In the fast world of social media, it is important that you know your audience and understand what they are looking for when it comes to content, entertainment, and information. Many people think that the main purpose of social media posts should be to sell. This is far from the truth. All you need to achieve is getting people to want to find out more about you and your business. Simply put; social media is a great way of building meaningful relationships with your niche. Below I will give you simple tips on what type of content will do well on each platform; Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.  

Your First Job; Stop Them Scrolling

When it comes to social media users, you have to understand that people have a very short attention span. Exactly eight seconds, according to some researchers. There is also a lot of content on every platform, and you will have to grab the attention of your audience if you want them to stop scrolling. That is why video content does so well on most of the platforms. You have to get creative and have an engaging headline that will get them to stop and want to listen.

Your Second Job: Entertaining

People are not looking to buy anything when they are browsing social media sites. All they want to do is get inspiration, tips, and get entertained. That is what so many small and medium sized business owners get wrong. You will have to create content that is entertaining, informative, useful, and educational. Videos are great for personal branding. Giving people something to talk about and discuss, jumping on a popular topic is better than blatantly advertising your event. 

Your First Job; Entice Them

It is important that you include a call-to-action that creates the connection. It doesn’t have to be a sales pitch; simply something about engagement. When you create “value posts”, which means that you are giving out some helpful information, you can ask questions. You can also get people to contact you. However, be careful; when you are adding a “call-to-action”, you should not ask people to like or share your content openly, as social media sites will reduce your post’s visibility. 

Your End Goal; Add Them To Your Sales Funnels

The main purpose of social media is to add people to your sales funnels and follow up the initial contact. This doesn’t mean that you should be sending your signup links to every page possible. You will have to find a clever way of getting people to contact you and want to find out more. For example, you can mention in a comment that you have a free guide that answers their specific question. Once they are in your sales funnel, you an automatically nurture the relationship. 

What Content Does Well On Twitter

Twitter is one of the fastest platforms out there. The lifespan of a post is just a few seconds. You will need to ensure that the first impression is the best possible. Twitter is also one of the platforms where curated content (other people’s posts and news articles) do well. At the end of the day, people want to get the best information possible as quickly as possible. If your feed is full of valuable content, they are more likely to follow you and get to see other posts. Twitter is also a hashtag-driven platform, and you will have to do your hasthag research to reach the right audience.

Facebook Marketing Tips

Facebook pages used to make a killing a few months back. It was when the company discovered that they were giving away too much free traffic when page visibility across the board took a hit. You really need to get a group set up. Facebook groups are still doing great, and you will need to make the most out of the engagement in the beginning. You can grow a group faster than a page, and there will be a great number of people who want to have a personal relationship with you and want to connect with you and your brand. Giving value is a must, though. Facebook groups with regular live videos and training units do really well. 

LinkedIn Content That Gets the Engagement

LinkedIn is one of the strangest social media platforms out there, and only a few people understand how it works. The rule of thumb is that the more engagement the post gets in the first few minutes, the more chances it will have to go viral. If nobody engages with it, it will get buried. A good tip is to tag people you think will comment on your post, who might be interested in the topic or happy to give their opinion. Infographics also do great on Instagram. 

Pinterest Post Tips 

Pinterest, just like Instagram is a visual platform. People are looking for inspiration and content for their posts. The good news is that everything (including videos) you pin will link back to your original post on your website. Just like on LinkedIn, infographics do really well on Pinterest, and they have the best chance to go viral, if you are not in the design niche. Of course, if you are selling products, you will need to feature them on related boards and create collections. However, if you are in the coaching and consulting business, for example, you can still post your PowerPoint slides and your infographics and get loads of traffic. 

Instagram Posts and Marketing Guide

It is important that you consider the demographics of Instagram. You might think that it is full of young female fashionistas, but in fact there are more young men on it than women. Nonetheless, you will need to entertain your followers and give them something to look forward to. If you shy away from IGTV and Instagram lives, you will never stand out. You will need to overcome your own misconceptions and put yourself out there. Short video articles also do really well on Instagram. You can turn your existing blog posts into engaging videos. 

Social media platforms change every day. Algorithms change every couple of weeks, and you have to consider your audience to make content stick and achieve your marketing goals. Automation is great, but it doesn’t replace manual engagement. Make sure that you choose a platform your audience is most likely to be present on, and focus on providing value before delivering the sales pitch. 

About the author:

Laura Farkas runs LMNts Marketing, a full service sales funnel agency. She works hands-on with business owners to ensure that they are able to achieve success through digital marketing. She works with UK and international clients in every niche, tailoring the sales funnel service to their needs.