Why content is king and how to create quality content for social media
Are you producing regular, quality social media content? Find out why content is king when it comes to promoting a business online, and nine tips to help you get it right.
In 1996, Bill Gates famously published an essay on the Microsoft website titled “Content is king“. The essay included this line: “Those who succeed will propel the Internet forward as a marketplace of ideas, experiences, and products-a marketplace of content.”
Nearly 30 years on, Bill Gates has been proved correct. Today, any business serious about promoting and marketing themselves online knows they need to produce regular, high quality content.
But great, unique content takes time, effort and even money to produce. So how can you ensure you are getting value for money from your work? In this article we explore why content is worth the investment, and share nine tips to help make it easier and more successful for you.
Five reasons why people believe that ‘content is king’
The social media landscape has changed dramatically in recent years, and marketers must adapt to ensure that the medium continues to be a viable part of their overall marketing strategy.
To do this, they need to create quality content that is both engaging and relevant to their target audience. The key is to ensure you’re creating content with the right mix of elements to help it stand out in a crowded social media environment. Here are a few points to know why:
1) Content is the most important ingredient for any successful marketing strategy
Content is the most important ingredient for any successful marketing strategy. Content is king, and it’s what people want to read, see and share. People love to consume content because they know they can trust it as an unbiased source of information.
The best content comes from brands that understand their audiences better than anyone else; this means knowing exactly what people need, love, and care about to create relevant content that helps them solve problems or make decisions around their interests.
2) Content acts as an influencer and increases brand awareness
Content is king because it can be used to influence and drive engagement. Content acts as an influencer, increasing brand awareness and trust, establishing thought leadership, driving traffic to your website, and increasing conversions.
In the age of social media, where consumers are inundated with information, brands must stand out from the crowd by creating engaging content that speaks directly to their target audience. This type of content has been proven repeatedly as one of the best ways for companies to build trust in their brand while increasing sales conversions through increased engagement on social media channels like Facebook or Twitter (or both).
3) Content answers questions people ask on social media
People are looking for answers, and if you can provide them in a way that’s easy to understand, your audience will be much more likely to engage with your content and share it with their own networks.
Here’s an example: If someone asks, “Where should I go for dinner tonight?” this could be answered with a Facebook post containing information about two different restaurants (one being Italian cuisine and one being Chinese cuisine) along with links back to their websites so they can make reservations or find out more information about them before making a decision.
4) You can publish content at a faster rate than any other form of marketing
You can publish content at a faster rate than any other form of marketing with a social media scheduler. This is because you don’t have to wait for outside vendors or a client’s approval to get your content out there. This makes it much easier and faster for you to create fresh, new content on a regular basis.
You can get more traffic and website visitors than you ever could with any other form of marketing. This is because the content is the most powerful form of online advertising. It’s also the only thing people will pay attention to when they’re online, so it has a much higher chance of being seen by many people (as opposed to an ad).
5) Content is cheap, easy to produce, and has a long shelf life
Content is cheaper than ever before. It’s much easier to create content now than it was 10 years ago because of how much more accessible tools like social media and video editing software are. Not only that but there are also more opportunities for creating quality content because of the sheer amount of platforms out there (Twitter alone has over 300 million users).
Content can be repurposed multiple times without losing its value or effectiveness: If you’re going to spend money on something, why not make sure that investment pays off?
This means using your existing assets in different ways so they don’t go to waste when their initial purpose is done; for example, if someone reads one article about SEO, then send them another one instead of sending them directly back into the search results page where they might forget all about reading anything related again (or worse yet click another link!).
Nine tips to help you create quality content for social media
Social media is a great way to connect with customers, build your brand, and grow your business. The challenge is that the way people use social media has changed dramatically in recent years.
Nowadays, social media users expect their favorite brands to be engaging, entertaining, and useful when they engage with them online. As a result, it’s important for brands to create quality content that will resonate with their followers. But how exactly do you do that? Here are nine tips to help you.
1) Content, content, content
The first step in creating quality content is to create a lot of it. The best way to do this is by creating and sticking with a schedule, no matter how much or little you feel like writing on any given day.
The second step is making sure that your content is relevant to your target audience. If you’re targeting people interested in fashion, then posting about sports won’t do much good for you–it’ll just confuse them! Ensure that whatever information or advice you provide will be useful for them (and not just because it’s what interests YOU).
The third thing we need from our social media posts: is engagement. We want our followers to interact with us on Facebook so they can tell their friends about us too! Add links back into the post so people can find more information if they’re interested; include photos/videos where possible too (this increases engagement).
2) Create an editorial calendar
An editorial calendar is a document that outlines the topics you want to cover and when you’re going to publish them. It’s important because it helps you keep track of your content marketing strategy, which can be hard if you’re always creating new posts without any structure or plan.
An editorial calendar can also help determine what type of content works best for your audience based on the times they usually interact with social media (for example, early morning or late at night). By having an idea of what types of posts will get more engagement from followers and fans, then using those formats over again instead of constantly experimenting with new styles or formats every day–you’ll save time while still creating quality content!
3) Be relevant
When it comes to content creation, being relevant is the key. You need to know your audience and what they want from you. Your customers will be more willing to engage with you if they feel their needs are met by your posting content.
You also need to make sure that your social media posts are relevant for each platform where you’re posting them–for example: On Instagram, hashtags are an important part of any post because they let people find your content easily when searching for related topics or brands in their feed (and therefore increase engagement). Twitter doesn’t allow hashtags at all, so it’s best practice not to use them unless absolutely necessary (like when using an event hashtag).
