Understand Your Audience

The first step in creating engaging social media content is to understand your audience. You need to know who they are, what they like, and what problems they want to solve. Conducting audience research is crucial, as it allows you to tailor your content to meet the specific needs and preferences of your target audience.

Start by creating buyer personas that represent your ideal customers. These personas should include demographic information, interests, pain points, and online behavior. Social media analytics tools, like Facebook Insights and Twitter Analytics, can provide valuable demographic data about your existing followers. Additionally, surveys and questionnaires can help you gather insights into their preferences and challenges.

Once you have a clear understanding of your audience, you can create content that resonates with them. Your content should address their pain points, provide solutions, or simply entertain and inform them. By speaking directly to the needs and interests of your audience, you’re more likely to capture their attention and keep them engaged.

The Power of Visual Content

Visual content is a game-changer when it comes to social media engagement. Humans are naturally drawn to visuals, and on platforms like Instagram, Pinterest, and TikTok, visual content takes center stage. Even on text-heavy platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn, adding eye-catching visuals to your posts can significantly boost engagement.

Consider incorporating the following visual elements into your social media content:

1. High-Quality Images

Whether you’re sharing photos of your products, behind-the-scenes glimpses of your team, or images that convey your brand’s values, high-quality images are essential. Invest in a good camera or hire a professional photographer to capture visually appealing and unique images.

2. Infographics

Infographics are a fantastic way to present complex information in a visually digestible format. They are highly shareable and can help establish your brand as an authority in your niche.

3. Videos

Video content is booming on social media. Whether it’s short, engaging videos on TikTok, live streams on Facebook, or professionally edited YouTube videos, the medium offers a wide range of creative possibilities. Videos are a great way to tell stories, provide tutorials, or showcase your products in action.

4. GIFs and Memes

GIFs and memes are excellent for adding humor and relatability to your content. They are particularly effective on platforms like Twitter and Instagram, where a light-hearted approach can resonate with your audience.

5. User-Generated Content

Encourage your customers and followers to create content related to your brand. User-generated content not only builds trust but also provides you with a steady stream of authentic visuals to share.

Remember to optimize your visuals for each social media platform by adhering to their recommended image sizes and formats. Crisp, well-composed visuals not only grab attention but also convey professionalism and trustworthiness.

Storytelling: The Heart of Engagement

Storytelling is a fundamental element of human communication. We’ve been telling and listening to stories for centuries. It’s no wonder that storytelling is also a key driver of engagement on social media. Effective storytelling creates a connection between your brand and your audience, making your content more relatable and memorable.

Here are some tips for effective storytelling on social media:

1. Know Your Brand Story

Your brand has a story, a unique narrative that sets it apart from others. What inspired you to start your business? What challenges have you overcome? How do your products or services make a difference in the lives of your customers? Your brand story is the core narrative that should be woven into your social media content.

2. Be Authentic

Authenticity is crucial in storytelling. People can spot a fake or insincere story from a mile away. Share your successes and your failures, your aspirations, and your challenges. Authenticity builds trust and relatability.

3. Create a Hero’s Journey

In storytelling, the hero’s journey is a classic structure where the protagonist faces challenges, learns, grows, and ultimately triumphs. You can apply this structure to your brand’s story. Your customers should be the heroes, and your products or services should be the tools that help them overcome their challenges and achieve their goals.

4. Use Emotional Triggers

Emotions are a powerful storytelling tool. Content that evokes emotions – whether it’s joy, empathy, surprise, or inspiration – is more likely to be shared and engaged with. Share stories that tug at the heartstrings or make your audience laugh.

5. Keep It Concise

On social media, attention spans are short. While your storytelling can be impactful, it should also be concise. Craft your stories in a way that quickly grabs attention and keeps your audience engaged until the end.

Consistency and Posting Schedule

Engaging social media content doesn’t happen in a vacuum. You need to maintain a consistent presence and posting schedule to keep your audience engaged. Posting sporadically or inconsistently can cause your audience to lose interest and forget about your brand.

Develop a content calendar that outlines what type of content you’ll post and when. The frequency of your posts should align with your audience’s preferences and the platform’s best practices. Here are some additional tips for maintaining consistency:

1. Automate When Possible

Use social media management tools like Hootsuite, Buffer, or Sprout Social to schedule your posts in advance. Automation can help you maintain a consistent posting schedule even on days when you’re too busy to post manually.

2. Analyze Your Audience’s Activity

Social media platforms provide insights into when your audience is most active. Use these insights to schedule your posts during peak engagement times. This ensures that your content is more likely to be seen and interacted with.

3. Experiment and Adapt

Don’t be afraid to experiment with different posting schedules and content types. Your audience’s preferences may evolve over time, and what worked in the past might not be as effective today. Regularly review your social media analytics to identify trends and adjust your strategy accordingly.

