7 Types of Social Media Content That Drive Engagement & Growth

In today’s digital age, having a robust social media presence is essential for business growth. Social media platforms offer unparalleled opportunities to connect with your audience, build brand loyalty, and drive conversions.

But here’s the catch: not all social media content is created equal.

To truly harness the power of social media marketing, you need to create engaging content that resonates with your audience and drives engagement.

In this post, we will explore seven types of social media content that can help you achieve just that.

1. Short-Form Promotional Videos

Short-form promotional videos are a powerful tool for capturing attention quickly and conveying your brand message succinctly. These videos, typically ranging from 15 seconds to 2 minutes, are perfect for platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter, where users have shorter attention spans. By incorporating eye-catching visuals, compelling storytelling, and a strong call-to-action, short-form videos can drive high levels of engagement and effectively promote your products or services. They are also easily shareable, which can amplify your reach and bring new followers to your social media profiles.

Best Practices for Creating Short-Form Promotional Videos

1. Start with a Strong Hook: Capture your audience’s attention within the first few seconds of your video. Whether it’s a surprising fact, an intriguing question, or a visually stunning shot, a strong hook will keep viewers watching.
2. Keep It Concise: Remember that less is often more. Focus on delivering your message clearly and quickly. Avoid unnecessary details and aim to leave a lasting impression with brevity.
3. Use High-Quality Visuals: Ensure your video is visually appealing by using high-resolution footage and professional editing. Poor-quality visuals can be distracting and may diminish the perceived value of your brand.
4. Incorporate Your Brand Identity: Make sure your video reflects your brand’s tone, style, and values. Incorporate brand colors, logos, and taglines to maintain consistency and reinforce brand recognition.
5. Include a Clear Call-to-Action (CTA): Guide your audience on what to do next by including a strong CTA. Whether it’s visiting your website, signing up for a newsletter, or purchasing a product, a clear CTA can drive conversions and engagement.
6. Optimize for Mobile Viewing: Since most social media users access content via mobile devices, ensure your videos are optimized for mobile viewing. This includes using vertical or square formats, which are more suitable for mobile screens.
7. Leverage Trending Topics and Challenges: Stay current by tapping into trending topics or social media challenges. This can increase the chances of your video being discovered and shared by a wider audience.
8. Test and Analyze Performance: Experiment with different types of content and analyze their performance using social media analytics tools. Understanding what resonates with your audience will help you refine your content strategy over time.

Examples

1. A clothing brand showcasing its latest collection through a series of stunning photos.
2. A tech company explaining how to use its new product via a concise, engaging video tutorial.
3. An educational platform using infographics to summarize key takeaways from a recent study.

2. Behind-the-Scenes Content

Behind-the-scenes content offers a unique and authentic glimpse into your brand’s daily operations, culture, and the people behind your products or services. This type of content can humanize your brand, forging stronger connections with your audience by showcasing the genuine efforts and passion that go into what you do.

Tips for Creating Behind-the-Scenes Content

1. Showcase the People: Introduce your team members and let them share their stories, roles, and experiences. This helps put a face to your brand and builds trust with your audience.
2. Highlight the Process: Take your audience through the journey of how your products are made or how services are delivered. Detailed insights into your process can enhance appreciation for your craft or expertise.
3. Share Company Culture: Give a peek into your workplace environment, team-building activities, or company events. This fosters a sense of community and showcases your brand’s values.
4. Tease Upcoming Products or Projects: Generate excitement and anticipation by showing sneak peeks of upcoming products, projects, or behind-the-scenes footage from a shoot or event.
5. Go Live: Utilize live streaming to answer questions in real-time, provide updates, or show live events. This real-time interaction can boost engagement and create a more personal connection with your audience.

Examples

1. A coffee shop sharing videos of their baristas crafting intricate latte art, highlighting the skill and creativity involved.
2. A fashion designer giving a tour of their workshop, introducing each phase of the design and production process.
3. A digital marketing agency showcasing a day-in-the-life of their team, including brainstorming sessions, client meetings, and office fun.

