Has your social media content hit the skids?
Does it feel dry, lifeless, and boring? If so, you’re not alone.
It’s a common occurrence spawned by the massive amount of content coming at you on a daily basis.
Eventually your overstimulated brain is bound to hit the proverbial “brick wall.”
The good news? With a little work, some analysis and a commitment to fixing what’s broke, you can get back on track.
Below are six ways you can spice up your social media content and re-engage your social media audience!
Spice Up Stale Social Media Content
1. Pay Attention to Your Analytics
Your social media analytics have a story to tell. Hunker down and pay attention to what they are saying.
What you find is not for the faint of heart. Be prepared to uncover a few telling reasons your engagement, mentions, and/or +1’s have dropped off the map.
Analytics are your key to keeping an eye on the prize.
While it can be easy to get carried away in the glitz and glory of a growing social presence, maintain a focus on the goals you set at the onset.
Make responsible decisions about the direction (and voice) behind the content you share, and be prepared to make adjustments as necessary.
2. Ask Thought-Provoking Questions
The questions you post or tweet should evoke an emotion. Do you want to make your audience think, laugh, cry or excitedly answer? Decide before you share your next piece of content.
Take interesting tidbits related to your business or product and turn them into questions your audience can relate to. Make sure to avoid generalities.
You want you content to be interesting, appealing and instantly relatable.
Examples would be:
- When you stay in a hotel room, are you a tucked or untucked kind of person?
- Do you squeeze the toothpaste from the bottom or top of the tube?
- Would you rather spend a weekend in the mountains or lounging on the beac?
- What’s your favorite way to spend a Saturday?
3. Incorporate Images, Text and Video
People are more likely to be interested in your content if it is diverse. Use a healthy mix of text, Infographics, photographs, charts and video to get your message across.
Then test out variations of each and determine with what type of content receives the best response. Just because an image performs best on Facebook, does not mean it will do as well on Google+.
The most important component to the success of this strategy is to know what your fans and followers are looking for. Then give it to them over and over again.
Oreo does a terrific job at this.
4. Gather Feedback and Opinions
Want to know what your fans and followers are thinking? Ask them! Your audience will be happy to tell you.
They will also be far more likely to interact with you if you stop simply pushing out content and truly take the time to ask and listen to their needs.
Ask questions that will provide insight into what type of content they are interested in, what they would like to see more or less of, and how they like to consume information.
Your fans are happy to share, all you have to do is take the time to get to know them.
5. Be Human and Accessible
Being formal is important to maintain your reputation, but do not be afraid to let your fans and followers see behind the curtain every once and while.
Pepper in a few posts that contain personal information. Talk about what is happening over the weekend, events you are attending or the inside scoop behind the day-to-day of your business.
Sharing more than just business related content builds trust and provides a far more authentic persona for people to connect with. People want to do business with people, give them a glimpse into what makes you tick.
A side note: If you are uncomfortable with sharing the minute details of your life, that’s ok. This does not have to be pictures of you and your family at the neighborhood barbecue.
Just remember, sometimes keeping your content light and fun is just as impactful (if not more) than posting the informative pieces you post on a daily basis.
6. Never Stop Engaging
You can’t expect people to interact with you if you aren’t actively engaging. Never stop retweeting and responding.
Stay on top of those that share your content and thank those that do. Engaging with your audience is the quickest way to build rapport and take a relationship beyond the superficial.
Excellent blog! Do you have any recommendations for
aspiring writers? I’m planning to start my own site soon but I’m a little lost on everything.
Would you suggest starting with a free platform like WordPress
or go for a paid option? There are so many choices out there
that I’m totally confused .. Any suggestions? Cheers!
Hi Laura! Congratulations on starting your new site. I would alway suggest WordPress.org. That way you own your content. Free sites might sound great, but you always get what you pay for.
Hey Rebekah
I have to make a concerted effort to change the way I do social media.
Your tips, combined with the knowledge I am absorbing from Gary Vees latest book, are opening my eyes.
I just gotta find the time to implement!
Hope you had fun on Jeff’s HOA recently, have not had time to check it out yet
ashley
Time is always the challenge Ashley. If you can just carve out 10 – 15 minutes per day and be consistent wit hit, you will begin to build momentum. I know if anyone can do it, you can!
We had a blast on Jeff’s HOA. There were a few technical issue’s, but we powered through!
Hi rebekah, this is indeed a big issue for today’s social media marketer. We have so much we need to pump out it is hard to stay, fresh, exciting, relevant and on top of all the streams we watch to get new info. I for one am still learning a lot on my main channel, Twitter. I am currently trying to personalize my engagement a bit more (which you obviously do a lot of on Facebook). It is interesting to read that even after being on top of it all, you are having trouble – or at least a pause in momentum. I would be interested to know how it goes for you in the future and what you do differently!
ashley
I find that there’s an ebb and flow to all social media Ashley. It seems that one channel might be up while another drops off for a bit. It’s interesting to watch what works and what doesn’t on each channel as well. Some content will perform extremely well on Google+, but completely fail on Facebook. I love watching the trends to learn how I can change up what I’m doing and better provide what our fans are looking for.
With the web churning out infinitely large amounts of data every second it is hard to separate the “really useful ones” from the “looks useful on a scan over – but not actually”. So the primary objective is to capture the user’s attention and sustain it.
The best way I think is to TelL sToRiEs. New innovative engaging stories that amaze the audience as well as provide valuable content in the process.
Great article, and illustrates some of the challenges in generating quality content regularly (I struggle with that myself). Really… do use analytics for ideas and to monitor trends. I use it daily in my space.