You’ve probably experienced the funny post or story that circulates around repeatedly on social media. At the start, it’s funny or interesting, but by the time it appears in your newsfeed for the 4th or 5th time, the interest has faded and you possibly begin to wish Facebook or Instagram would do something to liven up your newsfeed for you.
Sharing content that we like is great. It’s a fundamental part of social media that also allows businesses to go viral with their marketing activities. Repeatedly sharing the same content does, however, have its limitations as customers tend to “switch off” or “tune out” if they don’t see enough fresh or unique content.
Customers seek fresh content
In his book, Hooked: How to Build Habit-Forming Products, Nir Eyal talks about why we find ourselves regularly checking our phones so often.
He explains how our brains seek pleasure (or a reward) that we receive from finding new content, whether it’s a new email in our inbox or updates on social media from our friends.
Providing content that’s unique is a great way to grab the attention of your target audience and encourage interactions. If your content is original and authentic then your social media strategy is more likely to be a success.
Here are 4 ways that you can provide original content in your social media feed:
Company updates:
If your business has some exciting news then talk about it on social media and tag anyone else who is involved. This might include talking about an event that you are attending, introducing a new team member or the announcement of a new product that your target audience will be excited to find out about.
Platforms such as Facebook and LinkedIn like to see images that are photos, and followers are more likely to interact with a post that has real-life photos rather than stock images.
Tips, tricks and insights:
A great way to add value to your followers is to provide tips related to what you offer.
If you are a bookkeeper or an accountant then provide tips on how to organise your finances. If you are a personal trainer or nutritionist, provide tips on how to stay, or get healthy.
If you add value to your followers, they are more likely to look out for your social media posts in the future. It also provides confidence that you know what you are talking about… leading to more business if they become a customer.
Providing tips allows you to provide content that’s unique, and you can do this as a video (either pre-recorded or by going live).
Videos provide a large degree of personality as followers can become familiar with who they might be buying from by watching the video. This is especially effective for businesses that offer a more personal one-to-one service such as a coach or consultant.
Write blog posts and put them on social media
There are many benefits to writing blog posts for your business, and one of them is that it allows you to provide insights and your unique approach to helping customers.
Everyone has different opinions and a blog post allows you to share your thoughts, experiences and knowledge in a way that helps the reader (and in a way that’s original and authentic).
An eCommerce fashion business might, for example, write blog posts on what outfits to wear depending on the season (or the occasion).
This blog post can then be posted on social media along with a call to action such as “Are you fashion-ready for the summer? Find out what’s hot and what’s not in our latest MUST READ blog post!:”
Thank people
Social media is about interacting, and a great way to encourage people to engage with your unique posts is to thank people.
This can include thanking customers or suppliers for their business or their support. It could also be to thank people for their time after meeting up with them at an exhibition or networking event.
Thanking people is probably one of the easiest posts to do that’s “original” and yet, it can lead to a lot of views and interactions on social media.
Whether it’s company updates, tips, blog posts or something else, it’s important to plan ahead and create a social media calendar.
This allows you to provide a mix of content that keeps your content fresh and interesting. You can also create themed campaigns such as a summer or festive-specific campaign, or a weekly theme such as providing tips on a Tuesday (Tuesday Tips) and thank you posts on a Thursday (Thankful Thursday).
Should I share other people’s posts?
We mentioned earlier how there are often posts that get shared almost too much. That doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t share great content. If you see content that your followers would like or find valuable then sharing it is a good thing.
You should, however, seek a balance in your content and create a social media marketing strategy that includes as much fresh and unique content as possible.
Need help with social media marketing?
If you need help planning and creating content for social media, get in touch with Kamreno. We would love to talk to you to understand more about your business, and to see how we can help.
Get in touch today for a free initial chat.