Creating content for social media is an extremely beneficial form of digital marketing. By incorporating it into your business’s marketing strategy, you develop a strong digital presence which in and of itself comes with a ton of benefits.

“Social media platforms are unique in the way they interact with customers. Not only do they provide a platform for users to communicate beyond local and social boundaries, but they also offer countless possibilities to share user-generated content, like photos and videos.” —  Oberlo

Utilizing this form of digital marketing is significant for more than building engagement or gaining likes, shares and retweets. Sharing quality content on social media allows you to tell your brand’s story, generate brand recognition, increase traffic to your website, build a community around your business, drive sales, build customer loyalty, learn how to connect and better serve your audience, and so much more!

This article will highlight the importance of content on social media along with some crucial dos and don’ts.

First, what do we mean by social media content? It’s creating and sharing online content like posts, blogs, and videos in order to stimulate interest in your products and services.

“The exponential growth and continuing updates to social platforms has created a marketing goldmine, with opportunities to reach and interact with consumers in a way that was never before possible… it has become essential for every business… to create a social media plan as a part of their larger marketing strategy to ensure they remain up to speed and connected with your customers and consumer trends.” — The American Academy of Attorney CPAs

If you are not using social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, etc… to promote and grow your business, then you are missing out on all the potential customers and sales you could attract otherwise.

According to Oberlo, nearly 42% (3.2 billion) of the world’s population are daily active social media users. Reason being that social media platforms are constantly being updated to become more and more easier to use. And with the ability to download versions of the apps on almost every digital device commonly owned today (cell phones, tablets, computers, etc..) it’s extremely accessible and therefore used very often.

Based on a 2018 report from GlobalWebIndex, the average person spends 2 hours and 22 minutes on social media every day. Since such a large amount of people spend so much time scrolling through these platforms it makes sense to extend your business to where your potential customer is. In fact, the relationship between social media and corporations has increased so much that many of our most used sites like Facebook and Instagram makes it easy to purchase your company’s goods and services directly from these platforms.

Most business owners would agree that the use of social media marketing in their company has been beneficial for increasing recognition and sales. But as you may assume, with so many businesses getting involved in social media and with the algorithms for these sites constantly changing thus affecting which posts gets seen to your audience it can be tricky knowing how to navigate through the competition.

It’s not just about cultivating the perfect “Instagram feed” or posting the prettiest photo. It’s about creating a connection in mere seconds. When people are choosing to follow (or not follow) you, they likely make that decision in less than 10 seconds. It’s all about knowing how to not just attract but to retain that potential customer who has come across your profile and getting them to click the follow button or to subscribe to your email list. For people to fall in love with your business and feel a need for it, they first must care about who you are as a brand. Your social media content can do that. Does your social media platform clearly communicate what people can expect to see from you if they follow you?

All in all, your social media content creates TRUST. By building a recognizable social media presence through quality content you gain recognition which allows you to grow your business. If done effectively, your audience will start to feel like you’re a trusted friend. Social media content is about creating a story bigger than what you’re selling, and when you do that people will follow along and share your message with others.

Below are some important dos and don’ts related to posting social media content.

Do:

• Post authentic images:
  It’s important to appear authentic in your social media content. Authentic images convert leads into clients and inform your audience about who you are. This builds trust and relationships, strengthens your brand and encourages participation from your audience.
• Create a theme:
  It’s important to stay consistent when posting social media content. This relates to the color and style of the images which overall represent your brand.
• Limit your hashtag use:
  Even though Instagram, for example, allows up to 30 hashtags it’s best to limit them to 11 for good engagement.
• Post content that evokes an emotional response:
  Posting content that people will have a reaction to is more likely to increase engagement and build connections between your business and your audience.

Don’t:

• Try to use too many stock images:
  It’s best to share your own professional photos, pictures that are tailored to your brand and products. Posting stock images removes authenticity which affects your audiences overall trust. 
• Use images with too much text:
  Most people scroll through and like social media posts within seconds. If your post is too wordy, they will lose interest and move on.
• Use links/articles that lead to a page with too many ads:
  People hate excess ads almost as much as they hate telemarketers. They didn’t click on your post/website for all these ads. They clicked it to learn more about you. If we can’t trust that website, by extension we don’t trust you.
• Take poor quality pictures:
  It’s important to post non-blurry, with appropriate image resolution, size, etc… People like to see quality images. Even as a small business it’s easy to learn how to take affordable quality images in order to increase engagement. 

You can follow these little tips and tricks to get the most out of your content posting. To learn more about utilizing social media for your business and how we can help you, click here.

By Makyla Coulombe