5 Top Tips For Creating Engaging Social Media Marketing Content

The key part of any marketing strategy is to create engaging social media marketing content. When it comes to any branded materials you post, the trick is to make sure it holds the attention of your target market for as long as possible.

Why is this so important?

Generally speaking, the more engaging your content is, the more people it will reach organically. When it comes to social media marketing especially, this is worth paying close attention to. Algorithms will automatically boost content that people interact with, so if you want to get the best mileage possible out of your blog posts, videos, photos, etc.; you must engage your audience from the off.

The role of psychology

When you begin to look at your content plan to see how you can implement measures to make your content more engaging, you’ll notice that it’s not as hard as you’d think thanks to some very basic psychology. All in all there are five things you can do that will make it harder for your audience to switch off:

This first tip is one of the easiest to put into action, and is most suited to blog posts and video content. It works based on the information gap theory of curiosity This idea revolves around what people actually know versus what they’d like to about a subject, with the gap in-between those two things being what pushes you to learn more.

Of course, how do you apply this to your content?

Very easily, in fact.

All you need in order to trigger this response from your audience is a thought-provoking title; something that forces people to ask questions that they’ll quickly realise they don’t have the answers to, prompting them to stick around for more info.

People’s attention spans have decreased significantly in the last 5 years. Therefore it is crucial that any marketing content you produce gets off to an impressive start.

This is especially relevant when it comes to video content. We’ve stated before the need for a strong opening to any video, and here’s why – nearly half of all people who watch the first 3 seconds of a video will continue watching for the next 30 seconds at least, which is a long time to potentially be in front of people who may have only just stumbled upon your brand.

One good way to start your videos is with a quick preview of what you’re going to cover in any particular clip, however we’ve also covered a few other ideas in our own video

Delivery information visually is an easy way to provide a lot of information very quickly. We’ve all heard the saying, “A picture is worth a thousand words”, and it’s true.

Look at this picture:

Within a split second of looking at that image you had already received way more information than anyone could have delivered in a thousand words, and the delivery was much faster too.

That’s not to say that the written word is worthless – that is absolutely not the case. However, if ever there was an argument to mix up your content strategy with a sprinkle of video marketing, images and infographics, this would be it.

An emotional connection is hard to break. Telling stories with your marketing content will evoke empathy in your audience and as a result they will be far more invested in what you have to say.

By delivering your message via a narrative, it makes it much easier for people to relate it to their own ideas and experiences, and the smaller the gap between these, the better it will be for your engagement stats.

Ultimately, the final decision to buy from any brand is an emotional decision made by the customer, whether they’re aware of it or not.

How can you play this to your advantage?

Again, the theory is pretty simple.

Just like you choose to hang out and be friends with people who make you feel good, people will likely choose a brand that elicits positive feelings. So the thing to do here is make sure that your content focuses on uplifting emotions – happiness, hope and excitement are three that are easy to incorporate, so start with those and go from there.

On social media, no particular type of content rules the landscape. It is merely what people choose to engage with that really flies. Some formats lend themselves to the above tips more easily than others, but it’s for you to play around to see what works best for you and your brand. Take a look at your marketing strategy to see how you can incorporate these psychology basics going forward and then wait to see how much more interaction your social media marketing content receives.