Social media presence is a priority for many digital brands, making social media content creation a golden skill. Why?
Because everybody’s on social media. Which allows you to tap into almost any audience. With its huge engagement potential and broad reach, social media is perfect for boosting brand awareness and staying in touch with your customers.
In this article, I’ll break down the social media content creation process and share action tips, like crafting a compelling content calendar to help you create social media content that aligns with your goals and ensures audience engagement.
Let’s roll!
Contents
What is content creation?
Social media content creation involves ideating, designing, producing, and sharing visual and textual assets across various platforms to engage with the target audience. It aims to boost visibility, foster engagement, and drive specific marketing goals, empowering your social media presence.
Step-by-step guide to creating content for social media
Social media is a vital part of any brand’s strategy. Whether your goal is to generate leads or increase brand awareness, social media is the place to go.
Here’s an easy-to-follow guide on how to create content for social media regardless of your goals or niche:
Step 1: Ideation and brainstorming content themes
The first step in your social media strategy is developing content ideas.
Think of it as a dialogue with your target audience: what would they like to know about your brand, service, or product? What business objectives do you have in mind, and how do they correlate with your audience’s interests?
Use mind maps and brainstorming sessions to spark ideas for engaging social media content. This helps your team identify content that aligns with your brand’s voice, business goals, as well as your audience’s interests.
Step 2: Crafting a compelling content calendar
A social media calendar is vital to the consistent distribution of high-quality content. Content takes time to create, and thorough planning helps you stay on track and cater to all your content pillars.
Social media calendar in Planable
Use a social media management platform like Planable to ease the planning and distribution of your social media content. Planable’s calendar allows you to schedule posts and publish them automatically across all major social channels, which saves you tons of time.
You can also label your content to gain a better overview of your efforts and identify content gaps more quickly.
Step 3: Designing and creating the content
Engaging content for social media is visually appealing, snappy, and digestible.
When you create content for socials, pay special attention to the way it’s wrapped. Use graphic design tools like Adobe Creative Suite, Canva, or Figma to craft eye-catching assets. The social network likes things brief and catchy.
Collaboration on text and visual assets through Planable
The same goes for text. You can collaborate on crafting the perfect caption with your teammates in Planable’s Universal Content, or use Planable’s AI to power up your social media captions and make them punchier and more impactful.
Step 4: Reviewing and revising content
Before publishing your content, ensure it fits your content strategy and the brand’s guidelines. Reviewing and revising your content for accuracy and brand integrity is essential to avoid miscommunications.
Planable simplifies this crucial phase. You can work on posts with your colleagues and leave in-context, real-time feedback to ensure you cover all the bases.
Approve your social media content in a few clicks via Planable
Next, you send the post for approval using multi-layered approval workflows. Approval in Planable is straightforward and fast, allowing for timely and hassle-free approved content instead of a lengthy email exchange.
Step 5: Scheduling and publishing content
Scheduling content in advance is a game-changer for maintaining a consistent and strategic presence online.
Scheduling gives you more time and peace of mind to concentrate on the content’s quality instead of looming deadlines.
Planable posts directly to all major social media channels. All you need to do is create and schedule the post for the right time and platform.
Your posts go live automatically while you’re creating content for the next week — sounds neat, right?
Step 6: Analyzing and optimizing content performance
Leveraging social media analytics is crucial to properly evaluate the success of your social media content plan. That’s the only way to know if you’re doing good.
By analyzing metrics such as engagement rates, reach, and the number of new followers, you gain insights into what resonates with your audience.
Track social media analytics through Planable
Planable’s analytics and reporting tools provide detailed content performance metrics. Based on that, you can refine your strategy, focusing on what drives the best results.
Tips for effective social media content creation
Embrace visual storytelling
According to Venngage, 52.6% of marketers state visuals are vital to their marketing strategy. We live in the TikTok era, and even if you prioritize other social media platforms, engaging visual content is the king.
Visual content rules, and this GIF proves it
Short videos, infographics, images, photos — support your written content with visuals, whether for clarity or to boost engagement.
Planable has a built-in media library to help you access all your visual assets from one dashboard while you create social media content.
Keep your content authentic and engaging
Authenticity remains the hottest 2024 social media trend across all social platforms. Glossy pictures are out, and real people, emotions, and values are in.
Build your social media content strategy as a human being, not a corporation. Transmit your brand values and company culture through actual faces and actions, incorporate behind-the-scenes content, and engage in a dialogue with your audience.
Tip: Balance engagement and your overall marketing strategy. People love cat memes, but you can’t cater to your business goals solely through cat memes.
Leverage user-generated content
Users tend to trust other users more than they trust the brand, and UGC social posts are the ultimate social proof that can convert visitors into potential customers.
You can source user-generated content from online reviews, brand hashtags, or directly from your customers. Loyal customers are more likely to spread the word about you in a positive light.
Turn these customers into your social media advocates who will support your social media marketing efforts and build a foundation for a credible community.
Overcoming common challenges in social media content creation
Consistent and high-quality social media content creation has its challenges. Check out 4 common obstacles and how you can dodge them:
- Lack of ideas → Social listening. Leverage listening tools or dive into Quora or Reddit to find out what your audience is talking about. Use it to create content that truly resonates.
- Inconsistent posting → Social media content plan. Use a content calendar and scheduling tools like Planable to organize your posts. This ensures a consistent content flow and prevents last-minute rushes.
- Negative feedback → Professional distancing. People on the Internet can be rude. Respond to negative feedback with professionalism and constructiveness if it makes sense. If it goes senseless, talk to your superiors about restricting some especially vocal users.
