Content creation is the process of creating content. But what does this mean, exactly?
Just about anything can be content, from blog posts to TikToks to whitepapers and even books. Basically, content is anything that provides information or entertainment. For marketers and brands, content creation is an important way to build and maintain relationships with potential customers.
Letโs look at all the potential elements that can be involved in turning your ideas into content for social media specifically.
What is social media content creation?
Social media content creation isis the process of creating written content, photography, graphics, and videos for different social media platforms.
Social media content has to fit within prescribed limits forย character counts,ย image sizes, andย video lengths. You have to cram a lot of value into a very small space.
Itโs also important to note that social media content creation is much more interactive than other forms of content creation. You donโt create content in a bubble. Whether youโre highlightingย user-generated content, creating aย TikTik Stitch, or using trending audio to guide your content ideas, youโre part of a larger ecosystem.
Here are some of the elements involved in social media content creation. (Weโll dive deeper into how all of these roles work together to form your social media content strategy in the next section.)
- Research:ย Checking on the latestย social media trendsย and usingย social listeningย andย social media analyticsย to get a sense of what kind of content your social audience craves.
- Writing:ย Putting words on the screen โ from headlines and video overlay text through to copy for longer posts on Facebook or LinkedIn.
- Photography/videography:ย Capturing photos and/or video footage, like product shots or behind-the-scenes tours. This could involve professional equipment, but depending on your needs, it can also be done with a smartphone.
- Video editing:ย Compiling clips into a finished product.
- Graphic design:ย Combining words and graphics into a meme, infographic, highlight cover, or any other visual that you use on social media.
Letโs put those ideas into action!
Do your research
Any good process starts with research. Sure, everything is content, but that doesnโt mean you can just post whatever you want on your social channels and call it a day.
Before you start creating content, you need to know what kind of content resonates with your audience, or your potential target audience. If you already have a solid following on your social channels, you can start with your social media analytics. These will help you understand whatโs already working for you, so that you can model this success.But social changes fast, so you canโt limit your research to your owned accounts.ย Social listeningย is a good way to get a sense of whatโs happening in your industry, and what people are talking about when they talk about your business on social media.
Finally, keep an eye on trending hashtags, topics, and audio. You wonโt necessarily want to jump on every trend that comes along, but youโll spot some good digital content creation ideas that may help your content achieve greater engagement and wider reach.
Set goals
Now that you have a sense of whatโs happening in your industry, you can start to set some goals for your social media content. Are you trying to drive people to your blog? Grow your following? Make sales throughย social commerce? Maybe all of the above?
The kind of content you create will vary based on what you want it to achieve. For instance, your call to action will be quite different for a sales post versus a post designed to build brand awareness and engagement.
ย Have a creative brainstorm
Whether youโre a one-person shop or you have a large social team, take some time to get some ideas up on the whiteboard. (It doesnโt matter whether the actual whiteboard is literal or metaphorical, just that you gather all of your ideas in one place).
This is โno bad ideasโ time. Everyone on your team has unique experiences with social, both personally and professionally, that will inform their content ideas and expectations. Allowing everyone to share freely brings all of that knowledge into your shared braintrust, where it can morph into high-quality social content campaigns.
ย Build a content calendar
Aย social media content calendarย allows you to plan your content mix across social channels, so you get the most value from your digital content creation efforts.
Weโve created aย content calendar templateย to help you plan how to use content resources across your social accounts. For example, say you want to drive social traffic to a new blog post. You can use your content calendar to plan out when to post the relevant Facebook post, TikTok, and Instagram Reel.
Your content calendar should also include your ongoing content needs.
Schedule your content
Once youโve filled in your content calendar, itโs time to set your content up for publishing. Sure, you could post each post manually at the assigned time, but thatโs a huge time-waster that also sets you up to make simple mistakes like typos and broken links.
Scheduling content in advance gives you a real-time view of your content plan, and allows time to double-check all the details. It also simplifies your workflow by condensing the time you spend actually publishing content into one block, rather than having to interrupt your work throughout the day.
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If you have questions or concerns about your online presence give Stratedia a call at 860.415.0430ย or visit us online at stratedia.com. We‘re ranked Best as the top seo company CT by Clutch.co! Let Stratedia help you, GET TO THE TOP!