Interact and Engage

Engaging content isn’t a one-way street. To truly engage your audience, you must be responsive and interactive. Social media is a platform for conversations, and engaging with your audience builds relationships and fosters loyalty.

Here are some ways to interact and engage with your audience:

1. Respond to Comments

When followers leave comments on your posts, respond promptly and thoughtfully. Acknowledge their feedback, answer questions, and express appreciation for their engagement. This demonstrates that you value your audience’s input.

2. Encourage Discussion

Ask open-ended questions in your posts to encourage discussions. Pose thought-provoking questions or invite your audience to share their opinions and experiences related to your content.

3. Use Polls and Surveys

Engage your audience by conducting polls and surveys. Not only do they provide valuable insights, but they also make your audience feel involved in decision-making processes.

4. Show Appreciation

Recognize and appreciate your loyal followers. Highlight user-generated content, share customer testimonials, or feature “fan of the week.” This not only fosters a sense of community but also motivates others to engage with your brand.

5. Address Issues and Concerns

If a follower has a concern or problem, address it promptly and professionally. Solving problems and addressing concerns publicly can demonstrate your commitment to customer satisfaction.

Utilize Hashtags Wisely

Hashtags are a powerful tool for increasing the discoverability of your content. When used effectively, they can help you reach a broader audience beyond your immediate followers. However, using too many hashtags or irrelevant ones can come across as spammy and reduce engagement. Here are some tips for using hashtags wisely:

1. Research Relevant Hashtags

Research and choose hashtags that are relevant to your content and industry. Tools like Hashtagify and RiteTag can help you identify popular and trending hashtags in your niche.

2. Keep It Concise

Don’t overdo it with hashtags. On most platforms, 2-5 relevant hashtags are usually sufficient. On Instagram, you can use more, but be sure they are all directly related to your content.

3. Create a Branded Hashtag

Consider creating a unique branded hashtag for your business. This can be used to promote user-generated content and encourage your audience to participate in challenges or contests.

4. Monitor Hashtag Performance

Regularly track the performance of the hashtags you use. Analyze which ones generate the most engagement and adjust your hashtag strategy accordingly.

The Art of Timing

The timing of your social media posts can significantly impact their engagement. Posting at the right time can help you reach a larger audience and get more eyes on your content. Here are some tips for mastering the art of timing:

1. Know Your Audience’s Time Zone

If your audience is spread across different time zones, it’s essential to schedule your posts to reach the largest segment of your audience. Social media management tools often allow you to schedule posts for specific time zones.

2. Test Different Times

Experiment with posting at different times and days to identify when your audience is most active and responsive. Pay attention to patterns and trends in your social media analytics.

3. Be Consistent

Once you’ve identified the optimal posting times, be consistent. Your audience will come to expect your content at specific times, and this predictability can lead to increased engagement.

4. Consider Platform-Specific Timing

Different social media platforms have varying peak usage times. For instance, posting during lunch hours or after work hours might work well on platforms like LinkedIn, while late evenings might be more effective on Instagram.

Monitor and Measure

Crafting engaging social media content is an ongoing process. To continually improve, you must monitor and measure the performance of your posts and adjust your strategy accordingly. Most social media platforms offer analytics tools that provide valuable insights into how your content is performing. Here’s what you should be tracking:

1. Engagement Metrics

Pay attention to likes, comments, shares, and click-through rates. These metrics indicate how well your content is resonating with your audience.

2. Follower Growth

Monitor your follower count over time. A steady increase in followers suggests that your content is attracting new audience members.

3. Click-Throughs

If your goal is to drive traffic to your website, track the number of click-throughs from your social media posts to your website. This can help you assess the effectiveness of your calls to action.

4. Conversion Rates

If you’re using social media for e-commerce, monitor conversion rates. This measures how many of your social media visitors are taking the desired actions on your website, such as making a purchase.

5. Audience Insights

Review demographic and behavioral data in your analytics to gain a deeper understanding of your audience. Are there any trends or patterns you can leverage in your content strategy?

6. A/B Testing

Experiment with different content formats, headlines, and visuals to see what resonates best with your audience. A/B testing can help you refine your content and increase engagement.

Conclusion

The art of crafting engaging social media content is a dynamic and ever-evolving process. To succeed, you must understand your audience, harness the power of visual content, master storytelling, maintain consistency, interact and engage with your followers, use hashtags strategically, time your posts effectively, and continuously monitor and measure your performance.

By following these strategies and adapting your approach based on data-driven insights, you can build a strong social media presence that not only captures the attention of your audience but also fosters genuine engagement, brand loyalty, and business growth. Social media is a canvas for creativity and connection, and with the right techniques, you can create content that leaves a lasting impact in the hearts and minds of your audience.

The post The Art of Crafting Engaging Social Media Content appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

KNV works with media and tech companies, helping to drive transformation.