- Ever-changing algorithm → Flexibility. Algorithms can affect content visibility, but there’s only so much we can do. Stay informed about algorithm updates and experiment with different formats to adjust your content strategy accordingly.
Hacks and techniques for social media content creators
Like any craft, creating a compelling content marketing strategy for your social media comes with experience. Here are several hacks I highlighted throughout my time as a social media manager:
Understand your post structure
You have 3 seconds to play on a hook.
Users’ attention is a very limited resource. Structure is key to creating attention-grabbing content, whether it’s a social video or text post.
Start with a captivating hook that will make your followers stop scrolling. It can be slightly provocative, head-on valuable, or trendy, but not dull or misleading.
Use shorter phrases, break text into paragraphs, and utilize bullet points where possible. Planable’s Universal Content feature for collaboration helps you polish the structure to perfection with your colleagues to cut off any fluff and pump it with precision.
Leverage Planable’s AI to structure your posts
Wrap the post up with a clear call to action like ‘Share your perspective’, ‘Sign up for social media contests’, ‘Follow me’, or ‘Save the post’. Ask for engagement where it’s appropriate.
Catch the trend train
Trends are like surfing: you must be quick and on point to catch the wave. They can arise from anything, from current events to a random cat pic.
Observe social media for emerging trends (like these hot trends on TikTok) and viral moments through trendsetters of your niche. Keep a close eye on industry leaders, influencers, and trending hashtags. Time is of the essence, so don’t take too long to approve your trendy content (Planable’s approval workflows can definitely help you out here).
But don’t just jump on any trend. Choose those that align with your brand and resonate with your audience, culturally and mentally.
Create the perfect post
Crafting a successful social media post hinges on:
- Compelling copy. A human touch and a more natural tone of voice make for persuasive, relevant content. Use Planable’s collab feature to draft and refine your message to be casual but still fit your brand guidelines.
- Scroll-stopping visual assets. Make sure your videos, images, and animations pop. In the sea of content, attention-grabbing is key. Leverage Planable’s media library to complement your posts with branded pictures or videos.
- Clear calls-to-action. Conclude with a straightforward call to action. Whether it’s encouraging comments, shares, or clicks, make it clear what you want the audience to do next.
- Consistent brand style. Keep your assets aligned for a cohesive brand experience. Planable’s post previews are pixel-perfect for each social network, ensuring all your posts align with your brand’s style.
Get to know your networks
Different social media platforms act differently.
Say, Instagram and TikTok are more about viral video content and B2C audiences, while LinkedIn is more B2B-oriented, prioritizing educational content and expert takes.
Those rules are not set in stone: you can still rock LinkedIn with a viral ad campaign or educate your audience on TikTok. However, how you present your content to reach out to your core audience will differ greatly depending on the social media network.
Tailor your social media marketing strategy to each platform to ensure you create content that performs well and engages your audience.
Repurpose and curate existing content
Recycling is a trend, and content is no stranger to that.
Tailoring your social media strategy doesn’t mean creating utterly different content for all your social channels — it means re-wrapping your content to fit each social platform.
Revise your content regularly to find pieces you can rework. The lifecycle of social media posts varies from a few hours to a couple of months, meaning you can safely repost successful content with a twist.
Repurposing bigger content like a blog post or an interview for social media also saves you tons of time and contributes to content variety.
Plus, that way, no work’s done in vain — your engaging content lives and breathes all over your social channels.
What should you publish?
The key here is to keep your content versatile. Simple how-to guides can be a reel, a carousel, or a blog post — all these formats contribute to your content diversity.
With algorithms changing and people getting bored of content fast, we can’t afford to put all our eggs in one basket, even if it performs very well. Experiment with formats to ensure you cover all your bases and make the most out of your content.
Planable can help you schedule all sorts of content across all major platforms, from reels and videos to stories and carousels.
What is the best time to post on social media?
There’s no universal answer on the best time to publish. Your most efficient time depends on your target audience’s location and time zone, lifestyle, and the social media platform you’re aiming for.
Generally, expert-oriented LinkedIn’s prime time is 8 AM–11 AM, while entertainment-focused Instagram or Facebook gravitates towards evening hours like 5 PM–6 PM.
Preferred publishing times in Planable
If you know your peak engagement time from social analytics or analyzing accounts in the same niche, stick to it. In Planable, you can set preferred time slots for each platform to schedule and reschedule posts for maximum engagement.
Tip: Social media content is still more about quality than technical details. The right posting time amplifies the performance of high-quality content but is not solely responsible for your success.
Befriend analytics
Analytics is the only way to know if what you’re doing is working. Keep a close eye on your relevant quantitative data to tweak the strategy accordingly.
Tracking metrics can help you evaluate what content forms and topics perform the best, what falls behind, what posting time suits your brand the best, etc.
Key metrics will vary based on your goals, but the most common ones include likes, followers, comments, saves, reach and impressions, and engagement rate. You can track those in a native Instagram and Facebook app — or do it through Planable if you’re looking for a smarter, simpler, and more intuitive interface.
Final thoughts: content creation for social media is the key to your business success
A social media content strategy is a must-have for any digital brand. Although things seem ever-changing, the best practices remain: compelling and relatable content, consistent publishing, and cohesive brand experience.
Planable can help your team leverage your collaborative creativity and concentrate on creating dashing content instead of daunting maintenance tasks. Try Planable with 50 free posts and get a hold of your social media strategy. After that, you can upgrade for as little as $11/user/month.
Content marketer with a background in journalism; digital nomad, and tech geek. In love with blogs, storytelling, strategies, and old-school Instagram. If it can be written, I probably wrote it.
