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What is social media content anyway?
What makes social media content so special?
What are the social media platforms?
How To: Develop a Social Media Content Strategy
Content that suits you – Develop ideas and get inspired
How can you measure the success of your social media marketing?
To sum it up!
In short, social media content is all the content that a company or individual shares on one of the numerous social networks. The content can be a wide variety of content types – whether photo, text or video, almost anything can be shared. In the meantime, social media has even developed into a real information source. The purpose of social media is therefore changing: Facebook and the like used to be used mainly for communication and to tell friends and acquaintances what was happening in their own lives. Today, news and news from all over the world are obtained via social media instead of newspapers or televisions. Social media content is thus a substitute source that informs. This is precisely what companies are interested in, which is why social networks should definitely be part of the marketing strategy. Content for content’s sake won’t get you anywhere, though. As with any content type, it’s important that you don’t publish content indiscriminately. It needs to be tailored to the target group and provide value to your followers.
The exciting thing about social media is the interactions that your profile thrives on. Through likes and comments, users can specifically tell you how good they think your content is. So you get immediate feedback from your followers. In addition, the content can be shared very easily. This increases the reach and in the best case leads to a real viral trend. Sharing can be compared to word of mouth. A user thereby recommends content to all the people he is networked with, as the content he shares is played out in their feed. They can then in turn liked or shared and spread it further in their own network. With social media content, you thus open up the possibility for you and your company to interact “face-to-face”, even if only virtually, with your followers. Social platforms are thus a communication channel that should not be underestimated.
There are a variety of social media services. However, depending on the platform, they pursue different goals or address different target groups. The social media prism gives you an insight into the broad mass of possible channels. You will also see a rough breakdown of all services. You will find platforms that you might not have classified as social media at first – Evernote or FAZ.net, for example. Then again, there are the classics that everyone is probably familiar with like Facebook, Instagram, X (Twitter) or LinkedIn.
As you can see, there is an opportunity for pretty much every area of your life to become part of a social media platform. Be it sports, food, travel, music or work and profession – There are no limits for you. But of course, not all services are perfect for your business. Below, we’ll introduce you to some of the most popular and best-performing social media channels that have now established themselves in marketing strategies.
Everyone is probably familiar with Facebook. Facebook is one of the best-known social media platforms, active since 2004. The platform, which belongs to Meta Platforms Inc (formerly Facebook Inc), brings together a diverse user base of over 2 billion people worldwide. Originally dominated by younger users, Facebook now attracts users of all ages, including an increasing number of members over 60. In addition to Facebook, Meta Platforms Inc. also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, making it one of the largest players in the global social media landscape.
Meta also acquired Oculus VR, a manufacturer of virtual reality hardware, in 2014. This acquisition allowed Facebook to enter the emerging virtual reality market. Since then, Facebook has further developed Oculus VR and launched products such as the Meta Quest. These VR platforms allow users to immerse themselves in immersive virtual worlds, play games, create VR content and share social experiences in virtual reality. The integration of Oculus VR into the Facebook ecosystem also opens up new opportunities for social interactions and shared activities in the virtual world, which is an exciting development in technology and social media.
Alongside this, Meta also acquired the Giphy service in 2020, again expanding its spectrum. Giphy is an online database where GIFs and animated stickers can be found. This has expanded the creative expression on the Meta platforms and enlivened the interaction between users. Giphy has become an integral part of Meta apps, helping to enhance visual communication and entertainment value, making Meta social networks even more engaging.
Facebook offers a wide range of features that go far beyond private contact. For companies in particular, Facebook has become an important tool for marketing and customer loyalty. Besides the possibility to create company pages and get in touch with a global target group, companies can place targeted advertisements (Meta Ads) to present their products and services to a precisely defined audience. Facebook also enables the sale of products via Facebook Marketplace and the integration of e-commerce platforms. In addition, the platform offers features such as Facebook Live, which allows businesses to hold live events, product launches and training sessions to interact with their target audience in real time. Facebook is therefore not only a social network, but also a versatile tool for marketing, advertising and building brand loyalty for businesses.
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Instagram was founded in 2010 and is a mixture of microblog and audiovisual platform. In 2012, the social media service was taken over by Facebook (Meta Platforms). The network now has 2 billion users worldwide. In Germany, there are 27 million – a gigantic reach. The basic idea of Instagram is the distribution of visual content, i.e. pictures and videos that are uploaded to the users’ news feed. The news feed shows you the activities and postings of all the pages you follow on Instagram. By liking a page, you also activate its status updates.
The platform has a wide range of functions, including the use of hashtags, location tags, the integration of shopping functions and the possibility to stream live videos. Since 2016, there has also been the “Stories” function. Here, pictures and videos are often combined with text and displayed in a slideshow. Story posts are not displayed in the normal Instagram feed and, unlike normal posts, disappear automatically after 24 hours.
