How to create social content that wins

We have the cure to those headaches around content planning for 2023 — this blog! It can be difficult to come up with a brilliant idea for every piece of social media content you make; and with platforms being so saturated, it’s hard to find a strategy that works. When we hit a creative wall, we return to this strategy technique time and time again to create social media content that will win your audience over.

Three words: Reflect. Reset. React.

When we reflect on previous social media content, we’re able to take the free data that the social platforms give us and use it to inform future strategies. Then, when you reset, you’ll analyze what you’re doing. What’s working? What isn’t? Is there anything new you need to add to the mix? After that planning, react and prepare for the future.

Reflect

Step one is to look at the social media analytics you have at your fingertips. If you’ve never looked at your analytics before, you can see both Instagram and Facebook analytics through your Facebook page. Just go to your Facebook page, make sure you’re an admin, then click on “insights.” You’ll find all sorts of valuable consumer information here.

Here’s what we find to be particularly valuable insights:

• Audience: Look at your page’s audience — does it line up with the people who buy your product? If not, is there an opportunity to target your core audience demographic in a new way?
• Posts: Then check out your top posts — as well as the worst! Just as much as you need to know what’s working well, you need to know what isn’t resonating with your audience. Many of us are juggling multiple responsibilities at work, which means there’s rarely time to waste. So, if something isn’t performing well, stop investing your time into creating that kind of content.
• Your page: Next, you want to monitor what you’re asking your audience to do. If you have product to sell, monitor clicks. If you’re looking for brand awareness, pay attention to impressions and engagement rate.

Reset

Now that you are informed with data, reset and look forward to refreshing your content strategy with innovative ideas. When it comes to making strategic decisions for content strategy, remember that you have free tools through your platforms to gather insights into consumer data— so use them! For instance, you could post a simple poll to your Instagram Story. Check out an example we recently posted on Travel Alaska’s Instagram Story to learn what the audience wanted to hear more about. Surprisingly enough, they want to see more long-form captions with specific itinerary ideas.

Another way to gather research is reviewing what others are doing. Keep a list of social media pages to visit for inspiration and be sure this list includes your competitors. Some of our favorite pages to follow for inspiration about the latest social media trends include Homemade Social, Social Media Club Los Angeles, and of course, the Thompson & Co. PR’s Instagram page.

The final, and perhaps simplest, technique when resetting your content strategy is to repackage your existing content. Look at the full quantity of posts from the last year, look for the posts that were the best quality.

Of all the quantity, what was the best quality?

Can you take a top-performing Facebook post and turn it into an Instagram Story or carousel feed post? Can you take that Instagram Reel and turn it into a TikTok? Remember, it doesn’t go both ways! Instagram’s algorithm doesn’t like the TikTok watermark, so you shouldn’t take a TikTok and turn it into a Reel. Start with the Reel, then turn it into a TikTok.

React

And for the final step, react! Go out and create fresh, engaging content. If possible, look at analytics on a monthly or at least quarterly basis, so you can plan ahead as much as possible.

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