We’re all being blasted by social media these days and we need to find new and creative ways to stand out from the crowd. One of the tactics I have used in the past is to imagine I am NOT creating content for me, but maybe for a client instead. It tends to make you braver; you learn to be more adventurous and step out of your own comfort zone when it’s not yourself on the line. I suppose I could end there, but that wouldn’t be very useful to you now, would it?
We need our audience to stop and pause. We need them to want to seek out our content and see and feel its value. We don’t have to offer “value” all the time; we can offer what Katya.com refers to as the 5 C’s. These are Connection, Credibility, Conversion, Community and Conversation. Can you think of ways to create these C’s with your content?
Creating this compelling content helps you build your community and / or tribe. Once it’s built and established, it can boost your online presence, strengthen customer relations, increase engagement, and of course, improve your authority in this field.
Content Pillars
We shall go into more detail shortly about your audience, but now let’s talk about Content Pillars. These are the core themes for your content creation and are a vital part of your content strategy. Their purpose is to help you stay on track with what is suitable and relevant to your audience. You need to set up what content pillars suit you and your brand by doing the following:
What do you want to achieve?
Your content pillars should match and align with your brand mission and goals as much as possible. Is your content / post meant to:
· Build brand awareness
· Generate leads
· Create authority
Now think of your audience pain points and what their expectations are, and what their final outcomes hope to be. Your content pillars should align with both yours and their outcomes.
Identify Your Target Audience’s Needs and Pain Points
Now it’s time to think about who your audience is and what they care about. Create buyer personas that detail their demographics, interests, challenges, and goals. The better you understand their pain points, the easier it will be to create content that resonates with them.
Read my blog “How to Create a Customer Avatar in 4 Steps”
Setting Goals for your Social Media posts
The upside and downside of social media is its it's instantly accessible and obvious how much thought and planning has gone into its delivery! People can at once detect if there is any purpose to it or not. A lot of what I see online is obviously not thought out; its mindless posting just because they wanted to post something. It doesn’t support or fulfil anyone's objectives, least of all the potential customers.
So, before you post, think:
· Why am I posting this?
· Who benefits from this post?
· What action or reaction am I expecting from this post?
· Should I do a follow-up post to support this post?
· Where should I post this post?
· How should I post this post? (natively or through a 3rd party)
· When should I post this post?
· How does this post align with my brand objectives and messaging?
· How does this post answer my customers pain point?
Trust me, I don’t think like this every time, of course! However, if some forethought is not put in to this occasionally, you’re just mindlessly posting and people switch off, see no value, and the algorithm doesn't bring you back to them.
Making it Compelling: What is That?
You’re not alone in wondering what that is. If you can figure out what may trigger an action or reaction from your ideal customer, you’re already a step ahead. Think of a catchy headline and interesting and engaging hooks that you can add to the copy of the post.
What your audience will likely engage with is well-thought-out storytelling that inspires and fires their imagination. Make it so they want to respond or add their own stories if you can.
Find or create top-quality visuals (photos, videos, and graphics) that will make your customers stop what they are doing and interact with your page or post.
Using Correct Post Formats
We have a plethora of things we can use to “speak” to our audience. Some platforms like Facebook & Instagram have a wide range of ways to interact with the audience, like single post and Carousels in the grid, polls, Stories, Lives, Reels, Broadcast Channels and now even Notes.
LinkedIn has gone pretty much the same way and Google Business Profile has upped the ante in the last couple of years with posting text, video, image posts and then the Q and A area you can update too.
So, it will take some time to work out which of these formats you want to use and then tailer your content separately for each social platform as well.
You may benefit from using Canva Pro here, as its such an easy way to edit between the platforms and makes the end product "post-ready.”.
Are You Encouraging Interaction?
All too often I see people broadcasting rather than being social on their social media. It’s easy to do; I slip up as well; no one is infallible. We need to go through those questions at the top of this blog and really think about why we are posting.
Ideally, we need to stay within the confines of our objectives and ASK QUESTIONS and invite people to comment. We need to make it clear what behaviour and response we’re expecting, offering clear calls to action where needed.
Are You Posting at the Right Time and Remaining Consistent?
Seems so obvious, doesn’t it? But are you posting when your audience is there and in the right mindset to do that action you are asking of them?
· How often do you go through your insights and analytics?
· Where do you chart your findings?
· Have you tracked what images, videos, wording, and calls to action are working or not?
· Are you scheduling for a week, a month in advance?
· How far ahead do you curate and create content for?
Consistency, or lack thereof, is a major killer to your online digital marketing. It takes a long time to build up a reputation and your tribe, but by dropping your posting for a month, you’ve essentially put your online presence back by months!
Once you have put your business online, you have now made your client expect how you’ll behave. They inadvertently measure you by your competitor's behavior, and they only see that person as your competitor because they see them posting online!
Using Analytics and Feedback
After touching on the importance of your insights and analytics, I feel it is important to explore this further. There are two types you may want to use. There are the ”native” analytics, which are the ones built into each independent social network, and then there’s the third-party tools that you might want to use as well.
The ultimate aim is that you’re better informed about what content is working or not for you and your customers. Please be mindful that these analytics will not consider any external factors, like socioeconomic factors, whether you’re attending a family wedding or there was a storm and the power went out for a day or two.
These analytics are only as effective as you allow for any extraneous activities.
The feedback I mention in the title could also be genuine feedback from your customers in the moment or even from your testimonials. It's worth reviewing these and making sure you’re still fulfilling the pain points you planned to with their comments.
Hashtags, Keywords, Oh My!
Pretty much the only platforms that use hashtags now are Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest. Only in December 2024, Elon Musk confirmed that hashtags were no longer needed in X
https://x.com/elonmusk/status/1869070358210572306
Keywords are vital for every platform; think buzzwords, not jargon if you can differentiate between the two of them. What words do you want to be known for?
Finally, the Oh My relates to collaboration. Who can you work with? Are there any microinfluencers that would collaborate with you?
In the End…
I never promised this would be a short download! I know there is a lot to think about here. It might seem a bit unrealistic to meet all of these goals, but as you gain experience, this and more will become second nature to you.
I would highly recommend you test and experiment with various types, styles, formats and hashtags. There is no one answer or fix that works for all.
Checklist for Crafting Engaging Social Media Posts for Your Business
1. Mindset Shift
2. The 5 C’s of Content
3. Content Pillars
4. Understanding Your Audience
5. Goal Setting for Each Post
6. Compelling Content Creation
7. Format and Platform-Specific Optimization
8. Encouraging Interaction and Engagement
9. Timing and Consistency
10. Analytics and Feedback
11. Hashtags, Keywords, and Collaboration
12. Final Quality Check
Working with clients Nationwide from base in Mullingar.
