attention to your brand is make a TikTok account. On average, high schoolers spend 113 minutes a day just on TikTok, significantly more than any other social media site. It can take a while to gain a following, so patience is important. Once an account reaches a point of success, they typically continue to grow.