February 17, 2015 Emily Hunt
There’s so much brilliant content floating around social media, and if you want yours to generate high levels of engagement and interaction then you're fighting for air against millions of others.
However, there are a few simple tips and tricks that I’ve found work miracles for boosting your social content airtime.
1) Images
Statistically, people are 44% more likely to engage with a post if it contains an image. And when you’re tweet has the chance of being swallowed by the pool of 500 million other tweets that are sent on a single day, 44% doesn’t sound too shabby, does it?
Bright images
It’s proven that ‘bright’ images generate 24% more ‘likes’ on social media than darker ones.
There’s a reason @isabellath has almost 40k followers on Instagram, and it’s not luck. Bright images appear ‘clean’ and immediately draw the reader’s attention.
Purpose created images
An image that’s clearly been created for a specific post immediately adds value to the article it links to. Generally, if someone has the means to create such an image, then they are more likely to be certified in the field they are writing about and therefore people want to hear what they have to say.
Beautiful people
I’m just going to come out and say it- humans are drawn to beauty. It’s built into our DNA! So when you’re using images of people, go for the aesthetically pleasing man/woman with shiny hair and white teeth. Why do you think models exist?
Pretty hard on the eye, eh.
2) Language
People aren’t robots. They have personalities, interests and a sense of humour (well, most).. so why would anyone think that people would want to read content that’s written like a eulogy? Even if you’re sharing a very serious post about, I don’t know, how to draw people to your social content (crazy example, don’t know where I got that from..) there’s every merit in letting your reader know that there’s a real person behind the keyboard. Social content can be both informative and fun, you know.
3) Questions
It’s not called social media for no reason. Create posts that promote interaction and input from others, because when people respond, your page is made visible to all of their followers too.. and so the grapevine begins..
4) Hashtags
When a hashtag is trending on Twitter it means that millions of people are engaging and searching for one thing. In other words- Jump on it! If a hashtag is relevant in any way to your business, get hashtagging!
However, don't drift into the realms of spamming. Seeing endless hashtags on posts (#picoftheday #like4like #blogger #ootd #love #tags4likes) screams desperation.
5) Competitions
A great way to generate a buzz around your product is by running competitions. When you do this make sure it's overt; something that makes people publicly refer to your brand when they enter. Similarly to my earlier point about asking questions, when one person names your brand, this is brought to the attention of their followers too. Whatever you’re flogging, anything can be turned into a fun competition. Kellogg’s are currently running a competition that asks people to take selfies in a spoon, for god’s sake!
