With an estimated 2.77 billion social-media users worldwide, the potential to attract new audiences and engage with existing ones is larger than ever. Producing killer social media content doesn’t have to be time-consuming, and there are plenty of shortcuts to help you get ahead . From driving traffic to your site to opening communication directly with your audience, the benefits of social-media use are endless.
The real key is identifying which content gains the attention of your target market and how it can be used to drive successful results. To make sure you’re ahead of the online marketing game, we’ve listed 10 ways that content can boost social-media success.
1. Interactive content
Interactive content is a great way to get more than just comments and likes. This content can come in the form of competitions, quizzes and prize draws. By getting customers to engage, they are more likely to remember your brand.
A great example of brand that understands the power of this strategy is online media company Buzzfeed. Known for its blog titles framed as questions and regular social-media quizzes, it has nearly 12 million likes on Facebook alone.
2. Ebooks
Attract audiences to your site by using learning resources to position your brand as a market leader. Promoting your ebook across social media is a key tactic to gaining the attention of audiences searching for your topic.
By using social media, you can focus on reaching specific niches and audiences through paid posts. A top tip is to have a data capture to get access to the ebook. You can then build on your audience database for future marketing efforts.
3. Infographics
It’s no surprise that infographics have had the biggest increase of 65% usage among b2b marketers. Quick, easy and to the point, they tap into the visual appeal of social media.
Useful for increasing engagement, they simplify complicated information and capture audiences’ attention. The content can also be used as part of your outreach strategy. By sending the link or embed code to key influencers, your brand benefits from an increase in shares, likes and traffic if picked up. There are plenty of cost effective infographic design services out there.
4. Podcasts
According to government regulator Ofcom, the number of podcast listeners has doubled in the past five years. Similar to interactive content, podcasts instantly involve the listener by talking directly to them.
Through using paid promotion, you can target specific audiences and niche markets on social media. This guarantees that content is being heard by the right people.
Top tip: On most social networks, you’re unable to upload just audio. A trick is to make an image and then place audio over the top so that your podcast can be uploaded as a video.
5. Live streams
Keep your audience up to date with your brand by using the live stream function on your social platforms. Through setting up a sneak preview or insight to a new product or service, you can keep audiences involved with your brand every step of the way.
A key strategy to engage with new and existing audiences, it is also a useful tool to build on lead generation.
6. Webinars
48% of buyers benefit from webinars midway through their buying journey. Webinars provide audiences with key knowledge and information surrounding your industry. Presenting the brand as trustworthy and knowledgable, make the most of this content by promoting it on social media.
Resourceful and cost-saving, you can repurpose content already created and reuse webinars from previous email campaigns to attract more engagement.
7. Downloadable guides
Everybody loves a freebie. Give back to your audience by offering downloadable content through your social channels. Just like ebooks, put a strategy in place to reshare the content to gain maximum engagement.
Through targeting specific interests you can guarantee an increase traffic to your site. make sure that you monitor what works and what doesn’t. If a post is doing particularly well you can also reuse it a few months later.
8. VR Content
Show your brand as forward-thinking by creating virtual reality content. Gaining immediate attention on social media, it results in attracting new audiences to your site. Most brands see this type of content as challenging and therefore avoid it. This makes virtual content a good way to be differentiated.
A brand that uses this technique is Disney, when promoting the West End musical production of The Lion King. With many thousands of views, the content continues to achieve engagement.
9. User-generated content
Make your brand personable by sharing content and reviews from customers. Not only does sharing this type of content involve audiences, it shows them you care what they think. Cost-effective brands also benefit from getting free content that your target market are talking about.
Lastly, it gives potential customers an insight into what your product or service looks like.
10. Blogs
Drive traffic to your site through promoting your blog across social media. How-to guides and listicles are popular for gaining audience attention and also present your brand as a hub of information.
A top tip is to only promote an extract of the blog across social media with a link to the blog page on your website to read more. Once social users click through to the rest of blog, make sure your webpage has clear calls-to-action (CTAs) to guide them through your website. This is a strong conversion strategy to turn them from reader to customer.
Promoting content across social media is hugely beneficial if done correctly. Although it is tempting to create as much content as possible, always plan the types will reach your target market first. For example, if you’re running a fashion brand aimed at teens, a detailed ebook wouldn’t have the most impact. Researching the right content and how to engage your audience is crucial to maximising social-media success.
We have a broad range of expert copywriters that can help you improve your online marketing. WooContent can support you with all of your content needs, so get in touch today to find out more.