Sharing posts on social media is a great source to attract a lot of new eyes to your products. An easy and effective way to create brand awareness and bring traffic to your virtual outlets.
Getting there takes a lot of thought and planning, from using engaging content to using content marketing tools like Adublisher for promotion.
We have heard a million times that all social media posts are not created equal; it means distinguishing between practical and static social media posts. Stationary or general social media posts are consumed inactively by social media users, like a funny joke from a friend or a colleague.
Compelling social media posts can be described as content with a purpose, like corporate or sponsored posts. Businesses post content on social media for engagement and conversions.
Engaging social media posts is like creating a recipe; you need the proper ingredients in proportional amounts to make a perfect dish. A little miscalculation can ruin the entire experience and take you away from the result, a tasty dish.
Social media is snowballing, with 4.98 billion active users monthly. Successful social media management entails compelling content and attractive posts to create a place in this digital realm.
Since we know the benefits of creating engaging and effective social media posts, let’s get on to how actually to do it. In this blog, we will share the necessary ingredients to create a social media post that works for your business.
The structure of an effective social media post.
What differentiates an effective social media post from others is the proper structure and what goes into these parameters. When we dissect a social media post, it comes down to six components,
- Compelling copy: Caption
- Visual characters: Emojis
- Necessary mentions: Tags
- Clear and strong CTA: Links
- Proper indicators: Hashtags
- Attractive Visualization: Images, videos, infographics, etc.
Knowing what to incorporate in a social media post is the first step to nurturing results, whether you are posting from an app or social media scheduler. Now, let’s further break down these components to demystify using the proper ingredients to create an effective social media post.
Compelling copy: Captions
Social media platforms allow people to write extended captions and descriptions, with Facebook allowing 33000 characters. The main success of social media over traditional content is the clear and concise bite-size and easy-to-consume content.
Only some people are interested in reading the entire life story of your brand or what went into the creation of your product. Gen-Z, in particular, has a concise attention span, and a long textual caption will not stop them from skipping your post for a better one.
When writing an effective social media post, don’t focus on telling the entire story in a single go. Successful social media campaigns create post calendars by breaking down the key features and benefits of the products.
You can add BTS, product stories, benefits, testimonials, UGC, promotions, and other occasional posts into your calendar and use post schedulers offered by content marketing tools to publish regularly and productively.
Keep the customer at the core of your writing process and focus on benefits instead of features; mention their pain points and how you can help ease the process. Listicles and magnetic words attract the attention of users.
Spark curiosity in viewers by asking questions, sharing facts and interesting information, showing data in a fun way, and keeping the viewers interested and always wanting more. Remember, don’t post the first thing that comes to mind; brainstorm ideas, create a couple of posts, share with the team, make changes and post the final product.
Visual Characters: Emojis
Not to offend anyone, but words can be boring sometimes 🥱. Progressive social media posts use visual characters and emojis to add flavor and spice up a dull-looking caption. You can also say that appropriate emojis contrast blogs and compelling and engaging posts.
Emojis are a great way to add color, visualization, and attention to your content. Facebook posts with emojis get 57% more likes, 33% more comments, and 33% more shares😲. They are a powerful tool used to get the attention of scrolling viewers, portraying your caption as interesting, attractive, and relatable.
(Data Source SimilarWeb)
Besides being attractive and suitable for engagement, emojis are a practical approach for marketing teams; ads with emojis have an 84% more CTR 🖱️than others. The reason is that emojis have become a universal language used by people of all ages and backgrounds.
Using emojis in your text helps to break text into easily understandable pieces. Make your posts fun and resonate with your audience by adding appropriate emojis that align with your brand. Keep things simple, and avoid overdoing it; keep a precise and professional tone of your copy with multiple emojis setting the tone🙂.
Necessary mentions: Tags
Tags are a tricky yet necessary part of the social media post anatomy. Socializing is not just limited to everyday users; brands and businesses communicate with other companies on social media using mentions and tags.
Since you are a business, there are some precautions and rules that must be kept in mind. First and foremost is maintaining everything professional and formal; don’t randomly mention people and brands in your posts.
(image credit Hootsuite)
Businesses have filters that block and report random tags that can harm your brand. So make sure you tag only those who are relevant and appreciate you tagging and mentioning them in your posts.
Besides the potholes, mentioning other accounts and brands in your posts shows your social networking and a positive image to viewers. Show appreciation to other brands for something they did for you on your social media, support a common cause, and retweet and reshare posts with your input.
Clear and Bold CTA: Links
A goal-oriented social media strategy is a successful social media strategy, period! It’s important to finalize what you want to achieve from your social media campaign before embarking on the journey.
Ask yourself what you want to achieve from social media posts, engagements, conversions, sales, downloads, CTRs, or just posting for fun. CTA is a vital component of every effective social media post.
A compelling copy supplemented with emojis and tags, with a clear and robust CTA, brings better results. Bold CTAs invite people to follow the caption and make a conversion to get the ultimate goal to completion.