Kelly and Newman each have a proven track record in the industry, having created billions of dollars in shareholder value as seasoned operators and investors.

Based in New York City and representing clients around the globe, KNV sources, executes and oversees investments and acquisitions in best-in-breed digital media companies for a diverse base of investors and strategic partners. Companies interested in digital transformation and accelerated growth can access tailored, strategic and hands-on advisory services.

“We focus on those catalyst companies that help drive transformation in our industry. It is not just about picking great companies and entrepreneurs, it is about our day-to-day commitment to help get these companies to the next level,” said Mike Kelly, CEO of Kelly Newman Ventures and former CEO of The Weather Channel, President of AOL Media Networks, and President Global Marketing at Time Warner.

For more information, click here.

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In a report by Standard Media Index, cable TV networks were down 7%, with broadcast networks off 8%, representing 80% of the market.

Broadcast networks saw an 18% gain in scatter revenue but at 12% decline in upfront money placed in April all while cable improved 5% in scatter but was down 9% in upfront dollars.

The report states that total upfront revenue placed for April was off 11% with total scatter gaining 10%. Other TV result saw national spot up 2%, syndication down 7%, and local advertising dollars 5% higher.

Digital media gained 21% in the month with pure-play video up 44%, social media 70%, and ad networks gaining 35%. Two lower-performing digital areas were ‘TV network, digital’ and ‘pure play content/search,’ each rose 3%.

Out-of-home media gained 7% and magazines lost 4%. Radio sank 12%, with newspapers inching up 1%.

Overall, media dollars inched up 1% during the month.

The post National TV Ad Dollar Decrease as Digital Increases appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

To that end, the associations are working together via a new task force designed to “identify material issues and to address them with constructive dialogue and pragmatic courses of action.”

According to a recent announcement from the ANA, the task force will be co-chaired by the Chief Executive Officers of both the 4A’s, Nancy Hill, and the ANA, Bob Liodice. A distinguished group of execs with deep experience in the industry will join the task force.

“The Task Force has a very important focus – to ensure that the long standing partnership between clients and agencies is grounded in trust and understanding,” explained Hill. “The issues that we face can be solved and together we are committed to establishing a framework that will ensure that trusted partnership continues.”

ANA CEO Bob Liodice agreed.

“We are genuinely pleased that the leaders of our industry recognize that transparency concerns – real and perceived — need to be addressed and mitigated. Media transactions have become increasingly complex and our priorities must include recommended practices that enhance the understanding of the transaction processes.”

The task force is set to begin its work in May, with a full report expected later in 2015.

The post Advertising Associations Build Cross-Industry Task Force to Tackle Transparency Issues appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

In the latest update to the team’s U.S. Local Media Forecast 2015, BIA/Kelsey forecasts location-targeted mobile advertising revenues in the U.S. “to grow from $6.7 billion in 2015 to $18.2 billion in 2019.”

That represents a 28.5 percent compound annual growth rate.

According to the forecast, mobile is driving most of the change in digital media, gaining traction with advertisers, and jumping to an 11.5 percent share of the total local media pie by 2019, up from a 4.8 percent share in 2015. This will make mobile the fourth largest local media in 2019, behind direct mail (23.6 percent share), over-the-air television (13.7 percent share) and pure-play online (12.9 percent share).

A provided statement from the company notes that mobile’s impact on the local media marketplace will be a key theme at BIA/Kelsey’s upcoming BIA/Kelsey NOW conference (June 12, San Francisco), which will examine the emerging local on-demand economy.

“Online spending is growing on ads viewed through desktops, but general online ad unit pricing faces headwinds as the attention of audiences and advertisers alike drifts more towards mobile,” says Mark Fratrik, SVP and chief economist at BIA/Kelsey. “Online will gain just a few points of local advertising market share, as mobile nearly triples its share.”

The U.S. Local Media Forecast 2015 spring update is available now in BIA/Kelsey’s online store here.

The post Mobile Will Be Livin’ La Vida Local by Decade’s End appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

Nielsen and Concentric, a leader in agent based simulation technology for marketing, has just reached what’s called a “global strategic alliance” to bring a new system for brand and media planning to Nielsen clients.

From a provided statement:

Through this alliance, clients will benefit from Nielsen’s unique data assets and analytics combined with Concentric’ s modeling method that synthesizes large data sets and allows clients to make strategic decisions about an advertising campaign’s potential.

Additionally, Nielsen is enhancing its planning capabilities to enable “smarter media investments.” The reason? The company hopes to deliver greater returns for its clients.

“Nielsen has unparalleled insight into the consumer, as well as marketing effectiveness,” said Greg Silverman, Concentric’s CEO. “The power of their data and analytics combined with our technology is very exciting for the future evolution of media planning technologies and the capabilities that this will bring for monetization.”

