How to improve your social media content

Sophie Beard posted on 17 May 2021

Social media experts are constantly looking to perfect their content and figure out what resonates the best with their audience. The answer will vary depending on the brand they’re working on, the industry they are in, as well as the platforms used and budget given. Throw in the ever changing algorithms and it can become quite the mindfield. However, there are some basic points to stick to for success. 

We’ve shared our top ten tips to help you improve your content:

1. Keep your audience in mind. Consider why they’re following you and what content they will be expecting to see. Ask yourself ‘why will my followers care about this?’. What value are you adding? It’s also important to speak directly to your followers, including a question in your posts will help to build conversation. 

1. Use your past content to influence your future. See which posts have worked well for you, however you measure your success – engagement, impressions or reach. You’ll also see what posts haven’t resonated with your audience, rework them and try again. 

1. Take a look at what your competitors are doing. Competitor benchmarking is an important process to discover what’s working well for brands trying to reach the same audience as you. For example, do they post at a particular time of day or do their videos perform well? Benchmarking allows you to see where any gaps are and take advantage of the opportunities. 

1. Create a personality. Stick to a tone of voice and asset style that your followers will recognise and instantly associate with your brand.

1. Stick to one key message per post. Keep it simple with one important message. Don’t overload your followers with information. And should you include emojis? They arguably make your brand appear more human, and with that, more trusting. But it’s important not to over use them, we’ve looked into this more here.

1. Use the right form of media. Use insights to find out what form of media your audience engages with the most. This will differ greatly depending on the brand, for example videos may work well for an account which mainly shares product demonstrations.

1. Make your audience want to come back for more. Develop intrigue for what you will post next. Use your platforms to tease launches and ask followers for advice. For example, ask your followers to choose between options for a new product name. Doing this will show your audience how valued they are and integral to the brand. 

1. Keep up to date with the latest trends. Is it relevant for your brand to jump on the latest viral video on TikTok? Or join in with trending topics on Twitter? If so, then do it. Even if it’s not, it’s important to stay in the know of what’s happening. New feature updates are also important to try out (it will also help a lot with the algorithms). For example, have you posted an Instagram Reel? Shared a Facebook Story? If not, then give them a go and see if that’s where your audience cheeks for content. 

1. Read the Global Digital Reports. It’s important to maintain an overview of how people are behaving online to influence your content strategy. It may surprise you that Facebook posts with links account for the highest proportion of posts shared, but they receive the lowest level of engagement. Our tip, try carousel posts instead! 

1. Keep checking in. It is important to keep up to date with regular insights into how your channels are performing. Your strategies will need to be reworked to take into account new features and shifts in how people are behaving online. 

To see how your content is currently performing, what’s working particularly well and what needs reworking, run a social audit for in depth analysis and insights in your accounts. See how you can do this with Locowise, schedule a demo here.