Creating content doesn’t have to be complicated, but many of us tend to get overwhelmed as soon as we’re faced with an empty calendar: “How am I going to fill all of that blank space in?!”
Our recommendation? Try to get in the groove of things by collecting a variety of weekly themes; this will help you to plan content for each of the weeks ahead. You’ll also likely want to consider including different styles of posts, such as stories, text, and videos, because they’re proven to actually help create more engaging content.
Take a look below to read more of our tips and tricks you can use the next time you’re creating content!
Stay consistent with your branding
When you are working through your brainstorming sessions and deciding what you should post, you always want to focus on keeping your brand values consistent throughout. Try to plan content that tells your audience more about your product/service and your company, without being too “in your face” about it. When all the content you are posting is relevant to your brand and following your brand values, it eventually starts to become familiar with your viewers.
Brainstorm ideas prior to the planning meeting
Whether you are planning content by yourself or with a team, it’s important to take some time and think of valuable and beneficial ideas before you get into the meeting to sit down and plan. When you have ideas in your head before you actually start putting it all down on paper, it will make your meeting go much smoother and ensure you are optimizing everyone’s time. This isn’t to take away from the brainstorming that happens during the meeting too, but to focus on actually having ideas to bring and bounce off of each other at the meeting.
Some simple ways to brainstorm ideas is to scroll through social media and save posts that you like and strike inspiration in you. This will give you some insight into the kind of posts you’re attracted to, and help you keep up with current trends (because we all know they’re always changing!).
Have a variety of posts
Creating posts for viewers to save, share and engage with is important because it gets their attention and influences them to perform a call to action. Here are a few different types of posts you can use to increase engagement on your social media channels:
- Create shareable posts. Having shareable posts on your social media feed is a great way to increase your following and get your brand circulated. By providing content that contains valuable information, when the post comes up on someone’s feed, they can easily share it with friends and family. Another approach to this type of post is to use comedy. We all love to share funny posts with our circle to give them a good laugh!
- Create savable posts. Savable posts are key when it comes to social media because this allows the viewer to be able to go back to your content long after they first come across it. For these types of posts, you can create guides, tips and tricks, as well as specific “use when” posts. This will encourage viewers to save the content for when they need it!
- Create engaging content: Comments and likes are great ways to engage your audience. It makes them feel like they’re creating a real relationship with you. Some ways you can create engaging content is to encourage the viewer to comment on your post by asking a question, inviting them to tag friends and family, or by adding a call to action.
There are of course many different types of posts, but these few will definitely help you plan your content and zero in on your best ideas so that you can increase engagement on your accounts, and ultimately expand your brand.
Provide value
The next time you’re planning out your content schedule, you have to stop and ask yourself, “Is this providing my audience with valuable information?” Most of the time the answer to this question is yes, which is great. But remember, your content doesn’t always have to be tips and tricks. You can also post more personal content as a great way for your audience to get to know more about you!
By ensuring your posts have a purpose — whether the intention is to create more brand awareness or introducing your audience to the team behind the brand — you are providing them with value.
Using these simple tips and tricks to help you plan engaging and valuable content will help you to expand into other platforms and allow you to effectively use your resources to provide your audience with value, and of course, have fun while doing it!