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But with less than a week to go before the rumored February 24th media event, Apple is yet to distribute invites to the press — something Apple always does at least one week in advance of a public product showcase.

So what’s behind the delay? Sources close to Apple cite a myriad of factors.

First, Apple’s purportedly enterprise-targeted iPad — the “iPad Pro” — might not yet be ready for prime time. The same may also be true of the next MacBook that’s been in the works for some time now.

More realistically, however, Apple just isn’t ready for preorders of Apple Watch to commence.

We’re told Apple wants to use its next media event as a launch pad for preorders. And with the device not shipping for another 6 to 8 weeks, it’s likely Apple is going to hold its next event two weeks prior to the first wave of shipments so that preorders can effectively commence the day following Apple’s media presentation.

The post Apple Reportedly Delays February 24th Media Event appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

Quaid Media thinks so. The firm, experienced in app advertising, just launched “Burst TV.” It’s an “all-in-one service that brings together the creative production of TV ads, media planning and buying, and proven tactics from the world of mobile user acquisition to create the first TV advertising package that’s specifically designed to drive up app installs.”

That “burst” in the gambit’s moniker is there for a reason.

“In the same way that app developers have found that the best way to drive installs is to create a focused ‘burst’ of marketing and advertising to drive apps up the charts, Burst TV campaigns are concentrated over 1-3 days, the duration which Quaid Media has found to deliver the best possible boost to app installs,” according to an announcement from the company. “Depending on the specific consumer profile, the ads are shown on channels and at times designed to reach the app’s ideal demographic, and includes channels like ABC Family, MTV, More 4, ITV2, SyFY, SkyTV, and Adult Swim, (among others).”

Quaid is said to be ready to develop all campaigns in-house, whether for a single national campaign to bursts that go global. On the other hand, advertisers can also use their or team up with Quaid Media’s in-house creative and production teams.

“With the cost of mobile advertising rocketing as the developers with the deepest pockets bid against each other for installs, TV offers a really cost-effective medium,” noted Josh Rinsky, VP of Business Development at Quaid Media. “(It has) shown time and again how effective it is at reaching and engaging consumers, and we expect to see many more developers turning to TV to expand their marketing campaigns.”

The company feels so strongly in the potential it has even created “Burst Premium,” which offers prized weekend and holiday advertising slots with large audience reach and higher cost barriers.

The post Has the Time Come for Touting Apps on the Telly? appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

“The average clickthrough rate (CTR) for any polite banner ad served on the Sizmek MDX platform in H1 2014 was just 0.13 percent,” according to eMarketer. “But for luxury ads of the same format, CTRs rose to 0.37 percent — and interaction rates on the same types of ads rose from 1.32 percent for the average advertisers to 2.55 percent for luxury brands.”

Those luxury brands additionally boasted a higher-than-average dwell rate. Dwell rate is a measure of interaction with digital advertisements originally developed by Sizmek (when the company was known as DG MediaMind).

“Polite banners can really draw users in with beautiful creative,” said Michael Froggatt, principal research analyst at Sizmek. “And for web users, they aren’t as intrusive” as other formats can be. Beautiful creative is often the hallmark of luxury advertising, so it’s unsurprising that the format does particularly well with these brands. The addition to rich media of video — also in a polite format –likewise worked well for luxury advertisers on the Sizmek platform.”

As for HTML5 formats, both expandable and polite formats performed better for luxury brands than average in terms of CTRs. The company said expandable banners performed nearly twice as well for luxury brands as for the average advertiser.

The post Creative Polite Banners Corner Best Click Rates for Luxury Ads appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

It is the first in any media industry to measure and communicate cross-platform consumer demand by brand, we’re told.

The first Magazine Media 360 Report finds that magazine media consumer demand increased 10% in the last year. The growth is attributed to a 98% rise in mobile web consumption.

Print/digital editions were up 2.1%.

The complete report is available at www.magazine.org.

Magazine Media 360 is issued monthly and covers 147 magazine brands from 30 companies, representing 95% of the “reader universe.” Data is also posted on its website (www.magazine.org).

To provide a more accurate view of “magazine media wantedness.” data is received from third-party providers: GfK MRI’s Survey of the American Consumer, Ipsos Affluent Survey USA, comScore, Nielsen Online and SocialFlow.

Magazine Media 360 is able to obtain multiple engagement points of content consumption behavior of consumers as they shift to new platforms, something traditional measurement methods fail to account for. This allows for a more complete look of the vitality of magazine media brands and their current and future business potential, and it finds that there is, in fact, a great success of many magazine brands on new platforms.

“Consumer demand is today’s media currency. With Magazine Media 360, we finally have a comprehensive accounting of consumer demand for our brands,” says Mary G. Berner, The Association of Magazine Media president and CEO.

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