Feel like you’re in a content rut? We all know how tough it can be to constantly come up with killer social media content that both engages your current audience and attracts new ones simultaneously.
To help inspire you, we have put together a list of 8 simple and engaging content ideas you can try for your brand.
1. Run a contest or giveaway
If you’re looking for a great way to boost engagement and increase your following, running a giveaway is a sure winner (who doesn’t like free stuff?!). Giveaways often encourage your audience to share, repost and tag their friends, which has the potential to attract more followers and increase engagement. In a study conducted by Tailwind, findings show that Instagram contests get 3.5 times as many likes and 64 times more comments on average than a regular post.
The below example was a simple yet effective giveaway where LSKD conducted a giveaway that directed traffic to their website, boosting product sales, encouraging users to share their purchases on their stories and gained user engagement by tagging the LSKD account via the ‘add yours’ sticker.
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2. Give your audience a ‘sneak peek’
Do you have something new brewing behind the scenes? Perhaps a new product or service launching soon? Why not create a little hype around the new launch? This could be something as simple as an Instagram story countdown to create mystery or evolve into a mini campaign. Asking your audience to ‘guess what it is’ in the comments is a great way to generate engagement from your audience. See this example below by Faytlabel.
This post is designed to build hype around launching a new range. The simple typographic post not only drives traffic back to their account at a later date, but also encourages the audience to engage by commenting what they think might be coming.
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3. Collaborate with another brand
Collaborating with other brands is a great way to reach a wider audience and can be a win-win for all involved. It has the potential to grow not only your followers, but also your business. Brand collaboration is where two or more business team up to create a product or service exclusively for the campaign. According to Later, brand collaborations can be up to 25x less expensive than digital advertising and is quickly becoming one of the most popular ways to grow your following and promote your brand online.
Collabosaurus conducted a case study on the limited-edition product collaboration between Zema Estate and Christie Williams Design. Together they created a limited-edition sparkling merlot wine with a beautiful, unique label that sold out in three days. The collaboration was used to build hype around the limited-edition product and showcase Christie’s work to a whole new audience. Christie Williams was promoted across Zema Estate’s almost 800 email subscribers, gained a unique project for her design portfolio, and Zema Estate earned a 50% higher return per product.
Image source: Collabosaurus
4. Create some BTS (behind-the-scenes) content
Going behind the scenes on your social media gives your audience a sense of authenticity and helps to humanise your brand. Give a tour of your office, show off your amazing workplace culture, or show snippets of how much care and effort goes into the products you make. This gives your audience an unedited, VIP experience of what is happening behind closed doors. By doing this, you can connect with your community on a personal level and build trust.
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5. Create a content series
Creating a social media content series can be looked at in several ways. It could be a series that lasts a certain amount of time, like the creative challenge, #100DaysOfDesign, or it could be an ongoing series where you share content regularly over a long period of time, like #TipTuesday.
By creating a content series, you provide the opportunity for interaction with new and existing followers and can create genuine excitement with a sense of community for your brand, which keeps followers coming back for more.
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6. Host an AMA (ask me anything)
While we are on the subject of humanising your brand, another great way to connect with your audience is to host an AMA ‘ask me anything’. An AMA is essentially a Q&A session where you get to share your knowledge, experience and insight into common and uncommon questions your audience asks and connect with them on a more personal level. This can be done through a simple social post, story series or even a live stream.
A little tip: If you plan to go live, try focusing on a specific topic and prompt your audience for questions before you go live so that you have plenty of content to start with.
7. Repost/share relevant content
Don’t be afraid to share relevant and helpful content created by others with your audience. This could be anything that you think would be appreciated by your audience, including, a valuable blog post from an expert in their field or an insightful post about a topic you are passionate about. By sharing others’ posts, you help to build a community of like-minded people and demonstrate that you are there to provide value, not just push your own agenda. Knowledge is power, and sharing knowledge could show a different perspective. Start a conversation or bring something to light that someone may not be aware of.
If you decide to share content created by others, don’t forget to give credit and tag the account you are sharing.
8. Create a takeover
Conducting a social media takeover means that you let someone else temporarily post on your account on your behalf. That person could be an influencer with a dedicated following or even an industry expert. When that person tells their following they will be taking over your account, it allows you to be seen by a new audience and potentially attract new followers and boost engagement. When choosing someone to take over your account, remember that the main purpose is to gain exposure. Ideally, you want to choose someone with an audience demographic relevant to your own.
Syzmik Workwear recently had Stuart from Sunshine Snake Catches take over their Instagram for a live Q&A, which reached 640 users who were not already following Syzmik. This resulted in a boost in engagement and followers.
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We hope that you are now feeling inspired to carry on planning your content for the next month with some fresh, engaging content ideas for your audience.
For any further support in creating killer content ideas that both engage your current audience and attract new ones, get in contact with us today!
