How to Plan Quality Content on Social Media

Best practicesDec 14, 2021

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Let’s face it – in 2022, creating social media content is not rocket science. You just need to have an idea or two and a few tools to turn them into reality, then you’re basically good to go.

However, creating quality social media content is a whole different story.

How can social media managers excel themselves to prepare better content, copy, and creatives every day? We’re sharing a dose of inspiration below.

Saying that social media is saturated is like saying nothing. Brands are fighting for their audiences’ attention, but they are going to battle armed with water pistols rather than real weapons.

Some believe that publishing more social media posts will always get them more recognition, higher reach, and in theory, increase their success.

In 2022, however, this will not be the case. And it hasn’t really been the case for quite a while now already.

These days, target groups are more aware of the pages they follow, who they interact with, and what kind of content they want to see on their feeds. Overwhelming them with tons of posts won’t increase your effectiveness. Quite the opposite – they might grow bored and no longer want to interact with your brand.

Below are a few tips that you might want to use as a laundry list to help you create top-notch social media content in the coming year.

#1 Always take care of the quality of your creatives

A creative speaks louder than a thousand words. But if it doesn’t present your offer in an appealing way, there’s very little hope your content will deliver results.

That’s why you should always check if your photos or videos:

follow the correct sizes (here’s a cheat sheet of social media image sizes we prepared for you)
display properly on all devices
are high quality (not pixelated or cropped)
fit the platform they are published on
include all of the desired elements

This serves as a quick checklist that can accompany each social media post before it is published. In Kontentino, you can set up such handy lists for each profile you manage.

#2 Whatever you post, bring value

One approach you should definitely follow is to publish posts you’d like to read and interact with yourself. Audiences are inundated with information nowadays, so cutting through the noise is a challenging but necessary task. Try to avoid posting generic information and ensure your posts have at least one takeaway.

Examples?

Instead of simply posting a photo of wintery gingerbreads, share the recipe.
Rather than just listing your brick-and-mortar store’s location, provide a map and directions.
Share screenshots, customer reviews, or tips on how to get to the next levels over including only a link to your mobile app.
Back up a fact with data, sources, your own experiences, or even social proof for increased impact compared to simply stating it.

A social media audit of your own communication can be an honest reflection of what needs to be changed, improved, or continued.

#3 Verify the quality of your audience

It is often not the content or communication itself that is the problem, but the audience you are trying to reach. Even if your content is of high quality, it may not resonate with your followers if they are largely uninterested in what you offer.

You may want to check:

characteristics of your current audience (age, demographics, language)
engagement rate in your target group
reach in your target group
other metrics specific to particular social media platforms

The ideal scenario would be for 100% of your audience to be potential clients. While social media managers can direct communication towards the key members of their ideal target group, there still is a chance of obtaining some random followers on the way.

As long as the proportion of the latter among your audience is low, there is no reason to worry. However, if they make up the majority of it then you should take a few steps first before publishing your content, including:

identifying the reasons for having such a random audience
removing some of your followers if it seems logical to do so
checking what kind of content works best for your target group
peeping on competitors to see what clicks with their audiences
listening to your followers’ opinions and obtaining feedback

It’s likely that some of your average-performing content will turn out to be shining stars of your communication once your audience is sorted out. You just need to check out its composition and think about trimming the fat.

A social media strategy is a roadmap that your posts should follow. Content problems often stem from the lack of a strategy and, ultimately, from publishing whatever and whenever comes to mind without sticking to the plan.

Not quite the way to go, is it?

Developing a social media strategy is a time-consuming, yet essential aspect of optimizing your performance. Here are some tips for aligning content with your overall business objectives:

Select a few messages that you want to convey
Delete content that is not in line with your strategy
Conduct occasional competitive analyses
Review your strategy to see what worked and what didn’t

Every individual has an inner gut feeling about social media content, but strategy prioritizes performance over preference. This by itself can be a huge success.

#5 Diversify content types

In short, if you just use one type of content (such as photos only) then at some point you may run out of ideas or even get bored with your own communication. Naturally, this would lower the quality of your posts.

