Companies should be taking the time to focus on creating content that social media users want to view. Many consumers rely on social media networks to be informed about brand news, promotions, product releases, and general content. Consistency among all social media channels for one piece of content is vital.
1. Create a Story line
Your content has to have a plan. When you are given a topic, create a story line or outline for your content. This helps you write notes and keep important facts in order. It is ideal to create a compelling introduction that includes a soft command to direct readers to continue scanning the content.
Part of creating beautiful content is having a story line that builds using a traditional pyramid format.
2. Create a Killer Headline
If your headline is not exciting to your audience, they are likely to pass the content by or just read the meta description provided by Google. Keywords and focus words are what get the attention of your readers and make them click on a story to read the entire thing. Do your best to not have the same headline as your competition, as it will just appear that your company has rehashed content to make it unique for your audience.
3. Include Reviews or Testimonials
Whenever relevant, include a quote from a review or testimonial from a customer. It is one of the secrets to beautiful content. Consumers like to see what other consumers have to say. It is equally important to link to your customer review or testimonials page within that quote. Providing a direct link to reviews helps consumers make an informed decision when making purchases and interacting with a brand.
4. Pick an Easily Readable Font
Pick a simple font like Arial, Calibri, or Times New Roman as examples as they are easily readable fonts. Avoid using fancy fonts as some do not transfer well on mobile devices and the smaller screens make reading content difficult. It also helps to bold your sub-headers so that readers know you are starting a new idea within the main topic.
5. Think Presentation
When working on creating killer content, think presentation. How will your content look to your readers? Society does not like to read big chunks of text. Use smaller paragraphs with shorter sentences.
Also, break up content with bullet lists, thinking points, infographics, video, and photos. It helps the reader stay interested. Try to keep your pieces shorter in length too, society doesn’t have the attention span that it used to and prefers to read less.
6. Create a Unique Voice
It is best to define a specific voice for your brand. It helps to maintain this voice by using only one writer. If you can find a team of writers that can work together to maintain a single voice, you have hit the jackpot. Every content producer has a voice that is unique to him or her, which needs to fit into what the company wants to provide to readers.
7. Include Charts, Graphs and Photos
Visual appeal is important, especially on social media. You should pay attention to and use Instagram to promote visual content. Choose a relevant, but compelling visual and include a link to the written content. Brands have reported a 4.21-percent level of engagement on Instagram alone, which is the highest level of engagement in comparison to other social media options.
8. Think About Shareable Content
Creating viral content your audience will love and want to share is necessary. Include social media sharing buttons on all published pieces of content. Also, make sure that your readers are encouraged to share content posted on social media channels.
Consumers are only going to share what interests them, so make sure that your content is compelling enough for readers to want to share it.
9. Publish on Several Channels
Your brand should publish the same content on all social media channels. Not all of your audience is going to follow your brand on every social media network, so you must appeal to the audience members you have on each network. Availability of content is important.
If you are sharing content on a social media platform like Twitter or Instagram, the post’s title and a link to the content are really all that are necessary other than a great image.
Final Thoughts
Your company’s marketing team should be up-to-date on the latest content creation and content marketing trends, especially via social media. To stay relevant and ahead of your competition, your brand must deliver content that is relevant, intriguing, and visually appealing. Set guidelines for your content creation and marketing staff members so that the content presented to your audience will perform well.