When the world shut down and people flocked online, many people, including Baby Boomers, recognized the need for social media.
But now that more people have come online, it's become even more saturated and harder to reach people organically.
Creating carefully crafted content will be key to your content strategy for 2021.
I've also created a Guide on Instagram with my top posts on how to optimize and grow your social media pages that might be helpful for you.
When mapping out your content strategy for social media, focus on these 6 ideas:
Short Videos
You've likely noticed the changes that Instagram has implemented in 2020, which includes the addition of Reels and even the update of the home screen on Instagram.
Reels are 15-30 second videos that you can create right on the Instagram app. You can add music, text, and filters right on the Instagram App.
It's pretty basic editing when compared to other video editing apps, so it's user- friendly to people who have never made their own videos before (with practice!)
With our attention spans getting shorter, our attention stays on a piece of content consistently roughly 15-20 seconds at a time. Short videos are what's keeping us engaged with each piece of content, and quickly moving on to the next quick video.
You can see the prominence of reels on Instagram by looking at where they placed the icon: Right at the center of your home screen, so it's one of the first things you see when opening up your Instagram app.
From a marketing perspective, these changes say a lot about the future of Instagram, and social media platforms in general.
Social media platforms will add more interactive tools for Creators and Businesses to create short videos, and that the demand for short ideas isn't going away anytime soon.
Here's how you can start creating short videos in 10 minutes:
Start by listing topics you can break down into 3-4 points like this one on How to improve your social media strategy, or even something that shows your personality.I share next steps on how you can create a reel from start to finish on this video..
Just keep it short, entertaining, and entertaining/ relatable.
Viral Content
Creating viral content is a heavy foundation to grow on social media.
Why exactly?
Because this is content that people relate to, and feel comfortable sharing about themselves to their followers.
You're basically getting people to share these posts to their story so that they can show your posts to their audience.
Smart right?
Another way to think about it is that when people 'share' your posts they are recommending people to visit your page.
If you create a post like an inspirational quote, a twitter screenshot, or something that is relatable to your target audience, they will likely want to share this with their followers.
When they share your posts, either through their story or their feed, they are promoting your business - for free - to their audience.
This is your chance to get seen by people who have never heard of you, just by posting your thoughts with black text and a white background.
Carousel Posts
Carousels have been around for a while now but it's gone beyond posting three pictures in different poses.
Now, you want to focus on creating thoughtful and helpful carousel posts that people will want to save and come back to in the future.
When you get a 'save' you're signaling to Instagram's algorithm that you are creating content that is valuable and helpful to your audience.
SO helpful that someone wants to make sure they can easily access this post again.
You can even repurpose your reels with your 3-4 ideas, but break each point into a graphic, and when brought all together it becomes a carousel post.
Take your time with these and make sure what you're trying to teach is clear.
Talk about and sell your services
If you're trying to make money on social media and/or grow your customers, which 73% of marketers are trying to do for brands you're going to have to talk about the services you offer.
You can't think that you're being annoying or repetitive, remember people need to see something about 7 times before making a purchase.
But don't ONLY post about your services. This should only be part of your strategy. You still want to focus on creating those sharable and savable posts.
BIG PLUS if you can create an entertaining reel that is related to your service.
I've seen some great ones from Jasmine Star and Natasha from Sol Studio Marketing.
This is a great way to keep people engaged!
Instagram Stories Strategy
In my opinion, this is one of the toughest to stay consistent with.
I see people saying it all the time - "show up on stories daily", "show your face daily", you've heard it, right?
But let's be real, it's really hard to do that. Especially when you got life going on in the background.
But I've also seen and heard that selling on stories leads to $$$ so it's worth investing your time and energy into this if you want to make money!
Quality vs. Quantity Posts
Creating a pretty feed just isn't enough anymore.
Definitely use your brand colors, fonts, and aesthetic, but you better make sure that your caption and your call to action (what you tell someone to do at the end) serves a purpose!
When a pandemic, or other crisis happens, you may need to completely readjust your content strategy as many marketers had to do in 2020.
But now it's more important that each post is high-value for your target audience.
If that means spending more time on each post, and creating less, that is OK!
People will recognize the time and care you put into each post, and they will recommend you, and continue to follow you for that.
Which of these ideas will you be implementing for 2021? Let me know on this post on my page!
