Social media is an enormous part of the digital and new media. Creating content for it is no longer about uploading a picture of you on the Island or New York City.
Millions of brands have sprung up from social media using the right strategies and developing scalable, sellable contents.
And why would anyone ignore such great platforms that can change your life and business and even more importantly, already have the community of audience you seek to reach?
Over 4.5 billion people are using the Internet at the start of 2020. That’s more than half of the world’s population. Active social media users have passed the 3.8 billion mark with this number increasing by more than 9 percent. Statistics by SmartInsights.
Facebook alone has over 2 billion monthly active users. Instagram a whopping sum of over a billion. LinkedIn, a beautiful platform for B2B connections has 675 million monthly active users, Twitter is in its millions too and even recent platforms like Tiktok.
Now, how do you create content for your social media platforms? And by this, I mean content that truly resonates with your audience.
Before we dive into that, two things you must understand; first, these different online communities have been wired to function in different ways.
I can be on three platforms; Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn, but whenever I click to use any of these social media platforms, my expectations are completely different.
So, if you truly want to excel and be at top mind, you must understand the expectations of your audience. Then create content that connects with them at that level.
The second and very important thing you must note is that whatever platform you choose; social media is SOCIAL. Even on a very professional platform as LinkedIn. Your clear understanding of this will richly help your content development strategy and set you apart as the top 1% in your niche or industry.
Develop your content in a very social, communicable and relatable way.
Your question now should be “How do you make this happen?” One, know your audience, know what they want. Then tell a story that resonates with them.
Recently, I was listening to Seth Godin being interviewed by the young and profound digital marketer, Peace Itimi. Seth made a point that resonated very deeply, talking about reaching your audience via a story.
Here is what he said: “There is a Zulu term – SAOBANA which means “I SEE YOU.” It means I see your parents and your grandparents before you. It means I see your dreams, your hopes and your fears. It means I see who you are trying to become. If you can see the other person truly, then telling them a story is not that hard because you know how they are listening. And what their aspirations are.”
“What we need to find is the empathy to show up for the people we care about and be willing to ignore everybody else.”
Nobody really owns the audience on social media as we have been made to believe. The numbers of followers or likes you get are just in the metrics.
Nobody on social media is for anybody. Not even the founders.
This is how it works; you never wake up in the morning and say “I am coming online to see X, Y and Z post”. You don’t come online to see what Mercy Omoregie has put up on her blog.
You came online, got on social and saw somewhere this post I put up on Content Creation for Social Media. You would like to learn about that, and you click. Read through, love what you see and would love to see more.
You scroll down and subscribe to our email list. Like and follow our Facebook page. You do this, not because of me, but because of YOU. What you have learnt and expecting to learn more.
You are simply looking out for yourself and what you stand to gain, whether by entertainment or some useful tips. And that is okay.
So what role am I to play here? Showing up and showing up consistently for the things and people I care about. Finding common grounds that help me penetrates the value I bring. And this applies to you too.
Because you care about Health and Beauty as I care about Content Development and Strategies, you show up for people who need help in that field as I have shown up for you now.
Then carryout research to find out more on what’s truly relevant to the people you want to reach, the people you care about? What problem are they trying to solve? And what’s the best solution you can give?
You develop your content in the best formats that suit the particular social media channel you choose. A blog post, an infographic, a podcast or video.
This greatly helps your audience and they are grateful, grateful for the value you bring. You do this consistently and with expertise; you become a trusted brand and a reference point.
And it is just natural that these set of people whose needs you meet, will willingly follow, like and engage with your content. And when you make a premium. It is easy to sell.
So now, instead of worrying about your likes and comments on socials, how about you get better at what you do, what you truly care about, find out what people are interested in then learn how to develop your knowledge, skills and experiences into great compelling content that connects and resonates deeply with your desired and targeted audience.
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Mercy Omoregie is an Online Business Consultant, Content Strategist and Author
