Big Digital Adelaide was held for the first time in Australia in 2016, as part of the event schedule for Entrepreneurs Week 2016.

The event was fantastic, with speakers from all over the world coming to share there knowledge about Social Media, SEO, Content Marketing and other Digital Marketing activities. You can see a full recap from one of the sponsors, SEMRush, here.

I also spoke at the event, about planning your time and your activity to ensure that you create content that matters to your audience, and matters for the goals that you are trying to achieve online.

My two key takeaways were:

  • We as a collective, need to move away from ad hoc activity and content, to planned.
  • We as an industry of social media and digital marketers, need to move away from creating just ordinary and average content.

The world of social media today

Let’s start of by looking at the world of social media today. A Facebook Executive said recently that when the average person visits their newsfeed, that Facebook has a choice of around 1,500 possible stories. Obviously, people don’t stay on to read and see everything, which means that Facebook has to be quite selective. As a result, there is so much content that users do not see which they probably really would love to see.

We can sit here and cry about it, but the fact of the matter is that there is not much we can do about it. Furthermore, Facebook has announced a new algorithm change which will lead to prioritising of family and friends in the news feed. As a result, there really is only once step forward. ADAPT.

The other issue? MarketingProfs have recently done research to find that most organisations plan to produce more content this year, and spend more content this year. So, paired with the fact that businesses are already seeing less and less results from social media, what does this mean? In my view, content from businesses is becoming the “parents” of social media. As in, the reason people don’t want to go there. It is making social media platforms irrelevant and uninteresting, and leaving a bad taste in there mouths.

The solution? We need to stop digging the grace of social media effectiveness. We need to take our efforts in this space to the next level, by combating the ordinary with extraordinary, and by giving ad hoc the flick.

You’ll find access to those reports from MarketingProfs here:

The why?

I’d like to make a note that this isn’t a walk in the park for many and in fact it’s a result of circumstance that can lead to average content for some. Often brands have run of the mill content, briefs and imagination when it comes to how exciting content can be online. This is what can lead to unsatisfactory output and returns.

Why?

  • No Time
  • No Budget
  • “this is how we do things here.”
  • “it’s not a big deal”

Well, that’s the reasons anyway. However, in a day and age where there are more tools than ever available to save you time, help you create amazing things and report on outcomes, these here are no longer excuses.

In order to show you how you can move out of this rut, I’d like you to picture something for me. I believe that across the board there are missed opportunities for brands and agencies when it comes to communication. Do any of these ring a bell?

  • product release
  • shouting out to a regular customer
  • office announcement
  • sales
  • competitions and promotions
  • brand based stories
  • themed content

It’s ok, if you feel like you have had something under one of these categories in the past then at least you have something to work from.

Now, I want you to read below our planning tips to help you really create content that matters

Planning tips to create great content on social media

#1 Know Your Message

  • the elements of the message you would like to portray
  • the social media interpretations of this message
  • Is there a post format that is better for the message?
  • Is there a better way to present the text or image for the message?

Who is doing this well? I highly recommend checking out the Humane Society Silicon Valley. Whilst they have dogs and cats and puppies and kittens to talk about, they also have a message to get across. Now, when you have people who are quickly moving past images of animals after they like because they think it is cute, it can be hard to get the important message behind it across.

#2 Know Your Objectives

  • What specifically are you trying to achieve on social media?
  • Once you know, how are you measuring this? Not just “oh, I measure clicks”, but what about “what posts are giving me the best results?” “how many clicks am I aiming for?” and so on.
  • Once you know your objectives, it will then make it easier for you to understand the full suite of measurement opportunities available to you, both direct through the various social media platforms, but also through third party tools like Knackmap.

#3 Know Your Audience

  • Map out what your audience looks like on social media
  • Then, create custom audiences for advertising.
  • This Social Media Report from Sensis might help you.
  • Remember, refine what you are saying to your audience all the time. There is always a better way to say things and continue to say them. Don’t let your message get fatigue.

#4 Create templates in quick to market tools.

#4 Make room in your calendar to explore new ways of presenting your message.

  • Facebook Live
  • GIFs
  • Instant Articles
  • Periscope
  • 360 Video or Photos

Want to see great use of the quirky and interesting content formats? Check out the Georgia Aquarium Facebook page. Plus, read this article about the new content solutions offered by Facebook, perfect for social media marketers.

Summary

My two key takeaways:

  • We as a collective, need to move away from ad hoc activity and content, to planned.
  • We as an industry of social media and digital marketers, need to move away from creating just ordinary and average content.

Now that you’ve read this, get back into it and make the most of your time working on social media!

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