5 Content Creation Tips for Social Media

Today we are all aware of the important role that social networks play in every company's Marketing strategy. Social Media Marketing helps with positioning and allows us to increase our web traffic and social presence, generate contacts and business opportunities, and contact and monitor potential clients.

But have you ever wondered if you are really using your social channels correctly? Many companies are betting on the rule that "anything goes" and are not aware that by following this guideline they are not optimizing their potential. Furthermore, it may generate a negative impact, losing engagement instead of gaining it.

The list of best practices in social media is long; however, in this post we are going to focus on the top 5 content creation tips for social media.

1. Pay attention to what you publish

As we mentioned before, there are many companies that publish anything and everything on social media, ignoring that quality is always better than quantity.

Users are becoming more informed and demanding because they are continuously stimulated by Marketing messages. The content that you post on social networks must be authentic, relevant, and creative. It is a basic principle of trust and a way to show commitment to your customers.

Once you are clear about the type of content you are going to share with your prospects and customers, you should pay attention to the trends of each platform. If you notice that a certain tendency is gaining in popularity and it aligns with your content strategy, it's a good option to put it into practice.

Does this mean that you have to embark on each "trending topic" that appears on networks? No. Don't be tempted to create publications that do not align with the messaging and visuals that you have established just to seem "relevant". 

Establish a base strategy through the creation of a content plan, and use tools like HubSpot and Feedly to execute it. The HubSpot Inbound Marketing platform can help with the strategy and execution side of things, while Feedly is a feed reader that helps you gather quality content from trusted providers and will serve as a source of inspiration for your posts. 

2. Stay within the character limit

While content is the foundation of good publications, length and style are also vital. Good content is useless if you do not have the ability tocommunicate it in a way that is relevant and engaging. 

In this area, the length of your social media posts is key. The number of daily publications on any network is such that it is impossible to pay attention to all of them. So, your posts must be short, visual, and relevant to your Buyer Personas in order to get people to pay attention. 

Discover the recommended number of characters for each network:

Twitter:

• Tweet: 140 characters maximum.
• Comment with a retweet: 116 characters maximum.
• Link in a tweet: occupies 24 characters (116 remain free).
• Image/ GIF/video in a tweet: they occupy 25 characters (115 remaining).
• Link + Image/GIF/video in a tweet: they occupy 47 characters (93 remaining).
• Ideal length of a tweet: 100 characters without a link; 120 characters with a link.
• Ideal hashtag length: 11 characters or less, if possible. Use 1 to 2 hashtags per tweet.
• Ideal duration of a video in a tweet: up to 30 seconds

Facebook:

• Maximum length of a status update: 63,206 characters.
• Ideal length of a status update: 40 characters.
• Ideal length of a video: 30 to 45 seconds.

LinkedIn:

• Professional header: 120 characters maximum.
• Summary: 2,000 characters maximum.
• Job title: 100 characters maximum.
• Status update: 600 characters.

Instagram:

• Profile biography: 150 characters maximum.
• Caption: 2,200 characters maximum, but cut in latest user news after 3 lines of text.

3. Play with images & video

Including images and video in your posts is a trend that has not stopped gaining popularity in recent years. In 2018, HubSpot conducted a global survey and concluded that 54% of consumers wanted to see more video content from a brand or company in their posts. To confirm this upward trend, Cisco projects that videos will constitute 82% of all Internet traffic in 2021.

Source: Hubspot Research

Taking into account the aforementioned data, it is evident the need for Video Marketing from your business. Or, try your hand at infographics. Visual, engaging content like this is the perfect complement to quality blog posts and whitepapers that your clients are used to seeing on your website. 

Below, learn the proper image size (pixels) and video duration for greater post reach:

Twitter

• Header photo: 1500 x 500.
• Profile photo: 400 x 400.
• Biography image: 506 x 253.
• Duration of a video in a tweet: up to 30 seconds

Facebook

• Cover photo: 828 x 315.
• Profile photo: ≥180 x 180.
• Shared image: 1200 x 900.
• Preview image on shared link: 1200 x 628.
• Ideal length of a video: 30 to 45 seconds.

LinkedIn

• Banner image: 1850 x 200.
• Profile photo: 400 x 400.
• Cover photo: 1536 x 768.
• Shared image: 350 pixels wide.
• Shared link preview: 180 x 110.
• Logo image: 400 x 400.

Instagram

• Profile photo: 110 x 110.
• Thumbnail image: 161 x 161.
• Shared images: 1080 x 1080.
• Shared Videos: 1080 pixels wide.

And speaking of video, we cannot overlook newer social media trends like Snapchat and TikTok. Although they are not "mature" social networks like the ones mentioned above, they are showing an upward growth pattern. Their rising popularity and focus on video give you the opportunity to make your products or services visible to new segments. 

4. Use hashtags appropriately

Despite the fact that they achieved popularity thanks to Twitter, today hashtags are present on all platforms. Hashtags should be present in your messaging since they allow users to find and follow brands, events, and promotions of interest.

Continue reading to discover the optimal use of hashtags for different social networks:

Twitter:

• Use Hashtags to categorize content.
• Tweets with hashtags generate twice as much engagement as those without them.
• Tweets with 1 or 2 hashtags generate 21% more engagement than those with 3 or more.

Instagram:

• Contrary to Twitter, Instagram posts with 11 or more hashtags have higher engagement.
• It is recommended to use a high number of hashtags in order to create a community.

Facebook:

• Contrary to Twitter or Instagram, there are more Facebook posts without hashtags than with them.
• They are seldom used for the purpose of creating a community.
• Posts with 1 or 2 hashtags generate more interactions than those with 3 or more.

5. Don't forget to interact with users

In addition to publishing relevant and quality content, you must interact with your audience. Be sure to respond to comments, answer questions, study hashtags and mentions referencing your brand, product, or service. You should be adding value to conversations; remember, one of the basic principles of Inbound Marketing is to establish trust with your clients.

We hope that after reading this post, you're a little bit closer to optimizing your social media posts. If you need help creating and implementing content or a social media strategy, do not hesitate to contact us!