Creating content for your business’ social media channels is a fun way to get creative while engaging your customers. My colleagues: content is all around us. It is everything you do for your business. Every conversation you have with your clients, every email sent, in every customer complaint we take – there’s a story and a lesson to be learned within all of those small details we tend to overlook.
There are a few key pointers to touch base on while we’re sourcing content.
Offer a variety of rich content for your audience.
Rich content is really the focus here. We want the information we share with others to be saturated with unique things that they may not have known before. Offering a variety of information, whether it’s a compilation of quotes, infographics, surveys or interviews, makes it a pot of gold for your customers to hit that, “share” button. Be creative and make videos about your product or your brand to upload on social media channels. For those who’d like to go a step further, you can also upload your video content on newsflare or similar platforms, that can expose your work to a global audience, including media organizations who can choose to buy and license videos on such sites.
Make it look professional.
It’s pretty awkward visiting a business’ page only to find dark, grainy photos with harsh filters. Anything like that should be edited in afterward, especially if you decide to pixelate photo to get it to the quality you are looking for. Photography isn’t everyone’s forte and that’s quite okay. Just keep in mind to consider the composition, clarity, and color of the image. If those words already have you spinning, consider using an app to enhance your photos! Some of our favorite photo editing apps that make it easy to create beautiful images are VSCO, Photo Editor by Aviary, and the good old photo editing options on your iPhone.
If you’re looking for something more involved like making a video for your business, hiring a local videographer might just be the solution. A videographer can help wonders in terms of figuring out frames, angles, and a smooth storyboard to better tell your story. It would be an added bonus if they knew the ropes of photoshop (plugins and attributes like Photoshop brushes and color palette) as well.
Check out some of Handlr’s videos from our YouTube Channel:
Ballin’ on a Budget?
Get creative with your iPhone and capture moments yourself! If you need inspiration, see some of the greatest photography shot with the iPhone that Apple compiled here.
Be persistent!
It’s easy to throw in the towel when your content isn’t picking up traction – but that’s expected. Marketing Ninja, Mike Linville of BlackDogMarketing assures us that it takes about 12-18 months before the traffic begins to pick up. When you first start your social media accounts, it will take a while before you start attracting followers. If you’re using Instagram, it might be worth looking for some assistance from companies like nitreo. Those sorts of companies can assist businesses who want to start building an audience on Instagram, helping them to kickstart their account. This will then encourage others to follow the page hopefully. Additionally, Mike suggests a couple things to help speed up the process:
- Strategize on how to share your content. (i.e., Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Reddit, Stumbleupon)
- The 5 Day Strategy – promoting your content for 5 days for maximum exposure on different channels.
- Sell the sizzle, then the steak. Give your customers what they want, then reel in the traffic with the information they need.
Just remember to inform and/or inspire your audience and make it relevant to your them. After all, if you’re spending all this time creating posts and writing articles that no one pays attention to, it’s absolutely a waste of time. Be genuine, and try not to overthink about the process. Social media is creative, fun and a great growing process for your business. Ready, Set, Create!
