By: AC Recio
The multimedia content landscape is dynamic and highly competitive. With a lot of pages, channels and platforms vying for everyone’s attention, it’s difficult for anyone to truly stand out in the digital space.
There is no shortcut to crafting content that’s unique, that can gain traction among your followers, and that can meet your goals, but there are a few guidelines you can follow to make sure that you’re maximizing your content for engagements.
Read on and find out what you can do to make your social media content more engaging.
Know Your Brand
“Know thyself” is an age-old proverb from ancient Greece that still rings true to this day. One cannot truly begin exploring social content without knowing one’s brand first. Before populating your pages with the latest social media craze, you must first look inward and ask what you are doing this for, what your goals are, and if your content ideas will help achieve these goals.
A brand known for being irreverent can get away with band-wagoning on memes because of the image they’ve built, but someone who prioritizes reliable communications may risk going off-brand if they attempt to join in on the trend. Once you know what distinguishes your brand from the competition, what your brand story is, and what you would like your audience to believe, then developing content that aligns with your brand becomes exceedingly easier.
Know Your Audience
Communication is a two-way street. If you want to create engaging content, then you should know who it is that you are making content for. Different people with different demographic and psychographic profiles will react differently to online content, so it’s best to know who you are talking to before you attempt to engage with them.
Do your due diligence and research your audience, conduct surveys and interviews, hold focus group discussions, and scan social media for their sentiments. Once you have enough information, you can build a profile of your audience, and from there, it’s just a matter of crafting content that aligns with their activities, interests, and opinions.
Start with a Hook
Knowing your brand and your audience is half the battle. Now it’s time to make use of the information you’ve gathered to hook your audience and reel them in with your content.
Grab their attention by starting your content with a strong question, a bold statement, a shocking fact, or a relatable anecdote. News publications have perfected this approach with the use of headlines, which is something you can adapt by incorporating lede lines into your content. In today’s attention economy, the goal is to stop users from scrolling long enough to pay attention to what you have to say.
Keep it Real
The most effective hook may catch your audience’s attention, but the meat of your content is what keeps them hanging on for more. One thing to always remember is that “hard sell doesn’t sell” when it comes to content marketing. Instead of talking about your brand, tell a story that incorporates your brand.
If your content isn’t relevant to your audience, then it will be skipped over for something else. Take an authentic approach that puts the spotlight on the story, while reflecting your brand image, personality, tone, and expertise. Make it relevant and aim for tugging at your audience’s heartstrings, making them laugh, moving them to reflect, or driving them to act.
End with a Purpose
A strong finish makes any piece of content memorable. Leave your audience with something to do or think about, whether it’s a call-to-action, an important takeaway, or a question that invites responses. This leaves room for your audience to engage with your content on multiple levels, encouraging further discussion and action that can increase recall for your brand.
If you’re looking to make waves in the digital space, then connect with SEA Wave & Spice Storytelling Studio. Follow our socials at www.facebook.com/seawaveandspice on Facebook, @seawaveandspice on X and Instagram, and linkedin.com/company/seawaveandspice for LinkedIn to learn more.
SEA Wave & Spice Storytelling Studio is a COMCO Mundo company.