Creating social media content is much more than simply writing clever captions to accompany your photos and blog posts. While that’s a big part of it, the process of creating social media content is also about taking stock of what you’ve already shared, planning your content ahead of time, and working to create a cohesive social media plan.
One of the best ways to do that is to create a content plan that includes a mix of engaging content types for your audience. These posts can help you connect with your audience, increase your brand visibility, and reach new potential followers.
1. User-Generated Content
User-generated content (UGC) is content that your fans create and share about your brand without being paid. This can be anything from a photo of your product to a video review.
Even at events, you can leverage this powerful tool by setting up a social wall. This wall can display content shared by attendees using a designated event hashtag, creating a real-time buzz and encouraging others to participate. Be sure to provide event WiFi so that they can definitely do so!
Sharing UGC on your social media profile is a great way to show your fans some love and fill your profile with beautiful, high-quality content.
Just be sure to ask permission from the creator and give them credit in your caption.
2. Behind-the-Scenes Content
People love to see behind-the-scenes content. It’s an excellent way to humanize your brand and connect with your audience on a more personal level.
You could share behind-the-scenes photos, videos, or even a “day in the life” of an employee.
This type of content is especially effective on Instagram. The platform’s Stories feature is the perfect place to share behind-the-scenes content because it disappears after 24 hours.
3. Polls and Surveys
Polls and surveys are a great way to engage your audience and learn more about them. Plus, they’re easy and quick to create.
For example, you can create polls on Facebook, to engage with the audience you have in this social media platform.
You can use polls and surveys to ask your audience about their preferences, opinions, or experiences. You can also use them to get feedback on your products or services.
Just make sure to keep your polls and surveys short and sweet, and try to keep the number of options to a minimum.
4. Inspirational Quotes
Inspirational quotes are a great way to connect with your audience. They help to create a sense of community and remind your followers that you’re not just a business, but real people too.
When choosing a quote, think about what your audience needs to hear. For example, if you’re a fitness brand, you might want to share a quote about perseverance or overcoming obstacles. If you’re a food blogger, you might want to share a quote about the joy of cooking. If you’re a travel blogger, you can come up with inspirational travel quotes to inspire wanderlust.
You can also create your own quote graphics using a tool like Canva or Adobe Spark. Just be sure to credit the original author of the quote if it’s not your own!
5. How-to and Educational Content
Educational content is a great way to provide value to your followers and position your brand as an expert in your industry.
How-to content can be shared in a variety of formats, including:
• Short video
• Image
• Carousel
• Reel
• IGTV
• Blog post
• Infographic
• Guide
• Tutorial
In the example below, @hubspot shares a video tutorial on how to create a social media content calendar. This type of content is valuable to their audience because it helps them solve a common problem. In this case, the problem is not having a content calendar, which can lead to inconsistent posting and low engagement. Nowadays, AI content tools (like Jasper, Copy.ai or ContentForce AI) can help you speed up the content production process. It’s also worth looking at translating your content to reach new audiences.
6. Questions
Questions are a great way to engage your audience on social media. There are a few different ways you can use questions in your posts.
First, you can ask a simple yes or no question. This is a quick and easy way to get your audience to engage with your post.
You can also ask an open-ended question. This is a great way to get a conversation going in the comments.
Finally, you can use questions to find out more about your audience. For example, you could ask them what their favorite product is, or what their biggest pain point is.
This can help you get to know your audience better and create more targeted content in the future.
7. Fill-in-the-Blank Posts
Fill-in-the-blank posts are a fun way to get your audience to engage with your brand. You can relate the fill-in-the-blank to your industry, products, or services, or you can make it more general.
For example, you could ask your audience to fill in the blank about their favorite way to use your product. Or, you could ask your audience to fill in the blank about a popular trend in your industry.
8. Contests and Giveaways
Who doesn’t like the chance to win something? Contests and giveaways are a great way to increase brand awareness and get more people involved with your social media profiles.
To run a contest, think about what you want to give away. It could be one of your products, a bundle of your products, or a gift card to your online store. Then, decide on the rules. Do users need to follow your profile? Like the post? Tag a friend? Share the post to their story? You can pick and choose any of these options to be the entry requirement for your contest.
When you’re ready to announce the winner, make sure to do so publicly and thank everyone who participated. You can also share a photo of the winner with their prize to show that you followed through.
9. Seasonal Posts
Who doesn’t love a good holiday post? Whether it’s Christmas, Halloween, or National Donut Day, there are tons of opportunities to create seasonal content. Try an AI holiday post generator if you’re running low on ideas or if you just need personalized holiday posts created in a snap.
You can even get creative and tie in the holiday with your business. For example, a gym could wish their followers a happy Thanksgiving and ask them to share how they stay active during the holiday season.
Pro Tip: Plan out your seasonal content in advance so you’re not scrambling to create posts at the last minute.
10. Interactive Posts
Interactive posts are a great way to boost engagement on your social media posts. That’s because they require your audience to take some sort of action, like answering a question or participating in a poll.
Here are a few examples of interactive posts you can create:
• Ask a question: You can ask your audience a question related to your industry, products, or services. Just make sure it’s something that will be interesting and relevant to them. For example, a medical spa software company might ask its followers questions about online booking pain points, personalization needs, their services, etc.
• Run a poll: Polls are a great way to get a quick pulse on what your audience is thinking. You can use them to get feedback on your products or services, or to gather opinions on industry-related topics.
• Fill in the blank: Fill-in-the-blank posts are a fun and easy way to get your audience to engage with your brand. Just write a sentence and leave a blank for your audience to fill in with their own words.
• Caption this: Post a funny or interesting photo, and ask your audience to come up with a caption for it. This is a great way to get your audience to engage with your brand in a fun and creative way.
11. Personal Stories
Everyone loves a good story. And when it comes to social media, personal stories are a great way to connect with your audience and humanize your brand.
Whether you’re sharing a funny anecdote from your day or a heartfelt story about how your business got started, personal stories are a great way to show your audience that there’s a real person behind your brand.
Just be sure to keep it professional and on-brand.
12. Infographics
Infographics are a great way to present a lot of information in a visually appealing way. They’re also highly shareable, which means they can help you reach new audiences on social media.
Infographics are perfect for breaking down complex topics and making them easy to understand. They can also be used to present data and statistics in a way that’s more engaging than a traditional written post.
13. News and Current Events
Your audience follows you on social media to stay up-to-date with your business. But, they also want to know what’s going on in your industry and the world. Share the latest news and current events that are relevant to your business and your audience.
For example, if you’re a real estate agent, you could share news about the housing market. Or, if you own an escape room, you could share news about the latest game trends.
Sharing news and current events shows that you’re in-the-know and keeps your audience engaged. But, it also positions your business as an industry leader.
14. Humor
Last but certainly not least, let’s talk about the power of humor on social media. If you’re looking for a way to get more engagement on your social media posts, humor is a great way to do that.
People love to laugh and they love to share funny posts with their friends. So, if you can make your audience laugh, you’re much more likely to get more likes, comments, and shares on your posts.
Of course, humor is subjective and it’s important to know your audience before you start posting funny content. But if you can find a way to make your content entertaining and funny, it can be a great way to get more engagement on social media.
Conclusion
Social media is a great way to build brand awareness, connect with your audience, and convert new followers into customers. But to do that, you need to post engaging content that your audience will love. Use the ideas and examples in this post to help you get started.