3. Educational Content (How-to Guides, Tips)

Educational content is invaluable for establishing your brand as an authority in your field. By offering how-to guides, instructional tips, or detailed tutorials, you provide real value to your audience, helping them solve problems or learn new skills. This not only engages your followers but also builds trust and credibility.

Here are some tips for creating compelling educational content:

1. Identify Your Audience’s Needs: Understand what challenges or questions your audience might have. Use this insight to create content that provides solutions and answers.
2. Be Clear and Concise: Ensure that your instructions are easy to follow. Break down complex processes into manageable steps and use clear, straightforward language.
3. Incorporate Visuals: Utilize images, infographics, or videos to complement your text. Visual aids can make your guides more accessible and easier to understand.
4. Offer Practical Examples: Include real-life examples or case studies to illustrate your points. This can make your content more relatable and actionable.
5. Encourage Interaction: Invite your audience to ask questions, share their experiences, or provide feedback. Engage with their comments to foster a community of learning and support.

Examples

1. A fitness trainer creating detailed workout plans with step-by-step instructions and video demonstrations to help followers reach their fitness goals.
2. A software company publishing tutorials on how to use their products effectively, complete with screenshots and troubleshooting tips.
3. A culinary blogger posting recipe guides with accompanying photos or videos, teaching followers how to master specific dishes.

Educational content not only helps your audience but also positions your brand as a go-to resource for expertise and practical advice.

4. User-Generated Content

User-generated content (UGC) can be an essential element of your educational strategy. By encouraging your audience to contribute their own experiences, tips, and questions, you create a more interactive and engaging learning environment. UGC can take various forms, such as blog comments, social media posts, forum discussions, and video testimonials. This type of content not only enhances the learning experience by providing diverse perspectives but also helps to build a community around your brand.

Additionally, UGC provides valuable feedback and insights that can guide future content creation, ensuring that it remains relevant and useful to your audience. So, don’t be afraid to ask your followers to share their thoughts and experiences – you never know what valuable knowledge they may have to contribute.

Best Practices for Getting User-Generated Content

To effectively harness the power of user-generated content (UGC), consider implementing the following best practices:

1. Encourage Participation: Actively invite your audience to contribute by asking open-ended questions, prompting discussions, or running campaigns that highlight their input. For example, you can ask followers to share their success stories, reviews, or personal experiences related to your product or service.
2. Create Incentives: Offering incentives can be a powerful motivator for encouraging UGC. Consider running contests, giveaways, or offering discounts and special features in exchange for high-quality contributions. Recognize and reward the best entries to further encourage participation.
3. Make It Easy: Simplify the process of content submission. Provide clear instructions and multiple platforms for sharing UGC, whether through social media, your website, or email. Using hashtags on social media or creating seamless upload modules on your site can reduce barriers to entry.
4. Showcase Contributions: Highlight user-generated content prominently on your platforms. Feature customer testimonials, user photos, or guest blog posts to demonstrate that you value and appreciate their contributions. This can inspire others to participate.
5. Engage and Interact: Show appreciation and acknowledgment for submitted content by engaging with your audience. Reply to comments, share user posts, and thank contributors personally. Building meaningful connections fosters a sense of community and encourages ongoing contributions.
6. Set Guidelines: Clearly outline the standards and guidelines for submitted content to ensure it aligns with your brand’s values and quality expectations. This helps maintain a positive and constructive environment while encouraging content that is beneficial for all participants.
7. Leverage Multiple Channels: Diversify the channels through which you collect UGC to reach a broader audience. Utilize social media platforms, dedicated forums, blog comments, and email campaigns to gather a variety of content types.

By incorporating these best practices into your strategy, you can effectively gather valuable user-generated content that not only enriches your educational resources but also strengthens the community and trust surrounding your brand.

5. Live Videos and Streams

Live videos and streams have emerged as powerful tools for fostering real-time engagement and creating authentic connections with your audience. These platforms offer a dynamic way to share content, provide updates, and interact directly with viewers. Hosting live sessions, whether it’s a Q&A, behind-the-scenes tour, or a product demonstration, can significantly enhance user experience and loyalty.

