Creating content for Social Media – informative, personal, interactive

Cultivating contacts on Facebook, micro blogging on Twitter, uploading videos on YouTube – Social media define our cultural habits and change our lifestyle. Companies and organizations attract users, promote products or mobilize users for projects by presenting exciting content in social networks.

Getting in touch with friends, spreading current information, discussing issues, presenting original ideas, commenting articles – social media such as Facebook, Twitter and Google+ or mobile media portals, such as Instagram and Snapchat, provide users – who are sometimes organized in communities – with various ways of communicating personal, professional or special content. The social forums, networks, weblogs, Wikis, photo and video services that play a key part in digital change are meanwhile being used on a regular basis by an overwhelming number of Internet users (Facebook has over 1.5 billion users.) They create a vibrant cultural sphere and transform our relationships and lifestyles.

Social Media – spontaneous, multimedia and up-to-date

In contrast to traditional broadcasts or articles that appear in mass media (newspapers, television, radio), social media have equally wide coverage and are easily accessible to users. Social media are basically founded on social dialogue and the nearly equal interaction of those involved. Their content is essentially multimedia (text, image, audio), spontaneous and created in real-time and can be easily updated at any time. Companies or institutions use social media for economic, political or socially-engaged purposes, to attract customers or involve citizens in projects. However, prominent figures, such as artists or politicians, recognize the potential and benefits of social media for their fame.

Promoting products and projects with creative content

Companies use social media to promote their products, draw attention to their brands and communicate with customers. They convey their public image via the digital channels, and, at the same time provide their employees with a forum for the mutual exchange of experiences. Organizations debate important issues on social networks, mobilize supporters for their plans, invite people to participate in actions. Elaborate marketing strategies for social media presentations can increase sales figures, promote the participation in projects and have a positive effect on the SEO ranking with Google & Co. A balanced combination of texts, images, audio and video elements have proven to be particularly effective.

Social media needs exciting, informative content

High quality, creative content relevant to one’s own product or project instead of simple profile pages provides a reliable basis in social media for fruitful customer contact. Above all, attractive online articles that captivate the users interest must be informative. Recent studies (for example from the University College London) establish that many Internet fans consult social media as a reliable source of knowledge and information. Exciting, unique content on social media portals offering true added value for the reader is a tested method of securing consumer loyalty. By showing that their customers consider them knowledgeable and credible partners in social media, companies can arouse consumer interest in their products and services.

Personal content and storytelling convince customers

Content on social media platforms ought to be defined by the user perspective and focus on the preferences and needs of the target group. Marked by personal interaction and relationships in digital networks it makes sense to create “human” content and address users on an individual and emotional level. Authentic content give a better understanding of customer opinions and methods. Storytelling, i.e., sharing stories about important experiences or anecdotes about products and projects increasingly attracts the readers. Supplementary facts, summaries of the history of the company or organization, unexpected insights in production processes impress the user and motivate further reading.

Social commerce, viral effects, interactive content

Social media also enables companies to establish close contact with groups of like-minded people that form in social networks. With their own ideas, offers, suggestions, information and campaigns these companies can tie in with the mutual interests of the members and develop social forms of commercial relationships with them. Positive reactions and customers recommendations have a viral effect and reach a wide audience… Fascinating, high-quality photos, picture sequences and videos are becoming increasingly important in social media in comparison with texts. The length of the videos ought to meet the quick, new habits of mobile networking as well as the demands of the information they are transporting. Interactive content such as contests, surveys or games have proved to be successful on social media, in particular to arouse consumer interest for products or to motivate people to participate in projects.