Proper Indicators: Hashtags
Hashtags are the easiest way to get better visibility for your social media posts and bring new eyes to your brand. These are indicators used by social media users to find recent trends, news, products, brands, and campaigns, along with other objectives.
Hashtags are clickable phrases preceded by “#” easily picked and prioritized by social media algorithms. Different platforms have different approaches when it comes to social media hashtags.
Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter respond positively to hashtags, while Facebook and Pinterest are iffy. A debate about the number of hashtags required for the best results has been going on the internet for some time now.
Some say the more, the better, while others advocate using shorter and more relevant hashtags for better visibility. The question of how many is too many remains the same, and it’s up to you to experiment and find the perfect balance.
For better understanding, Instagram allows the use of 30 hashtags; studies show one hashtag increases engagement by 29%, while using 11 hashtags takes this percentage to 79%, and it starts receding after that.
(Data Source EarthWeb)
According to some gurus, the best approach is to use a few high-volume hashtags along with a few low-volume ones and create a fusion by inserting your own branded ones. Experiment with different posts by scheduling with content management tools like Adublisher and determine which works better.
Find relevant and trending hashtags and mix them with your own to create an identity for your posts within the vicinity of viral campaigns.
Attractive Visualization: Images, Videos, Infographics, etc.
Social media is a visual platform where people share their thoughts and experiences with images and videos and use captions to describe the visuals. Since social media platforms are going over and beyond to make the algorithms about consumer preferences, it’s only logical to do the same in your posts.
Every study and statistics show that social media posts with visuals perform way better than others. 91% of consumers prefer visual content over textual copy. Consequently, tweets with images get 150% more retweets, and Facebook posts with images see 2.3 times more engagements.
(Data Source GitNux)
Using high-resolution bold images that stand out is a sure way of attracting viewers to your post, compelling them to look at your caption. Videos are the most preferred and high-grossing content across all formats and platforms.
Video ads have 72% higher conversion as compared to ones without videos. The success of TikTok has created a trend of shorter videos. The shorter the video, the higher the views and more conversions and engagements.
Knowing your social media platforms better.
We have narrowed down the best ways to create a social media post that works, so it’s time to discuss the social media platforms. Knowing your social media platforms is essential; even though they are used for socialization, each has unique characteristics.
So, next time you post on social media with your robust content management tools, remember that knowing your terrain is better for maximizing results and future campaigns.
Facebook.
Facebook is the leading social media platform, with 2.98 billion active monthly users. People across the globe have used it to keep in contact with each other. Facebook offers a shop feature for businesses to create virtual storefronts and manage their campaigns from Meta Business Suite, designed to provide a social media management tool feature.
Things to consider while posting on Facebook.
- The best time to post is Wednesday between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.
- Number of posts: 2-3 per week.
- The ideal number of characters for the caption is 80 characters
- Ideal video length: 1-3 minutes
- Number of hashtags: 1-2
- Ideal dimensions for the post: 1200×630
Instagram.
Instagram is the second most popular social media platform favored by GenZ. It is a visual platform for sharing images and videos(reels). The visually rich platform boasts 2.35 billion active users monthly. Instagram also offers a shop feature, and since Meta owns it, MBS is available for professional Instagram accounts.
Things to consider while posting on Instagram.
- The best time to post is Tuesday and Wednesday between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m.
- Number of posts: 7-8 per week
- The ideal number of characters for the caption: 125 characters
- Ideal video length: 7-15 seconds
- Number of hashtags: 11
- Ideal dimensions: Feed posts. 1080×1350-Stories and reels. 1080×1920
Pinterest.
Pinterest is a visual search engine and a social media platform popular among women. People use Pinterest for new ideas, DIY recipes, tutorials, and gift ideas. Pinterest offers shop features and a business account with Pinterest Business Hub to manage your professional account. The platform has 465 million active monthly users.
Things to consider while posting on Pinterest.
- The best time to post is Wednesday to Friday between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.
- Number of posts: 4-10 per day
- An ideal number of characters for the caption is 200 characters. Title: 40 characters
- Ideal video length: 60 seconds
- Number of hashtags: 1-2
- Ideal dimensions: Pin. 1000×1500 px-Stories. 1080 x 1920px
Twitter.
Twitter is an informative social media platform that officials, world leaders, executives, and the common population use. The 353.9 million monthly active users tune on to the social media platform for news, trends, current affairs, and other instant information.
Things to consider while posting on Twitter.
- The best time to post is Wednesday to Friday at 10 a.m.
- Number of posts: 1-5 per day
- The ideal number of characters for the caption is 100 characters
- Ideal video length: 60 seconds
- Number of hashtags: 1-2
- Ideal dimensions: Pin. 1600×900
Conclusion
In a nutshell, use the information given in this blog for your future posts, write compelling copy, use bright visuals, and incorporate a proper and relevant mixture of hashtags and tags. Respect the platform’s guidelines and the format you are posting on.
Be bold in your approach, experiment with different elements, post at different times, change the tone of your copy, use innovation in the form of content marketing tools, and most importantly focus on your audience.
