Recent studies have found that, on average, people check their smartphones every 12 minutes. Whilst some of it is necessary for receiving calls/texts from work, business or loved ones; a lot of time is increasingly taken up by the use of Social Media applications.

The rise in such activity continues to grow, and whilst it can help businesses squeeze its target audience/customers into the one place, the longevity of news has become a thing of the past. The average lifespan of each tweet is estimated to be 18 minutes – and a person’s concentration deteriorates the longer they’re scrolling through. With that in mind, how is it possible to create an engaging Social Media post that has the desired reaction with customers/client/target audience?

Ensure the content is compelling

One of the biggest purposes of Social Media marketing is to engage your audience. By achieving this purpose, you can increase the awareness of your brand. With this in mind, it is important to offer people as much information as you can within restrictions, as this allows a stronger working relationship between marketers and customers. Social Media engagement is an excellent opportunity to develop these links because it allows a two-way communication between both parties.

 

Always keep up with the latest trends

One of the most effective ways of planning a good Social Media post is understanding the latest trends.

Acknowledging these developments, whether it be local or national, is a good way of understanding what people’s interests and ambitions are at that moment in time.

Like we’ve acknowledged above, the speed of movement is extremely quick, and this can see trends change several times a day. Staying up to date is the best place to start if you want to work towards ideas that may be relevant to your target audience.

 

Correct use of hashtags

When linking your Social Media presence to a hashtag, ensure that you are using it for the correct purpose.

Whilst it may be a good idea to utilise one when issuing an advertisement, it is advisable that you avoid using the same one if you’re interacting with a customer or client. An audience is more likely to hide, avoid or even block you if they get thrown too much information in a short space of time. Using Social Media in the correct way is a strong way of growing a public image, but too much can have the opposite effect.

 

Have engaging photos

Ensure you always include visuals for your audience. This is a good way of maintaining their concentration and their mind focused on your message.

Using photos or other visual effects is more likely to increase enjoyment for a viewer. It can also enhance participation.

 

Use of Gifs

Gifs, also known as ‘Graphics Interchange Format’, is a computer file that is used on the internet for sending messages – especially moving images.

In marketing, the use of the gif is both appealing and effective. Commonly, an audience only remembers around 20% of the content they read without a graphic. This reminds us of the importance of visual images – and why it is more common than ever.

They have been used as a new form of communication amongst users, with the animated movement representing an emotional feeling. Whilst a lot of the time this is a funny reaction, it is vital that you remember how to use gifs relevant to your brand or product in order to promote it.

Like anything else, always remember to track the response after using a gif. This is a strong way of understanding your audience and creating a ‘test and learn’ basis for your campaign.

 

Summary

Overall, although planning your social media posts can be a little overwhelming, every post you make is an opportunity to increase awareness of, and engagement with, your brand.

Interaction with your audience is vital, so make sure you understand their needs before marketing yourself. Spending time getting to know your audience – and their interests – can go a long way to improving your campaigns.

Flexibility is key – and never be afraid to change your approach if you feel it isn’t working. Even the best make mistakes – it’s how you learn from them that matters.

To find out how Bare Bones Marketing can improve your Social Media strategy, please contact 01606 535035 or hello@bbmarketing.co.uk.

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