How to Make More Engaging Content

Nowadays, just about anyone with an internet connection and a smartphone can be a content creator. Content is everywhere, and we consume more of it than almost anything else. For marketers, that presents a major challenge: creating quality, engaging content that stands out among the clutter. How, as a marketer, can you create the most engaging content?

Think Like a Customer

Our lives are dominated by media. Between television, radio, internet, and traditional print media, it’s estimated the average American spends 666 minutes a day consuming content. That’s over 11 hours a day! That makes it exceedingly difficult for content creators to break through to their audience, and every day it gets more difficult. To really get through to your customers, you have to know them inside and out. 

You also have to think like a customer. If you were a customer of your brand or business, what kinds of content would you interact with? What would make you care? Don’t be afraid to take a stand, ask questions, or even directly ask for feedback. When it comes to creating content, however, the actual content is only half the battle. The other half comes from choosing where best to present that content to get the most eyes on it. 

Interestingly enough, creating content and figuring out how to get your audience to see it both depend on an intricate knowledge of the audience in question. It all goes back to having a strong relationship with your customers. To that end, again, don’t be afraid to ask questions, offer surveys, and get as much feedback as you can!

What Kinds of Content Should You Create?

Once you’ve gone inside your customers’ heads and figured out what kinds of content would most inspire them, you’ve figured out what story you want to tell, as well as where digitally it will garner the most engagement. The next step is figuring out which type of media will be most effective. Figure out whether your story is best told in text, photo, video, or multimedia form. The more immersive, multimedia content you produce, the better chance it has of garnering engagement and interactions. 

Most evidence seems to indicate video content is the most successful at driving not only interactions and engagement, but conversions. Video content is especially helpful for showcasing product features; nothing shows people how to use a product like a video of someone else using that product. There’s even a massive market for videos of people opening new products-not even using them!

An important lesson is to avoid publishing the same content across different media channels. In other words, don’t post the same things on Instagram, Linkedin, Twitter, and Facebook. If you have a presence on all four platforms, strive to at least create different graphics and taglines for incorporated posts. A diverse, varied approach will help ensure you’re maximizing the spectrum of visibility for your content. 

Do You Have to Pay For More Engagement?

While social media is arguably the most cost-effective form of digital media, in most cases, paid social media ads will generate more likes, comments, and shares than their organic counterparts. Given that the average interaction rate for organic posts is lower than 1%, generating organic engagement is a real challenge. Paying to boost visibility simply means more people will see your ad, they’ll see it more times, and in more advantageous places. It doesn’t inherently mean more conversions. 

Before you throw bundles of cash into your social media marketing, take a look at how you’re performing. If you’ve been monitoring the most important KPIs and even the most aggressive organic campaigns aren’t making the numbers budge, it might be time for a paid campaign. At the same time, it’s important to note if the space in question is actually where your customers are spending their time-and if they’re even the right customers you want to go after. 

Creating Engaging Content is More Easily Said Than Done

If everyone who wanted to create more engaging content could do it, we’d do nothing but interact with social media. As social media feeds and webpages get more saturated with content, it’s more and more difficult for marketers to create content to break through the clutter. That makes it all the more important for marketers to know both the digital spaces and their audiences inside and out.

With a better understanding of your audience and the spaces in which you can reach them, you’ll be able to create more engaging content that drives traffic and helps achieve your marketing goals.