Let’s be honest, creating social content can be a time consuming task, whether it be for a client or your own personal business. It’s okay if you find yourself asking the most fundamental questions:
- What type of content should I create?
- How do I create a content plan?
- How can I save time on content planning?
- Where do I start?
The first step to any content planning is knowing your social strategy goals. Having goals in mind will help you create effective content that advances your movement toward them, rather than serving as a distraction. Sit down and think about why you are using social media and what you want to accomplish. Here are some common goals in social media marketing:
- Create brand awareness
- Drive website traffic
- Increase engagement with my audience
- Increase sales and lead generation
The more specific you can be with your goals, the easier it will be to gear your content towards your niche and audience. Remember to be SMART with your goals: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Time Specific. Once you decide on your social strategy goals, go through each one and outline them. Remember to keep the goals realistic.
With your objectives outlined, it is time to begin planning your content. There are 3 pillars that you can use in 2023 to help outline your content.
1. Education
Educational content is used to increase your authority and aims to bring value to your audience by informing them. Think about your audience and questions they might have in your niche. What can you share with them that will add value to them and bring trust to you? Here are a few ideas of content that you could create.
Myths vs. facts
Think about a common misconception in your field and share with your audience. Then provide evidence from your one personal experience.
Calling out mistakes
Nobody likes to be wrong, but think through some common mistake your audience might be making and why it might be affecting them.
Give tips, tricks, & How to
Share solutions with your audience! Give them tips or tricks that will be useful or create a “how to” guide that will give them guidance for implementation.
2. Inspiration
Inspirational content is an opportunity to help your audience imagine how you can enhance their life or business. With this kind of content, you are building trust and bringing your followers closer to you. Here are just a few suggestions:
Sharing fun facts or stories
Share your own personal experiences. Maybe share about when you were first starting out or why you started your business. People love to relate to others. It's a great way for your audience to get to know you.
Building confidence
Think about how your audience processes or thinks. Consider some doubts that come into people's minds, then help them shift their focus. Give them the encouragement to keep pursuing what they want.
Lessons learned
We all make mistakes! Why not share with others mistakes you have made in your journey so your audience won't make the same mistakes? You can make this funny or inspirational. Let them see you and your brand’s authenticity.
3. Promotion
Promotional content is more sales oriented. This will help drive your audience to your service or product. You are now specifically marketing your offer with the intent to gain conversions. Here are a few ideas for content you can create:
Address Objections
Think through some common reasons someone might not want to buy your solution and explain to them why it can make the difference for them.
Share testimonials
People will trust what others say. Think about how often you read reviews before buying something. Share what others are saying about your product or service.
Share your service/product
Explain exactly what people are getting. Don’t sugar coat or leave anything out. Tell them why your offering is worth the investment.
Now that you have some content ideas, start implementing and creating! Use these 3 pillars to outline your posts and remember the golden rule of content marketing - prioritize providing value over anything else.
Once you start creating content, save the templates you created and change the details to build out your social plan. The more materials you create through these 3 pillars, the sooner you will be creating and planning social media content like a pro!
If content marketing seems a little overwhelming to you, we’d love to help. Schedule a call here or send an email to tyler@trajexms.com, and we can have a conversation about how to get your marketing rolling!