The immediacy of live content encourages spontaneous participation, driving viewers to comment, ask questions, and share their opinions on the spot. This interactive format not only boosts engagement but also provides valuable insights into audience preferences and behaviours. By incorporating live videos and streams into your content strategy, you can build a more vibrant, interactive, and inclusive community around your brand.

Best Practices for Live Videos and Streams

1. Plan Ahead: While the spontaneous nature of live videos can be appealing, having a clear plan and structure is crucial. Outline the key points you want to cover, and prepare any necessary materials beforehand to ensure a smooth broadcast.
2. Promote in Advance: Let your audience know when you’re going live well in advance. Use social media posts, email newsletters, and notifications to build anticipation and ensure a larger turnout.
3. Engage with Your Audience: Engagement is key to a successful live stream. Acknowledge comments, answer questions in real-time, and encourage viewers to interact with you and each other. This creates a more interactive and engaging experience.
4. Ensure Quality: Invest in good equipment to provide clear audio and video quality. Poor visuals or sound can be distracting and detract from your message. A stable internet connection is also essential to avoid interruptions.
5. Be Authentic: Authenticity resonates with viewers. Be yourself and let your personality shine through. This helps in building trust and a more genuine connection with your audience.
6. Monitor Analytics: After your live session, review the analytics to understand what worked and what didn’t. Metrics such as viewer count, duration of views, and engagement rates can provide valuable insights for future broadcasts.
7. Follow Up: Post highlights or a full recording of your live session for those who missed it. Follow up with a summary or additional resources discussed during the live stream to keep the conversation going and add value.

By adhering to these best practices, you can maximize the impact of your live videos and streams, creating a more engaging and connected experience for your audience.

6. Memes and GIFs

The use of memes and GIFs in your content strategy can significantly boost engagement and add a layer of relatability to your brand. Memes, with their humorous and often culturally relevant messages, can quickly capture the attention of your audience and encourage sharing, thereby increasing your reach. GIFs, on the other hand, provide a dynamic way to communicate emotions, reactions, and snippets of information within a few seconds. Incorporating these elements into social media posts, emails, or even during your live sessions can help in breaking the monotony and making your content stand out.

However, it’s essential to ensure that the memes and GIFs you use align with your brand’s voice and resonate with your target audience to avoid any potential misunderstandings or negative impact.

Best Practices for Memes and GIFs

1. Know Your Audience: Different demographics respond uniquely to various types of humor and cultural references. Gauge your audience’s preferences and ensure the memes and GIFs you choose will resonate with them.
2. Stay On-Brand: While memes and GIFs can be light and humorous, it’s important they don’t deviate from your brand’s voice and values. They should complement your messaging rather than distract from it.
3. Use High-Quality Content: Choose memes and GIFs that are visually clear and easy to understand. Poor quality images and videos can detract from your content’s overall appeal.
4. Keep It Relevant: Make sure that your memes and GIFs are relevant to the content they accompany. Irrelevant or forced humor can seem out of place and may confuse or alienate your audience.
5. Respect Copyrights and Credits: Always consider the source of your memes and GIFs. Use content that is either public domain or that you have permission to use. Giving proper credit where due is respectful and legally prudent.
6. Test and Analyze: Monitor the performance of posts featuring memes and GIFs to see what works best. Use analytics to determine which types get the most engagement and adjust your strategy accordingly.
7. Be Mindful of Timing: The context and timing of your memes and GIFs matter. Current events and trending topics can greatly influence how your content is received, so stay updated and be mindful not to post inappropriately.
8. Avoid Offensiveness: Humor can be subjective, and what may be funny to some might be offensive to others. Ensure that your content is inclusive and considerate to avoid backlash.

By following these best practices, you can effectively incorporate memes and GIFs into your content strategy, enhancing engagement while maintaining your brand’s integrity.

7. Simple Images and Image Carousels

Simple images and image carousels are powerful tools that can greatly enhance the visual appeal and engagement of your content.

