6 tips for creating engaging social media posts that boost engagement, attract attention, and strengthen your online presence.
Thomas Haurum
You probably know the feeling yourself – every day, you’re bombarded with information from friends, family, organisations and businesses. Everyone has something they want to show, tell or get you to engage with – and eventually, it all merges into ‘white noise’.
For businesses, it can sometimes feel like you’re speaking into the void – and it can be difficult to know how to break through the noise.
Consumers today expect to be guided by the hand, and as a business, nothing comes for free anymore. If you’re not sharp enough, exciting enough or offering enough, it doesn’t take much for consumers to move on to the next business that can give them what they’re looking for.
So how strong is your messaging when your competition is cat videos and competitions?
One of the main battlegrounds for consumer attention is social media. But how do you actually get the consumer to pause at your post instead of scrolling past? And once you’ve caught their attention, how do you get them to interact in the way you want?
In this post, I’ll try to give you some pointers on how to create social media posts that both spark consumer interest and encourage them to engage.
Even though 63% of the Danish population aged over 12 uses Facebook daily or several times a day, there’s no guarantee they actually read much. With a Facebook feed that’s constantly changing and an overwhelming amount of information, funny videos and shared articles, it’s all about standing out from the crowd and capturing the consumer’s interest immediately. If you don’t, they’ll quickly move on to the next post. That’s why it’s crucial to get to the point straight away, ask a question or otherwise spark their curiosity.
Think about it like this: if the consumer only reads the very first line of your post, do you get your message across? Do you tell them why they should keep reading?
As you can see in the example above, the first line of text is used to catch the reader’s attention. A statement, emojis or a question can be a good way to stand out, and once the consumer has paused at your post, the chances of them reading the rest increase significantly.
The days of pure text posts are long gone.
When scrolling through your Facebook newsfeed, you can count on one hand how many posts are text-only – and it’s rare these come from businesses.
Graphics, images, GIFs, videos – consider which tools you can use to capture the consumer’s attention and make them pause to actually read what you’ve written.
Find your tone of voice on social media and always let your company’s identity shine through your content. But remember, social media isn’t the best place for content that’s heavy on information, so always try to keep the tone light without compromising your brand DNA.
Let’s use the same example once again.
As you can see, the image grabs attention, and a rather obvious question is posed – who wouldn’t want to grow their email list? The colours, images and overall tone match our website style to create recognition and remain true to our brand DNA.
Another way to capture consumers’ attention on social media is by using Dynamic Product Ads (DPA).
You can read more about how to optimise your DPA ads in this post: Optimise your Facebook product ads (DPA)
You have thought about the purpose of the post, right?
Before you hit post, one of the most important things to consider is what you want to achieve with your post. What action do you want the consumer to take?
Once you’ve got them to pause, it’s all about seizing the opportunity to get them to interact. That’s why you need to be clear about the purpose of your post, so you can shape the content accordingly and achieve your aim.
There are almost no limits to what businesses will do to encourage consumers to interact with their content. This can be anything from competitions and discount codes to clickbait articles and bold statements. Here, it’s important to stick to your company’s identity and remember that not every consumer is valuable to your business.
While competitions sometimes work well, you can also try to create shareable content that promotes your brand without offering a prize. Content with humour or posts most people can relate to can encourage consumers to share or tag friends. For example, it might look like this:
If your goal is instead to get consumers to read an article, sign up for an event or contact you, you should take a more direct approach by simply telling them what you want them to do.
Here, it’s wise to use the call-to-action buttons that Facebook provides. To reinforce the action you want the consumer to take, it’s a good idea to include it both in the text and by using a call-to-action button – again, let’s use the same example:
There are big differences in how consumers use the various social media platforms. So naturally, there are also differences in how best to take advantage of each one. Facebook can handle a fair amount of text, which can be combined with videos and images and is also ideal if you want to link to other content.
Posts or ads on Instagram, on the other hand, place greater demands on the image or video, as that’s primarily what carries the post. Consumers expect Instagram to be mostly visual, and not much text appears under the image until users click “… more”. However, you can include more text within the graphics, as Instagram ads are not subject to the same text rules as Facebook ads.
If you run a webshop, Instagram Shopping is also a golden opportunity to generate direct sales. My colleague, Trine, explains here what Instagram Shopping can do and how to set it up: How to set up Instagram Shopping
While Facebook and Instagram work best with more light-hearted messages, LinkedIn is the way forward if you want to communicate with a professional audience. The tone will naturally be different, and LinkedIn posts can afford to be more information-heavy. If you’re considering whether advertising on LinkedIn is right for your business, you can read more here: Advertising on LinkedIn – is it right for you?
Remember also that image sizes vary across social media platforms. Therefore, you should ensure your graphics are tailored to each channel. As a rule of thumb, square images or videos work best on Instagram, whereas there’s more variation depending on post type on Facebook and LinkedIn. See the recommended dimensions for each platform here:
As with all other consumer communication, it’s important on social media to know your target audience well – and speak directly to them. Who is your typical customer, what are their interests, and what needs are they seeking to fulfil? The aim is to create content that is both relevant and interesting enough that your audience wants to like, share or take the action you want them to.
Once you know your audience’s triggers, the next step is to find out when to reach them to maximise your chances of engagement. There can be a big difference in the best times to post and which platform to use, depending on whether you’re marketing cheap holidays to Jakob, age 27, or want Procurement Manager Birthe, age 45, to read an article about the latest in warehouse design.
Most social media platforms have insight tools where you can see basic information about those interacting with your posts and profile. As you create more posts, you’ll discover what your specific audience reacts best to. This knowledge is invaluable – make sure you use it. The more you post, the better insight you’ll have into your audience, their interests and what prompts them to take the desired action.
Your business likely already has a target audience analysis – and if not, now’s the time to get one!
Imagine you’ve created a brilliant post. A post that captures your audience’s attention, speaks directly to them and clearly tells them what to do. Now imagine it’s full of spelling mistakes! Is that the impression you want to give of your business?
It looks unprofessional to publish posts with spelling and typing errors. No matter who your audience is, whether you use slang, emojis, or a formal tone, it’s important to have your text in order. A single typo can of course slip through, but remember – you can always edit your post after it’s live. In extreme cases, spelling errors or misused words can mean your post is misunderstood. Always proofread your posts – it takes 10 seconds and can make all the difference in the battle for customers.
Read more here: Careless grammar can cost you customers
…to sum up. The key is to ensure you’re clear about the purpose of your posts. That you speak to your audience’s interests. That you use the right platform at the right time. And that you make your posts stand out with both text and visuals, so consumers actually stop and listen to what you have to say.
If you need help with social media marketing, we’re of course ready to advise you and help your business reach the right audience.
At WeMarket, we offer businesses a benchmark report that compares their marketing efforts with their key competitors. You decide which competitors we should compare against.
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