Creating social media with enough value to share might seem complicated, but it’s not that hard to do if you have some excellent ideas. After taking a look around some of the most shared posts of 2017, several things became apparent. Here’s a rundown to get you going.
USE ORIGINAL IMAGES
As you already know from our blog “More of What’s Trending in Graphic Design” proprietary original photos are again essential ingredients in successful social media. Yes, it takes time, probably money and a fraction of talent, but a picture is still worth a thousand words, maybe more. Original images are a breath of fresh air in a world where it feels like 70% of marketers are using the same ten stock photos every day. Aside from being cool, gorgeous, breathtaking, and so on, a unique image stops readers in their tracks, giving pause and the time needed actually to read your message, and share it.APPEAL TO THE READER’S EGO
Presenting a challenge like a brief quiz gives people a chance to show off, and that’s hard for most to resist. If the quiz is good enough to require a little knowledge or expertise in a given area, people will try it, and if they kill it, they’ll share it — along with their outstanding score — and challenge their friends as well.BE BENEVOLENT
If charitable giving is on your agenda, don’t forget to use social media to get the word out. For example, let’s say you are going to make a generous donation to the local animal shelter. A good way to socially enhance that initiative would be to create a post on the platform of your choice and tell friends that every time your post is shared, you will donate $1 to the animal shelter. There are few better ways to get more people sharing your post while also building your company’s reputation as a good corporate citizen. Who knows, maybe you’ll even inspire others to do the same!
BUILD ON ANECDOTAL EVIDENCE
Every business owner has a story about an exceptional customer they have had for years, a heartwarming go-the-extra-mile tale, or a live-and-learn lesson that might be of use to others, so why not share them for the common good? Telling real stories about real events that happened to real people makes your company appear more personable and can open the door to building new relationships.SHARE YOUR EXPERTISE
No matter what your line of work is, chances are you can come up with five tips to share that will make someone happy, save them time or money, or help them do a better job on something. For example, a carpeting retailer can offer tips for choosing the right carpet for the room; a greenhouse can provide top things to know about selecting perennials, or a healthcare provider can list ways to identify when it’s just a cold or the flu. Once you get going, you might be surprised how many great tips you’ll be able to come up with and how many people will find them shareable.
Of course, these creative post ideas must also be well written, and you should observe several writing best practices to enhance the value of the content. If you aren’t a writer, save yourself a headache and hire somebody who can do it correctly. Ensuring your grammar, punctuation, and spelling are shipshape is every bit as important as the message you’re posting.
Unprofessional writing with mistakes and typos can only reflect poorly on the quality of your company and your work. If you aren’t sure about your capabilities, check out our blog, “Words and How to Use Them (or why we still need grammar, punctuation, and spelling)” for a refresher course.
Also, adhere to some of the fundamental rules of writing anything:
- Use the active voice as much as possible.
- Keep it simple by avoiding big, fancy words and complex sentences.
- Since social media posts are inherently brief, try to always use as few words as possible to convey a thought or idea.
- Remember your audience and address them using you, yours, etc.
- Keep the use of adjectives and adverbs to a minimum.
InVerve Marketing has the expertise to help you get your social media and other web content organized and online. If you could use a little nudge or more, contact us, we love a challenge!
Topics: social media, social media strategy, writing