Social media marketing depends on content as a type of fuel to drive interactions and increase follower counts across social media channels. While social-exclusive, text-based posts can be effective, especially when made regularly, the true anchors to your social media campaign are the heavy-hitting pieces of social media content that you circulate on your chosen platforms.
Unfortunately, it’s not enough to simply post random bits of social content and hope for the best. Your content must be high-quality, it must be developed specifically for your target audience, and it must be appropriate for your chosen medium. The best approach is to organize your social media content categories into a few reliable content pillars that reflect your company culture, brand identity, brand values, and the brand stand you take in your market. With a clear social media strategy and a simple content calendar, you can create content for different platforms that your audience cares about, grab attention quickly, and foster trust through meaningful connections. Some types of content simply fare better than others in the social world, and these seven types of content tend to fare the best:
And, by extension, how-to content or instructional types of posts. Listicles are powerful for a reason; they are always concise and typically short, and they offer practical information in a familiar and easily scannable format. The result is a piece that any reader can quickly peruse for as much or as little information as they want—and because the headline usually contains a number or another indication of its formatting, it’s an attention-grabbing title in the sea of social media posts. While listicles are sometimes frowned upon as an “inferior” type of content compared to a longer article or whitepaper, they’re essential fodder for growing a social media following from the ground up.
Listicles can also serve as the foundation for creating more engaging posts by incorporating visual content or interactive content such as polls or quizzes that answer questions and spark conversations. Content marketers and social media marketing teams alike can easily adapt listicles into valuable social media content for blog posts, turning them into carousel posts with multiple images, or breaking them into a single post series with compelling captions and a strong hook. This is a great example of educational content that simplifies complex ideas for a broad audience, and it’s a must have format for most platforms.
This type of content is typically written but is much more involved than the typical listicle. Rather than consolidating lots of general information into a digestible, easy-to-read format, this content is all about breaking new ground with new data, new metrics, or new insights. For most companies, this means digging deep with some original research and publishing the results. You’ll spend more time and more money developing these types of pieces and you won’t generate as much attention as you will with a listicle, but the attention you do generate will be far stronger, and you’ll earn a much greater reputation for it in the long run. Use both in balance throughout your campaign.
Research posts are also a powerful thought leadership play. Sharing in depth findings and valuable information builds credibility, drives engagement, and helps build trust with potential customers and existing customers alike. When you translate insights into relevant content, you can generate awareness, increase engagement, and reach new audiences throughout the buyer’s journey—often leading to more leads over time.
Infographics have long been a favorite in the SEO community, and for good reason. Infographics take original research and insights and condense them into an aesthetically pleasing, easily navigable graphic image. Infographics are shared more than almost any other type of social media content, giving your brand extra visibility and brand visibility on social media.
In addition, infographics tend to attract a ton of inbound links as other external sources cite your information, so your domain authority—and your search ranks—will increase as a result. The one downside to infographics is the amount of time and/or money they take to produce, so use them sparingly.
Infographics also perform exceptionally well on social media platforms, as social media users are more likely to engage with visual storytelling. Incorporating infographics into your content marketing strategy can complement your blog content and written content, offering a dynamic way to communicate key information. They’re also ideal to repurpose blog content into multiple types of content formats for other platforms.
For many companies, videos seem like an intimidating challenge that requires a dedicated expert or technical equipment. In actuality, videos don’t have to be professionally produced in order to have a great impact. Something simple, like a video recording of a speaking event your CEO attended, can carry just as much weight as something more complicated you spent weeks trying to film and produce. Share these short form videos when you can, but try to keep them on the short side—people tend to watch and share shorter videos more often than those longer than five minutes or so.
Short form videos are a secret sauce in social media marketing today because they capture attention fast and often earn the most engagement. Try instagram videos, instagram stories, or youtube shorts, and experiment with trending audio and trending topics pulled from google trends. A quick product tutorial, explainer videos, or behind the scenes clip that highlights product features can increase engagement, boost engagement rate, and pull in new followers. A successful content strategy should incorporate videos not only on social media but also on your web pages to encourage user interaction and boost visibility.
When you want to dive deeper, long form videos and long form video content (like full youtube videos) let you go in depth on complex ideas, customer questions, and detailed demos. Using both short form videos and long form videos gives you multiple types of video content for many platforms.
Interviews are great pieces of content for a number of reasons, but there’s one quality that makes them perfect for social media sharing: the fact that there are two authorities involved. As the interviewer, you’ll be seen as an authority and you’ll be able to share the material with your own followers.
The great advantage here is that your interviewee will also be seen as an authority, and they will be highly likely to share the interview with their own network of followers, greatly increasing the cumulative impact of the share. Audio and video formats work best, but make sure to include a written transcript on your site.
Interviews with thought leaders also create meaningful connections and can be repackaged into content formats like quote graphics, text based posts, or live streams. Even one strong single post clip can increase engagement and audience engagement across social media channels.
News events tend to attract a lot of attention, as your followers are always hungry for new information. Industry updates are a perfect opportunity for this—simply share an article (yours or someone else’s) and include your own commentary on it. Start a discussion and get the community involved. You can also do the same with any company news you might have to offer, such as the launch of a new product or the hiring of a new employee.
Sharing industry updates alongside your own brand content helps reinforce your brand identity and brand values. Watch trending topics so you can post timely, relevant content that grabs attention and sparks conversations on most platforms.
Social media platforms serve as a gateway into other people’s realities, and real-time event updates make great use of this functionality. While you’re attending a local event, tradeshow, or conference, post regular images and updates as the event rolls on—and include the event’s hashtag if you can. Your followers will love the first-person perspective, and if they happen to be attending the event, you’ll earn extra attention and credibility.
Real-time coverage also works for upcoming events, live events, live videos, and even live shopping. Consider adding a question box during the event to encourage interactive content, answer questions on the fly, and build trust with real customers.
Beyond these seven anchors, don’t ignore user generated content. Customer stories, customer testimonials, and positive reviews from happy customers provide instant social proof, help build trust, and are proven strategies for small business growth. Featuring real customers also signals your company culture and builds credibility, which can raise social media engagement.
Seasonal content around social media holidays is another easy win. Pair it with influencer marketing or influencer collaborations to reach a wider audience and potential customers on different platforms. If your goal is to capture leads, link your best social posts to a landing page and use shoppable content to guide viewers toward product discovery.
Incorporate all seven of these types of social media content updates into your social media marketing campaign, no matter which platforms you use or which industry you belong to. Of course, the actual content you choose to create within these broad categories must be based on what your audience actually wants to read or view.
Performing some initial market and competitive research should help you start with solid new ideas, but remember to adjust your content creation and social media strategy over time as you learn more about how your social media content impacts your social media engagement and brand visibility.
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