Simple Images: These are standalone images used to support text or to convey a message independently. The key to using simple images effectively lies in their relevancy and quality. Ensure that the images are high-resolution, well-composed, and directly related to the content they accompany. Captivating visuals can quickly grab the audience’s attention and complement the overall narrative.

Image Carousels: An image carousel allows you to present multiple images within a single post or page through a sliding interface. This format is particularly useful for showcasing a series of related visuals, such as step-by-step guides, product features, event highlights, or customer testimonials. Carousels provide a dynamic way to engage users as they can interact with your content by swiping through the images. When using image carousels, maintain consistency in image style and quality, and clearly caption each slide to convert passive viewers into engaged participants.

By thoughtfully integrating simple images and image carousels into your content strategy, you can enrich user experience, drive engagement, and effectively communicate your message.

Best Practices for implementing Visual Content

When it comes to implementing visual content, following best practices is crucial to maximize the benefits and ensure a cohesive and professional presentation.

Here are some essential best practices to consider:

1. Consistency: Maintain a consistent style and quality across all visual elements. This includes using a unified colour palette, font style, and imagery tone that align with your brand’s identity.
2. Relevance: Use images and GIFs that are directly related to the content and message you are conveying. Irrelevant visuals can confuse your audience or detract from the main point.
3. Optimization: Ensure all visual content is optimized for different devices and screen sizes. This includes compressing image files to reduce load times without compromising quality, and ensuring readability and visibility on both desktop and mobile interfaces.
4. Accessibility: Make your visual content accessible to everyone, including individuals with disabilities. Use alt text for images, provide captions for videos, and ensure high contrast between text and background to aid readability.
5. Attribution: Credit the original creators of any images, GIFs, or videos you use, if they are not your own. This not only respects copyright laws but also builds trust with your audience.
6. Engagement: Craft interactive and engaging visual content. Encourage users to interact with carousels, quizzes, and other dynamic elements that invite active participation.
7. Testing: Regularly test different visual formats to understand what resonates best with your audience. A/B testing can help you refine your approach and determine what types of visuals drive the most engagement.

By adhering to these best practices, you can create visually appealing, impactful, and meaningful content that resonates with your audience and amplifies your brand’s message.

Manage Your Social Media Content

Effective management of your social media content is crucial for maintaining a consistent and engaging online presence. Here are some strategies to help you keep your content organized and impactful:

1. Content Calendar: Develop a content calendar to plan and schedule your posts in advance. This ensures a consistent posting schedule, helps avoid last-minute rushes, and allows for strategic alignment with holidays, events, or promotions.
2. Content Batching: Allocate specific times to create multiple pieces of content in one go. This technique, known as batching, improves efficiency and ensures a steady stream of content without daily content creation pressures.
3. Diverse Content Mix: Mix up the types of content you share, including blog posts, infographics, videos, user-generated content, and behind-the-scenes glimpses. This keeps your feed varied and engaging, catering to different audience preferences.
4. Analytics and Insights: Regularly review your social media analytics to understand which types of content perform best. Use these insights to refine your strategy, focusing on what resonates most with your audience.
5. Consistent Branding: Ensure all content aligns with your brand’s voice, values, and aesthetics. Consistency in branding helps reinforce your identity and makes your content easily recognizable.
6. Engagement and Interaction: Monitor your social media accounts for comments, messages, and mentions. Promptly interact with your audience by responding to comments and messages, and engaging with their content. This builds a community and fosters loyalty.
7. Repurposing Content: Don’t hesitate to repurpose high-performing content across different platforms. For instance, a popular blog post can be transformed into an infographic or a series of social media posts, maximizing its reach and impact.

By effectively managing your social media content, you can build a stronger connection with your audience, enhance your brand’s visibility, and drive meaningful engagement.

Conclusion

Diversifying your social media content strategy with these seven types of content can significantly enhance engagement and drive growth for your business. By understanding the unique impact of each content type and implementing best practices, you can create a dynamic and compelling social media presence.

Ready to take your social media strategy to the next level?

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