It’s crucial to adapt new content types and formats in your marketing strategy even if your business is successful as it is. Expanding your content will help you make sure you appeal to the people in your target audience you haven’t appealed to yet. Some users prefer video content, while others enjoy reading longreads with tips and advice or interact only with ephemeral content. This means a diverse content strategy on social media platforms is a must for any brand who wants to improve their engagement.
It’s not always so easy to find inspiration for something new when you need to make sure you post different types of content on your social media accounts. Many companies these days buy images for their social media needs as this is a content type crucial for creating a variety of posts and publications, so you need a lot of visuals. It is surely not enough to post simple publications with an image and a short description, so keep reading this article to get ideas on how you can diversify your approach to content for social media.
1. Polls and quizzes
Organizing polls and quizzes is a proven way to boost engagement with your accounts. For users, it is often very tempting to participate in them, because they want to discover the right answer or what the others have to say about the topic. You should understand your audience and its interests to find topics that appeal to them so they want to participate in your activities. Making regular polls and quizzes a part of your social media content strategy is a great way to diversify your posts on Twitter and ephemeral content (stories) on Instagram.
2. Videos and live streaming
Nowadays, almost 80% of internet users watch videos online at least once a week. More than 70% of people would rather watch a video than read text with the same content, and studies suggest users can receive more information and get a message more easily when they watch videos. This means you should not only include videos in your social media marketing strategy, but opt for the format quite often.
There are many video types you can work with in your social media content marketing. You can shoot product videos to show what you can offer, brand videos to share your goals and mission, how-to videos, or even feature experts in your videos, depending on your business type. What’s more, you shouldn’t overlook live streaming, as this is a content type that is getting more and more popular today.
3. Content curation
Content curation is a process of selecting interesting content created by others and sharing it on your social media profiles with your thoughts and comments, which adds value and meaning to your repost. You can share articles, blog posts, image collections, and other useful content on your social media profiles.
First, it will help you have enough content to update your profiles regularly. Creating your own content takes way more time than sharing an already-written article, tagging its creators, and explaining why you posted it. Second, when you share other field content and updates, you contribute to your image as a field player and show that you are an expert who cares and stays up to date.
4. User generated content
User generated content has made a huge comeback as a trend these days due to limitations in content production this year. UGC is a great way to diversify your content across social media platforms, and you should use it for several reasons. Apart from providing you something to post for free, it really improves your relationship with your customers.
As an example, if your company works in retail and ships something to clients, you might see a lot of stories and posts which mention your account. You should definitely repost these testimonials since those who publish them will feel heard and appreciated. What’s more, people usually trust content made by other users just like them and often search for honest and reliable product reviews online. Reposting such content will make your brand more trust-worthy.
5. Collaborations
Influencer marketing on Instagram is an industry generating billions of dollars every year. Many brands are already collaborating with influencers, bloggers, and content creators to build user trust, appeal to certain audiences, and skyrocket engagement. However, it is important to do your research before you decide who you want to collaborate with and analyze their audience to see if it intersects with yours. You can also collaborate with other companies to create a certain product, offer a mutual deal, and get mutual brand awareness.
6. Webinars and online educational events
If you want to improve your brand image, try working with educational content types. Users appreciate it when brands do something more than post ads and product reviews online. You can organize a webinar with an expert relevant to your business and promote it on social media profiles, or even stream a live Q&A event straight on Instagram or YouTube. Research what your company can offer to your clients as a free yet valuable educational event to see a rise in your following.
An afterthought
When it comes to social media platforms, it’s important to be on the constant lookout for something new and interesting for your audience. Since an average attention span is really just a couple of seconds these days, make sure to appeal to your potential clients with a diverse and creative content strategy.