Five ingredients for attention-grabbing social media posts
I love math, and when I learned this fantastic formula for creating successful social media content, it stuck with me, and I’m so excited to share it with you.
Consistent + Relevant + Timely + Sexy + Engaging = SUCCESS!
Here’s the breakdown of each ingredient and how it relates to your social media journey.
1.Consistent - Whether you post every day or three times a week, the most important thing is to be CONSISTENT. If you decide to post three times per week, make sure you post on the same days consistently (say Monday, Wednesday, Friday) and stick to this schedule as much as possible.
Why? The foundation for creating brand awareness is through consistent posting so that your followers know, like, and trust you. Social media is fast-paced, and when you don’t post regularly, your audience won’t see your message often enough for your brand to stay top of mind and encourage them to think of you first when they’re deciding to purchase a product or service.
Decide how often you will post and commit to sticking to it. Don’t post a whole bunch of posts in one day and then nothing for days on end.
2.Relevant - Make sure that the content you are creating relates to your brand and your customer. If you own a hair salon, posting a guacamole recipe will not be relevant to your audience. Putting up a photo of your latest cut, your team, a celebrity hairstyle, or a how-to video on blow-drying techniques will probably be very interesting, educational, and entertaining.
Again, you want to make sure that your relevant content is consistent (consistency is essential for all of these critical ingredients). If you decide to feature stories about your team members, try to post one per week, so your followers can get to know the people behind your brand.
3.Timely - You want to make sure that you are posting when your audience is going to be online. For my audience, which is largely female and over the age of 35, they’re online after dinner, possibly after the kids have gone to bed, and checking their social media with a glass of wine (or two). That means that I post around 4 pm every day, so I can catch some people before they finish work, and my content will still be trending after dinner.
Each business will have a different peak time for when their following is online, but it has become easier to find out what time is best to reach your market through Instagram and Facebook analytics. I use Creator Studio to make sure that my posts go out at 4 pm exactly. Try to post consistently (there’s that word again) when you’re first starting out for a few weeks, and then try another time to see if it works better for you
Timely also means that you’re posting content that’s relevant to your customer at that time. Maybe you’re a fashion designer who specializes in evening gowns. Posting the week before the Oscars and a couple of days after will resonate with your customer, and they’ll think of you when they have an important dress-up occasion.
4. Sexy - Your images and videos should look good, but you knew that already. When creating posts that are text-based, stick to the same two fonts (one serif and one sans serif), and use the same filter on your photos. The keyword is CONSISTENCY.
5. Engaging - Are you posting CTAs (Calls to Action) at the end of your posts? CTAs encourage your reader to take action, like visiting your website, making a comment in the comment section, or tagging you in a post. Not every post warrants a CTA, but they work!
Engaging also means that you are engaging with your audience. Are you responding to every DM? Are you responding to comments on your post to create a sense of community? Are you making comments on other people’s feeds so that they feel a personal connection with you?
So, there you have it! My five key ingredients to making GREAT social media content that will bring you success in your social media journey. Please feel free to share and reach out to me on IG @rebeccanixonsocial