Long gone are the days where you can simply type up any type of randomness and expect  interaction. I have witnessed people going crazy whenever a social media platform changes their algorithm because they now feel like they will not be seen. Whilst this is partially true, no matter how many algorithm changes a social media platform makes, if your content is good, your ideal clients will be looking for you.

Let me just add that no matter how great your content is, social media should not be your only form of keeping in touch with your clients. If you do not already, I advice that you start a mailing list immediately. You have to remember that no matter how much effort you place into your social media strategy, if a platform decided to shut down, it’s bye bye to your followers. Having your own mailing list ensures that no matter what, you do not lose contact with your clients. It ensures that you can keep communications consistent, no matter what happens to third party platforms.

Creating content for your business is not as simple as writing a post about why a client should buy your product or service. The way people think is changing and your strategy needs to keep up with the changes. Clients no longer purchase products or service; they purchase the effects of having this product or service in their lives. ‘Buy me’ is no longer incentive enough to get somebody to buy. When populating content, you need to ensure that your content strategy is in line with your business vision and goals.

Before creating a content strategy, define your core goals for the company. What are they? Who are you trying to reach? Once you established this, you can determine what themes your content should have. For instance, you could be a florist trying to engage more customers online. You know that your sales are highest during Mother’s Day and Valentines Day. You therefore know that in the months of February and March, your content will be around these topics.

Once you have decided on themes, you can then break down the theme into content types. No matter whether you have a product based or service based business. You have to remember that hundreds of million of people use social media platforms to stay in touch with friends, family and businesses. In order to stand out, you need to ensure that you put in the work to stand out and create epic content that will attract repeat viewers.

I suggest having the following types of contents in order to gain maximum engagement.

Entertaining content

Clients do not always want to see what you have to offer. Create entertaining content such as quizzes, games, competitions or share viral content to engage your customers. You can test different types of engaging content to see which type your clients like the most and do more of that in the future. You will not get it right the first time. You just have to learn what makes them engage with you the most.

Inspirational content

Everybody loves a bit of inspiration. Share thought provoking content. People love quotes and success stories. Be their source of daily inspiration and clients are likely to view your profile each day because they are gaining something positive from you.

Conversational content

Create content that requires a response from your audience. You can show customers a behind the scenes footage and ask for their opinion which will encourage them to comment with their feedback. Platforms such a Periscope allows you to record live and receive feedback from your viewers immediately, creating a live Q&A environment. You can also get the same results from Webinars. If you are not keen on using video as part of your social media strategy, you can also use things such as case studies allowing people to comment on the outcome of the case study.

Educational content

We live in a day and age where people are moving away from the traditional University learning and instead are increasingly using online resources to educate themselves. If you are share good content that allows your consumers to take action, you can position yourself as a leader in your niche. Sharing infographics, ebooks or articles is a great way to educate your readers.. The information you share had to be good and not full of filler text. We all know that the power of word of mouth is huge, if you have share worthy content, the more chances of people sharing your content and the potential of going viral.

Convincing content

People are more likely to purchase if they see how others have benefited from products and services. You can use follow up emails to encourage consumers to leave reviews about the product or service they have received. Sending automated emails is a great strategy to ensure that you do not have to manually send out emails, which can free up time to work on something else in the business. Follow up emails are not only a good way to collect feedback for new customers to view, but it is also a great way to improve your customer service within your business.

It can seem hard staying on top of all of this but if you prepare in advance, you can handle multiple social media platforms with ease. Create a social media planner for each platform you choose to start with. Plan out your content with your team in advance. Planning out in advance gives you a chance to work around holidays and create content to cover any holidays if no one is going to be around to manually manage the platform.

Even with a content schedule, creating a strategy has to be done on a regular basis and you need to be consistent to see any results. if you feel that you need to adapt a social media strategy in your business model, you can view our services page to see how we can move your business forward and develop a strategy to increase your reach.