In addition to knowing your audience, knowing what they want from you is important. If you’re a travel blog, posting pictures of your latest trip will probably attract more followers than posting about new products in the travel industry.
4) Segment your audience
When creating social media content, it’s important to segment your audience. This means defining the problem before starting on a solution. If you don’t know who your target audience is and what their needs are, how can you possibly create something that will be useful for them?
That’s why it’s crucial not only to define goals but also set them before getting started with creating content. You’ll want to ask yourself: Who am I trying to reach? What do they need from me? How can I help them solve their problems or meet their needs in an effective way? And most importantly: What does success look like for this project (i.e., how much money do we need in order for us both to win)?
5) Create interesting and engaging content
Make your content interesting and engaging. Be creative, but don’t try too hard. The best way to do this is by asking yourself:
- Who am I talking to? What do they want to read about? Is it something they would find useful or entertaining?
- How can I make my post stand out from others in its category on Twitter, Facebook, etc., or on the site itself (e.g., if you’re creating a blog article for your company’s website)?
- Will this piece of content be relevant for my audience now or in the future (e.g., if you are planning an event)?
6) Use visual assets to enhance your content
When creating social media content, it’s important to use visual assets. This can include images, videos, and infographics. Images are an especially effective way to show off your product or service in action and provide a closer look at what you do.
Videos can be used not only as promotional tools but also as behind-the-scenes footage that shows customers how the company operates on a daily basis. You could even create instructional videos that give step-by-step instructions on how to use something properly or answer common questions about products or services offered by your business.
Infographics are another type of visual asset that works well on social media because they’re easy for people who aren’t very familiar with what they do understand quickly while still being informative enough for those who already know something about it (for example: “How to make money online”).
Charts and graphs are also effective because they make complex numbers easy to digest at first glance; this allows readers who don’t have much time available in their day to feel like they’re getting more out of reading than just words alone would allow them to!
7) Give your followers what they want
You need to know your audience. For example, if you’re a small business, you should understand who your target audience is and what they want from the content you share on social media.
If people are following your page because they love buying products from small businesses (and not just because it’s free), then it makes sense for them to see posts about how much work goes into creating those products and why they’re worth paying extra money for.
You also have to think about what type of content works best for each platform: Facebook and Twitter may have different expectations when it comes down to length or tone of voice used in posts–and if there’s one thing we’ve learned over time at Buffer Social Media Management Software Company (BSM), it’s that consistency matters!
8) Have a strategy
The first step in creating quality content is to have a strategy, and that means defining your goals. What do you want to accomplish? Are you trying to increase sales or grow your audience? Is it about brand awareness or customer retention?
Once you’ve answered these questions, create a content calendar that aligns with those goals. Keep in mind that not all social media platforms are created equally–you might find that one platform works better than another for driving traffic back to your website or getting more people engaged with your brand by sharing photos on Instagram but not Facebook (and vice versa).
Next, comes the plan itself: what type of content should be posted where? This will depend largely on the platform itself. For example:
- Twitter users tend not only to prefer shorter tweets but also expect them right away
- Facebook users like longer posts with images because they give users something interesting and entertaining without requiring much effort from them beyond scrolling down their newsfeeds
- LinkedIn users prefer reading long-form articles about industry trends rather than posts that link back directly from other sites like Twitter does since there aren’t any characters limits here either way
9) Hire the right people
Hiring the right people is one of the most important things you can do for your brand. You want to make sure that any employees you hire are passionate about what you do and will be able to bring their best work every day. They must also be good at what they do, especially if it’s something specific like graphic design or copywriting (or both).
If a person isn’t good at their job, it won’t matter how much time and money was spent training them–the results will still be subpar at best.
Finally, hiring someone who fits into your company culture is crucial because having someone on board who doesn’t fit in with everyone else can cause problems throughout all aspects of an organization’s operations – from productivity levels dropping off drastically due to clashes between personalities, all the way up until lawsuits over discrimination being filed against said company!
Create quality content for social media
The first step in creating quality social media content is using a content management system. A CMS allows you to organize your website’s pages, posts, and images into one place so that you can easily update them all at once. This will help keep things organized and make sure that all of your information is up-to-date as often as possible.
Next, make sure your content is good quality! This means that it should be informative, interesting, and engaging (but not too long). It should give followers what they want while also offering something new or different from other accounts they follow on social media sites like Facebook or Twitter.
Why content is king, and quick takeaways
So, to sum up, here’s what we recommend you takeaway from this article:
- Content is king. You can’t expect to engage or convert your audience without quality content.
- Use a content calendar to plan your posts. If you don’t have one yet, it’s time to start! A good place to start is by creating an editorial calendar for each social media channel and then filling in the dates with ideas for what you’ll share on each day–this will help keep things organized so that nothing falls through the cracks when it comes time for publishing (or posting).
- Post at the right time. Tweets between 9 am – 1 pm EST tend to receive more engagement than those posted later in the day due to higher activity levels among users during this period; however, tweets posted after 6 pm EST tend not only to receive less engagement but also receive fewer retweets than those posted earlier in the day.
Are you ready to reap the benefits of content on social media?
Content is king, and it’s time you started treating it like one. It’s the most important ingredient for any successful marketing strategy and can greatly impact your bottom line. Content is cheap, easy to produce, and has a long shelf life; therefore, it’s worth investing in if you want your business to grow.
It’s important to remember that the quality of your content is not just about the words you use but also how they are presented.
The right visual assets can help attract attention and make your message more appealing, while video content can be an effective way of engaging with your audience on social media platforms like Facebook or Instagram. However, if all else fails, remember to try writing something interesting!
