12 Dec Four Ways to Develop Amazing Social Media Content
Are you envious of all the beautiful social media content filling your newsfeed and thinking, “How can I create amazing social media content for my brand?” Then you’ve stumbled across the right blog post.
First off, know that you’re not alone! 55% of marketers report a lack of resources for quality content production across the industry.
Because of this, our two companies, Ignite Social Media and Carusele, partnered together to host a webinar covering various ways that marketers can create meaningful social media content on their own.
We asked registrants to take a brief assessment before the webinar, The Social Content Evaluation, designed to help them evaluate how evolved their social media content strategy is, so that throughout the webinar we could give them more custom insights and direction. Before you dive further into this post, feel free to take the assessment yourself.
Now, it’s important to understand why social media content is so valuable. Yes, your content is going to (hopefully) elicit a response from your audience that ultimately drives them to purchase your product or service. But, by thinking of your social audience like a focus group, you can use the information you receive to develop better, more meaningful content that will inspire your audiences to take the action you desire.
Take what you learn from your audience to inform future content.
Now that we have that covered, let’s dig into the four ways you can develop amazing social media content for you brand.
1. Repurpose Existing Assets
Chances are you already have tons of digital assets from other promotional materials lying around. With a few simple tools, you can take that content and optimize it for social media. And if you have access to any videos, USE THEM! Platform algorithms are placing more importance on video content, with Facebook video receiving, on average, 135% more organic reach than a Facebook photo. You can easily cut down a long commercial into a bite-sized, social friendly video to share across networks.
Best Practices for Repurposing Existing Assets:
- Make sure content matches your social voice
- Ensure assets are optimized for different social channels
- You don’t have to repurpose assets exactly as you received them; video assets can be edited into multiple shorter videos, GIFs, cinemagraphs, and still images
- Ensure appropriate usage rights to re-use content on additional channels
- Videos should be kept short
- Twitter: 140 seconds
- Instagram: 60 seconds
- Facebook: 90 seconds
- SnapChat: 10 Seconds per clip
- YouTube: 60-90 seconds; compelling stories up to 10 minutes
2. In-House Content Development
Many marketers think that to shoot content in-house, they need an elaborate and expensive studio on-site. All you really need is a small space in your office that has room to store reusable materials. Set aside a small budget for lighting equipment and a nice tripod and you’re right on track.
By having this in-house studio, you now have the freedom to develop content as needed. The team suddenly came up with a great concept for that holiday post you need to have live tomorrow? No problem. A quick trip to the store, an iPhone, and a wrapping paper backdrop just brought your vision to life in no time.
Best Practices for In-House Content Development:
- Don’t be afraid to use your cell phone camera
- Invest in lighting equipment and a flexible tri-pod for higher quality content
- Stock-up on props, papers, and scrap materials to create magazine-worthy styles
- Snap wide shots to ensure multiple cropping sizes that can be optimized for social channels
- Also shoot vertical images and videos for use on platforms where 4:5 ratio is encouraged
- Set aside an hour each week and bring a shot list to save time
3. On-Site Content Development
There are a few different ways that you can create content on-site. If you have a retail location, go in-store and get some content! The best part about shooting inside your store is that you’re conveniently surrounded by all your products. Leverage this to create specific content, or even a library of assets that you can pull from as needed.
And don’t forget about events. Whether you’re hosting an annual event that everyone and anyone will be at or you’re getting ready to host several influencers on-site to shoot a video, take advantage. Audiences will love the exclusive, behind-the-scenes content. Plus, you’ll have tons of content at the end of the night, and a variety of imagery and video to choose from when you go to post to social media. Just make sure you have all the proper photography disclosures in place and a solid WIFI connection.
Best Practices for On-Site Content Development:
- Prepare a shot list ahead of time
- Bring back-ups for everything
- Take a mix of both static images and video content
- Make sure you have a strong wi-fi connection for events
- Ensure photography disclosure signs are set-up at events
4. Third Party Content Creators
Like events, there are a few different ways you can obtain third-party assets: social media influencers, photography services, and/or User-Generated Content. We’ll start with Carusele’s specialty service -influencers.
If you’re unaware what Carusele is, in short, Carusele is the influencer content targeting system, leveraging a unique approach to influencer marketing that combines the power of influencer marketing, content marketing and media buying to help brands reach their target audiences across social media. And if you’re not already partnering with influencers in some form or fashion, it’s time to start thinking about this investment since 92% of marketers who implemented influencer marketing in 2017 found it to be effective.
Now, one of the perks to any Carusele influencer program is the massive amount of high-quality content that the influencers create. We’re talking hundreds of pieces of unique content featuring your brand THAT YOU CAN USE ON YOUR CHANNELS. That’s right, as long as you purchase the rights to the content (which every Carusele campaign does), you can repurpose that content as you see fit (we’ve see some clients use their influencer content for billboards, awards shows, magazine spreads and more).
Like working with influencers, there are a variety of photography services out there that marketers can use. Some allow you to put out a specific brief for a photographer to follow, and others are high-quality stock-photography sites that you can leverage. Just make sure that you’re reading your contracts carefully and that you have the right to use the content you’re purchasing the way you want to.
Finally, there’s User-Generated Content (UGC). Not only is UGC the most cost-effective way to produce content but 60% of consumers said user-generated content is the most authentic form of content – 3X more authentic than brand-created content.
Best Practices for Third-Party Content Creators:
- Balance creative direction with creative freedom
- Ensure that you’ve secured rights to re-use influencer content
- Not all stock photography is created equal. Ensure you purchase rights to content that can be repurposed and edited.
- For UGC Content:
- Give audiences an incentive to share UGC
- Use a tool to easily monitor and request permissions
- Make sure you give the creator recognition
There you have it, four different ways to create some pretty amazing social media content. If you’re at all interested in learning more, there’s a lot more information our team shares in the on-demand webinar and in our slide share presentation. If you have any lingering questions, or maybe looking to outsource content creation to an agency, contact either Ignite Social Media or Carusele and we can set up some time to chat.
