Engaging Social Media Posts | Tips from Experts

A version of this article was first published on The Commit Agency Blog

Engaging Social Media Posts Tips and Examples from the Experts
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When executed strategically and creatively, social media as a marketing tool can be a powerful driver of awareness, brand engagement and ultimately traffic or revenue to your business. However, when social media lacks that needed cohesion, the brand’s digital presence can actually cause more harm than benefit. Whether trying too hard (coming across inauthentically to your brand’s core audience) or simply not trying hard enough by investing the proper time, budget, brainpower and energy can set even the best-intentioned businesses up for failure—it’s about finding that perfect balance to achieve the KPIs that matter most to you.

et’s drill down into the actual posts your brand is developing. The goal should be to create smart, on-brand and engaging social media posts that compel viewers to not only want to engage with you and, yes, even buy your products or services once or twice, but what’s even more important? Long-term brand advocacy. Yes, you want to catch people’s attention. You also want to tell a story that keeps your audience connected to for life.

How do you develop, create and write engaging social media posts, you ask? Let’s take a look at how you can turn your social media game into a winning strategy.

Know Your Audience

There’s no boilerplate method for communicating on social media. Why? Because every business is different. The unique mix of customers for your company differs from that of any other, even within your industry. Therefore, it’s your responsibility as a marketer to understand what your customer base wants to hear on social media.

The best way to learn what your customers want? Simply ask. You might be surprised at what people suggest. Use surveys and in-person conversations to hit upon what your audience wants to hear from you on social media. Additionally, carefully crafted and updated buyer personas can be very helpful in determining who makes up your customer base and what those people might be looking for.

Don’t stop your research after figuring out what your current customers want, though. It’s just as important to consider target audiences that you’ve been unable to tap into. What are they looking for? How can you better appeal to these segments? If you want to move forward as a business, you have to find a way to reach the customers you want. Social media gives you the platform to do just that. But without in-depth knowledge of what that audience is looking for, you can’t hope to appeal to them.

Less is More

It might be tempting to use your new-found knowledge of your audience to beat these individuals over the head with tons of words that speak their language. However, this is the wrong approach to take. People go on social media to be entertained — and a giant wall of text entertains exactly no one.

Instead, say less, but use your words to say more. Link to an article on your site, but don’t give away the entire premise of your article in the description. Promote your latest sale, but leave enough to the imagination that viewers are compelled to click a link to your site. Ask simple questions and let your followers guide the content with their words, not your own.

This philosophy might seem counter-intuitive, especially after all the research you’ve done to better understand your customers. However, being overly wordy is sure to alienate the very people you’re trying to attract. It also detracts from the mystery and fun that surrounds your brand. Instead, leave people wanting more, and they’ll take the appropriate action by going to your site or following your social media pages.

High-Quality Images and Videos

You’ve probably heard that a picture says a thousand words. Is that true? Maybe. What is true, though, is that people remember information if it’s communicated visually 65 percent longer than they do if it’s transmitted via solely by text. That, right there, is enough of a reason to include images in all of your social media posts. In addition, we’re talking high-quality and original images whenever possible.

Incorporating images also helps you to achieve the last point about using fewer words in posts. Let your images do the talking, and use your words to supplement what viewers can see through their own eyes. By doing this, you allow consumers to form their own conclusions, and that ultimately results in stronger brand loyalty.

Images help you in one unexpected way — by adding images to posts, you’ll also be bolstering your SEO. When people do an image search for your brand or industry, Google just might turn up one of your relevant Facebook posts. It’s a residual benefit that can bring people to your page, where your compelling content has a chance of converting a new customer.

In addition to images, videos can also help you to tell your story. Just as with images, people retain a lot more from videos than they do through plain text. What’s more, videos generate twelve times as many shares as a standard text-based business post or image post.

However, to really take advantage of the power of video, you need content that’s worth sharing, as well as the social media savvy to promote your content to its fullest potential. Therefore, video marketing might be a long-term goal if you’re just getting started out with social media marketing. But it’s a goal well worth your time.

Repurpose Valuable Content

Nobody likes a tired rehash. But what if it’s not… tired? Be creative!

You might have tons of great blog content on your website, but no way to get people to take a closer look. Social media is a great way to put that content to good use. Simply placing stats, quotes and relevant information in an image can be enough to give your content new life. Start with some good information, give it a good font and a fun background, and you’ve got shareable content that will get people talking.

Video is another great way to take existing content and present it in a new way. A simple narration of a blog post with enticing visuals is a great way to start creating video content for your social media feeds. This is especially true for platforms like TikTok, where the shorter nature of videos means you don’t have to invest much time or money into reviving your content. As your video skills improve, you can branch out into longer content repurposes or entirely new video content.

Examples of Engaging Social Media Posts

We’ve talked a lot about what makes an enticing social media post. But what do these posts look like in real life? Let’s look at a few examples of social media done very well.

Wendy’s

When you think of social media, you might first think of young people or tech companies. But one of the best social media follows out there is an established business with traditional values.

In the competitive fast food industry, the big players always want to stand out. Wendy’s has taken that battle into its own hands. By savaging competing brands and consumers alike, Wendy’s has developed a loyal following that can’t wait to see what the brand says next. Wendy’s is also known for capitalizing on trending topics and embracing niche industries, making people in those communities feel like Wendy’s understands them. That is the entire key to social media marketing, and it’s what Wendy’s does so well.

Vans

Mostly known as a skateboarding company, Vans has had to expand its profile to appeal to a wide variety of young people. It uses its social media, particularly its Instagram feed, to showcase its product offerings. More importantly, though, Vans uses social media to promote its unique culture.

By embracing weird, young people who also feel like they don’t fit in can find themselves relating to the content. Again, it’s all about understanding your audience. Vans could have stuck to skateboarding and done just fine. But by pushing the envelope and encouraging people to participate in the company’s culture, Vans is winning social media in every way.

National Geographic

With interest in television and print media at all-time lows, National Geographic was forced to pivot or perish. And instead of dying out, NatGeo turned its Instagram feed into a must-see. Currently the 12th most-followed account on the entire platform, National Geographic specializes in showing people things they won’t see anywhere else. The stunning visuals are aided by unique captions provided directly by the photographers that shot the images. While NatGeo might use more words than you’d use in starting out your social media feeds, their Instagram feed is an example of understanding an audience and giving them what they want.

At its core, social media marketing is like any other type of marketing—identify what your target audience wants and over-deliver on giving them exactly that in a compelling, strategic and creative way. As you see social media posts that go viral or content that gets a lot of engagement, take note of what makes them work. You’ll find yourself picking up new ideas in no time. Those ideas can inform your strategy and content direction. To learn more about the finer points of creating engaging social media posts, contact us today.

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