Content is the core of your social media marketing strategy. Without it, you’re just shouting into a void. But creating good content takes time, effort, and thoughtfulness. It also requires that you know what your audience wants to see–and how they want to consume it. If you’re ready to get started with this important part of growing your brand online, here are four reasons why it’s crucial that you create great content:
1. People consume more content than ever.
With the rise of smartphones and faster broadband speeds, people are consuming more content than ever before. The internet has made it easier to access information—and thus, it’s become increasingly difficult for brands to stand out in a crowded marketplace.
In addition to this increasing amount of available content, there’s also been an increase in the number of platforms that allow users to share their own media content with others (Pinterest and Snapchat are two examples). This growing fragmentation means that it’s no longer enough for brands just to create good content; they must also find ways for their audiences to find them.
2. Content is more accessible than ever
With the growth of social media, content has become more accessible than ever before. Content has been made available in more platforms, formats, languages and countries than ever before. In fact, there are over 5 million active blog posts published on WordPress alone!
As a result of this content explosion, it has become increasingly difficult for companies to stand out from the crowd and get their message across. One way to make yourself stand out from your competitors is through creating unique and engaging blog posts that provide value to readers. This is something that cannot be achieved with ordinary text-based articles or boring PowerPoint presentations—you need visual media such as video or images which can convey complex ideas in creative ways without being too verbose or boring.
3. Content is more fragmented than ever, too.
It’s not just the quality of content that matters, but also who you’re creating it for. The growing demand for content means there are more options than ever before on how to reach your audience. In the past, companies used to have a single avenue where they could publish their message and receive feedback from customers: TV ads, print media advertisements and in-store signage all allowed users to find out about a company’s products or services without having to search online themselves. Nowadays, however, consumers have access to an almost infinite amount of information about any given topic or product through multiple platforms—the net result being that “content is fragmented.”
It’s not just the quantity of available channels today; it’s also how people interact with them differently depending on the device they’re using at any given time (or place). For instance:
- Facebook: Social media users typically spend more time checking their newsfeeds while they’re at home because they want quick updates on friends’ lives in between tasks like cooking dinner or doing laundry; thus making this platform more relevant when someone needs advice on what color rug would look best with their new couch set up against an orange wall backdrop.* Twitter: Tweets are best shared during work hours because most people use this social media platform as an outlet for sharing political views or professional expertise; thus making this platform more relevant when someone needs advice on whether or not you should move away from home after college graduation.* LinkedIn: Professionals use LinkedIn as part of their job search process so it makes sense that these professionals would likely check their messages throughout the day while commuting into work via train/bus rather than waiting until arriving at their office desks until later in
4. Your content needs to adjust to these changing habits
As you can see, the landscape has changed and your content needs to adjust. Content creation is no longer about writing long blog posts or Facebook updates. It’s about creating visual content that is personal and interactive, relevant to your audience, entertaining and timely.
As you create your next piece of social media content remember these four things:
- Your audience’s habits have changed—they’re used to being on their phones all day long doing other activities like watching videos or playing games which means they have less time for reading long articles online (and if they do read one they usually scan it quickly).
- The average attention span has dropped from 12 seconds in 2000 down to 8 seconds today! That means if you don’t get through your point quickly enough then chances are someone else will beat you to it by posting something similar—or worse yet—not posting anything at all because they won’t have time! So make sure whatever message/information/product etc., you’re trying convey happens fast but also conveys emotion too so that people care about what happens next with no questions asked.”
Creating quality content takes time and effort, but it’s crucial for successful social media marketing.
In case you haven’t heard, content is king. But in order to master the art of content creation for social media, you need to understand your audience and their needs.
First of all, quality content shouldn’t be hard to find or read. It should be valuable, interesting and relevant—and it should take less than 5 seconds to consume (you’ve got a short attention span). The most effective way to engage your audience is also the easiest: ask them questions!
Conclusion
Content is king, as they say. It’s easy to forget that in the social media age, when content seems to be everywhere. But if you want your brand to stand out from the crowd and connect with consumers on a deeper level than just liking or sharing your posts, then it’s crucial that you create quality content that engages people.
