Stop the scroll. This three-word social media strategy is simple and easy to remember and is so important to your social media success on every platform no matter whether you are trying to drive brand awareness or leads, or announce a new service/product.
Today, people are scrolling their social media news feeds at lightning speed. Social media success is all about getting people to stop the scroll – and get them to slow down and engage with your content.
So, how do you get people on social media to stop scrolling and pay attention to what you’re actually trying to share with them?
Here’s how you can create engaging social media content to stop the scroll for yourself or your organization.
- Use the 3-2-1 content model. Every week, aim to publish three pieces of industry-related content, two pieces of “proud” content (content that make your employees and community feel good) and just one piece of product or service-related content
- Headlines matter. You have only seconds to grab your audience’s attention and create an opportunity for meaningful engagement. This makes headlines and the first two lines of your LinkedIn posts (which essentially function as headlines due to their enhanced visibility) an important factor when creating content.
- Use visuals in every post. Creating visuals for your LinkedIn posts can turn your static text into engaging content that helps you gain awareness. A little time and energy can make the difference between a static page and growing your business.
- Leverage carousels. The carousel feature allows you to share multiple visuals or documents in a single post, so you can share more without posting more. I find these posts get great engagement. Share PowerPoints and PDFs, which are visually rich documents to help your followers dive deep on your organization’s offerings. The following file types are allowed: PPT, PPTX, DOC, DOCX & PDF. Note that once the post is uploaded you can’t change or edit the document.
- Hashtags are #absolutely #critical to your content strategy. They help your audience find posts about relevant topics. Even if someone doesn’t “follow” your brand, utilizing relevant hashtags can help them discover your content if they are following that particular topic. It’s a free and easy way to increase your visibility and drive user engagement – if you use the right hashtags (remember not too many or too few followers). As a general rule of thumb, to always do your research to ensure the hashtags you’re using are relevant and appropriate for your brand.
- Use owned media and softer side news. Hashtag holidays and events can provide consistent content throughout the year and enable you to showcase your people and your more “human side.” Whether it’s Thanksgiving or National Donut Day (one of my personal faves) there’s something to post about every day of the calendar year.
- Include custom images and videos in your posts. Video is 5x more likely to drive member engagement than other media types. Keep them short and authentic
- Reuse and repurpose – with visuals (extra points for video). Consider promoting your latest blog post with a teaser video or turn your post into a video listicle. It’s a smart way to rake in engagement and clicks to your blog or web site.
- Research your competitors’ content. This will help you identify tactics that are working for them (and not working) and whitespace that your organization can fill.
Stopping the scroll on social media can be a challenge with a consistent stream of content being published by the second – I hope this article has given you some helpful ideas for getting your audience’s attention and having a stronger impact with your social efforts.