Try to diversify your content with digital storytelling. This is not only a good way to bring freshness to your communication, but also to ensure high standards.

The following are just a few examples of what you can test:

arrange several photos into a collage or post them together as a carousel instead of publishing a single photo
rather than creating a graphic with a discount code written on it, run that post in the Offer format on Facebook
instead of sending your followers to a long video hosted externally on, say, YouTube, cut a few seconds off and publish it natively on social media
create an Instagram Story over just another standard post

Testing should be an integral part of your social media work. There’s no guarantee that every experiment will succeed, but if you don’t try then you’ll never know.

Each piece of content should have a goal behind it, and this should be expressed via a call to action. A common misconception is that most of them are always buttons or elements of a graphic design.

That’s not always the case. In a CTA, you tell your audience what you want them to do and how they should respond through completing a specific action.

Here’s what a CTA can be:

A “Learn more” button in your social media post
“Book your stay now!” in a paid ad
“Grab your discount” on an infographic
“Comment below!” in a social media copy

A call to action doesn’t have to be just “a button in contrasting colors.” It can also be the final sentence in your social media posts, guiding your audience to act in the way you want. CTAs are essential for creating high quality content that brings results, so you shouldn’t ignore them when crafting your next social media posts.

Don’t let your content become another cookie-cutter on social media.

Copy-pasting isn’t the best way to make quality posts, so customize the experience to ensure that none of your social media footprints can be mistaken for someone else’s.

Here’s what you can do:

base your quality content on your own research and sources (for example, ask your CEO for their viewpoint instead of quoting just ANYONE)
use social proof to strengthen relationships (e.g. take a few five star reviews and share them in the form of graphics on social media)
involve influencers who can introduce their own angles to your offer (for instance, share pictures of influencers who show your new hand cream’s texture and composition rather than only posting dry information about it)
follow your tone of voice and brand book
appreciate user generated content and repurpose it when accessible (bearing in mind all of the legal aspects and required permission)

Make your brand really YOURS on social media. The rest will follow.

Long gone are the times when “Buy my product” as a message worked and generated actual sales. Nowadays the process is different, and social media content should be tailored not only to your business goals but also to the needs of your customers.

The following principles will help you create social media content that not only looks good, but also works well:

publish posts that solve clients’ problems and provide them with solutions to their most nagging questions
Ensure that your social media content is useful first and foremost, even if that means compromising aesthetics as a result
sell your products with value and benefits, not cliches
remember that people buy outcomes, not features, so they may not be interested in knowing how something works but rather how much time it can save them
being “pushy and salesy” in your social media content and answers to comments or messages will not be warmly welcomed

Social media managers often fail to create quality content because they lack the time, resources, or tools to do so. There may already be lots on their plates, and not even tasks related to running social media profiles. As a result, they don’t always have the energy to be creative and focus on quality.

With the right mix of social media tools, social media managers can optimize a few processes and free up some time for creative and strategic thinking. These efforts result in higher quality and more engaging social content.

What tools should social media managers try using?

Kontentino – the ultimate social media management suite for social media managers, agencies, and brands. You can automate scheduling, analytics, reporting, collaboration, and content approval with this tool. It comes with various features for better management and facilitating everyday work as well.
Stencil – one of many tools for creating captivating photo content for social media
Ripl – a video & animation creator that comes in handy when trying video content on social media
StoryArt – a graphics design tool dedicated fully to the Stories format
ManyPixels – an online repository of images to use in your social media projects
Mention – a social media monitoring and listening tool to better adjust your content to your audience’s needs and requirements

Plan high quality content by saying no to junk, yes to gold

Well done. By the time you reach the end of this list, you should now be on the road to success. However, learning how to create quality content overnight is nearly impossible, so give yourself time as well as a goal to work towards. You can set up some social media KPIs for quality content and verify if and how you accomplished your goal in a particular timespan.

Quality content today may have zero impact in a few years, so you need to always keep an eye on your strategy.

And if you’re still not sure whether your content is of the highest possible quality, ask yourself these four questions: