We feel exhilarated when we receive a good response to our social media posts.
It boosts our confidence.
We know we are doing the right thing on social media.
What makes lots of “likes and comments” on a post a thrilling experience is their unpredictability, as not every content format receives the same level of engagement.
There are certain content formats that an audience loves. For example – a funny meme is likely to be shared more on social media than a case study.
But you cannot solely depend on a specific content format to convey a variety of important messages to your followers.
The best approach is to keep experimenting with content formats to engage your audience and boost social media followers.
In this post, we cover 6 different content formats that will help you engage your customers and gain new followers.
1. Video
Videos are a social media darling. Marketers around the globe rely on videos to influence the purchasing decision of their social media users.
And why not?
In an Animoto survey, 64% of consumers confirmed that watching marketing videos on Facebook has influenced their purchase decision in the last month. In another finding of the survey, it was been revealed that 92% of marketers make videos with their existing assets.
Videos for social media comes in multiple formats, such as short videos, Livestream video, and webinars.
To begin with, you can pick one of your most popular blogs, infographics, or any other content format, and transform it into a short and crisp script.
Here you can see how Finoit, a software development company has transformed its blog into a short video:
Every second in the video is important and so make sure each word used in the script is relevant and attention-grabbing.
2. User-generated content
Modern marketing has brought customers and employees together as one. Both are the new models of the brand and professional marketers knowing this, use the trend to increase their social media presence and boost followers.
Through effective social media marketing, marketers can easily access the social circles of their consumers, find out their preferences and use the content created by them to create emotional connections with personalized posts, while promoting your business.
There are two key factors that assure the success of User Generated Content (UGC) for marketers:
- Customers trust the opinion and experiences of fellow customers.
- Customers like it when their content is positively shared by a company, which could lead to word of mouth promotion and encourage other users to create positive content for the company.
In a Local Consumer Survey, 86% of consumers trust reviews for local businesses, out of those, 95% of consumers are aged between 18-34.
This data indicates the power of user-generated content and also urges the marketing community to review, analyze, and share content by consumers.
Here is a quick example to learn how user-generated content can be used to gain more followers on social media.
On your social media networks, you can share gratitude, a fan photo, or tips and tricks to gain the attention of the followers.
3. Images
The famous adage “a picture is worth a thousand words” falls in place for social media users.
No wonder, 74% of marketers use images on social media, as revealed in Social Media Examiner’s research.
There are various image types that a social media marketer can use such as pictures, infographics, charts, maps, and cartoons.
Besides, images are not only relevant to Instagram, but for almost all social networks.
Data published on mdgadvertising.com reveals that posts with photos on Facebook receive 20% more engagement than videos and 352% more engagement than links.
Take a look at how Harley Davidson has used visual content to boost social media engagement.
An eye-catching image is more likely to gain users’ attention than text or simply a link. And it is this reason, creating visual content is the content marketing strategy of over 51% of B2B marketers.
4. Audio
According to Social Media Examiner’s research, only 10% of social media marketers use audio content.
There are a number of ways you can use audio to promote your content on social media and boost followers. Some of the ways are:
- Interviews with business leaders or influencers.
- Read information in a familiar voice.
- Share music.
- Record speeches and share them with a larger audience.
Podcasts are one of the most popular audio content formats. You can transform your existing assets into a podcast and share it with users on different social networks. Also, you can integrate podcasts into your blogs, so that users can hear it while traveling or jogging.
You have to create content that is worth listening to. And to champion that, never refrain from experimenting. That’s the only way to learn what will work with your audience and what wouldn’t.
InterContinental Hotels have created a separate page as Stories of the InterContinental Life to publish their podcasts.
Here are two good tips to make your podcast a favorite among users:
- Develop an audio logo; a piece of music or a script that makes you recognizable among listeners.
- Explore distribution platforms such as iTunes Apple, Amazon, Websites, and more to reach out to a large number of audiences.
The podcast is still an under-utilized means of content. So if you can manage to create something unique out of this, then you can stand out from your competitors.
5. Blogs
Blogs are a social media staple. You can mix blogs with any other content format and it will deliver you results.
Regularly posting blogs on social media is a great way to direct traffic on your website and increase your conversion rate. Many digital marketers create a variety of blog combinations to engage users and generate free traffic to their website.
A description that generates curiosity among social media users is the best for engagement when sharing a blog post. You can create a compelling description in different content styles such as:
- This or that?
- Fun fact
- Industry fact
- Would you rather…
- If you could…
- Behind the scenes look
- Take a sneak peek
There are multiple types of blog formats as well, from which you can choose the one that better conveys the message you want to deliver.
6. Trending news and events
We all like to be updated with the latest news and events.
By frequently sharing trending news and events on your social media accounts you appear present and at the forefront of your industry.
While sharing news and events; @mention a follower, @mention an influencer, and thank your followers, to garner the attention of active users and increase your engagement.
Key takeaways
The broad idea that content is king is functional in the social medial market, but not all content formats are right for social media users. These users come on social to explore their social circles, mainly looking for a mix of information and entertainment. You have to convey your messages in the form of infotainment by using a mix of these content formats