Since 2016, it has also been possible to use the social network commercially. You can convert your own profile into a business profile (the so-called “business account”). The advantage of this type of account is that you can gain deeper insights into the behaviour of your followers. Instagram offers you special statistics for this and you can also advertise with your profile to reach users who do not yet follow you. Other functions such as the visual shop window have been available since 2018. Here you can mark products on your pictures and direct your users directly to your online shop.
The main audience for Instagram is female and between the ages of 25 and 34. Instagram is often used as a business card of sorts to provide interested users with more information about the company and behind-the-scenes insights.
Twitter is a microblogging service that has now been around since 2006. Worldwide, the platform quickly became very popular because you can get to the point information. So it’s more about efficient information transfer than about beautiful pictures and videos.
Visionary Elon Musk has decided to rename the established short message service Twitter to “X”. The most striking change is undoubtedly the famous logo, which now presents a stylish white X on a black background instead of the iconic blue Twitter bird. Musk had already presented his ambitious rebuilding plan for Twitter as a multifunctional app in the pre-announcement. Anyone who now enters the web address www.x.com automatically lands on the Twitter platform.
Since the renaming, the formerly so-called tweets have become posts and serve to enable people and companies to share their news with their followers. Hashtags, links, images, locations and references to other profiles can be inserted within a tweet. However, everything is limited to a maximum length of 280 Unicode characters. The published messages can then in turn be shared.
Twitter has 237 million daily active users worldwide. Similar to the other social networks, the platform offers the possibility of placing X Ads (formerly Twitter Ads). The X community tends to be dominated by men aged around 25-44. The platform is particularly popular in the 25-34 age group.
The video portal YouTube was founded in 2005. The platform is now the second most popular social media service worldwide. The platform records more than 66 billion monthly visits. In Germany, 70.9 million people use YouTube. The video portal has been a subsidiary of Google since 2006 and thus benefits from its expertise. For example, you can create YouTube ads via your Google Ads account, which are then also played out in the Google partner network. The increase in young YouTube users is striking. Most of the community’s users are between 16 and 29 years old. Nevertheless, YouTube is a platform for all ages.
In recent years, the platform has continuously innovated to better serve users’ needs and interests. One innovation is YouTube Shorts, a feature that allows users to create and share short, TikTok-style vertical videos. This format has quickly gained popularity and offers content creators the opportunity to share creative and entertaining clips with a wide audience. YouTube has also introduced other features such as live streaming, interactive elements and improved recommendation algorithms to optimise the user experience and further diversify the platform. These short videos have been viewed more than five trillion times.
Pinterest was founded in 2010 and currently has 367 million active users. This platform is also heavily based on visual content and is a kind of visual search engine for ideas. The uploaded images and videos can be saved to one’s own pinboard by means of a “pin”. You could thus also see the network as a kind of virtual mood board for a wide variety of topics. After all, it’s all about discovering new things and getting inspiration. By linking the images, users can also be directed to external websites with a click.
In Germany, around 7 million people use Pinterest and save around 4 million pieces of content each month. In 2019 and, comparatively late, Pinterest rolled out ads.
Snapchat is a photo, video and text messenger founded in 2011. Unlike WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger, however, users here talk almost exclusively about pictures. Another important difference is that the snaps are only visible for a limited time, usually between 1 and 10 seconds. This promotes the spontaneity and authenticity of the shared content. Snapchat also offers features such as Stories, where users can share images and videos with their followers for 24 hours. The platform is also known for its lenses and filters that beautify pictures or add fun effects. In addition, Snapchat serves as a messaging app that allows users to send text messages, voice messages and video calls. In recent years, Snapchat has expanded its offerings to include news, news content and Discover stories, making the platform a versatile destination for communication and entertainment.
The network now has 397 million daily active users (2023). The service mainly appeals to younger people. More than half of all users are between the ages of 16 and 26. This makes the service very suitable for searching for apprentices, for example.
You can distribute sponsored content and place ads via the platform. Here is an overview of the common ad formats:
The latest hype is called TikTok. The app has only been around since 2016 and is therefore one of the youngest social media platforms. It has been the successor to musical.ly since 2018 and comes from Asia. The platform now has 1.5 billion users (2023) worldwide, and in Germany, TikTok users spend an average of 22.9 hours per month on the app. Like Snapchat, the platform appeals to a young audience. It thrives on short clips that are recorded to a certain song or audio and then pimped with special effects or filters. While the music plays in the background, users record a video that matches the song, which can be a maximum of 60 seconds long. With the help of challenges such as the “Wipe Challenge”, you can go viral.
TikTok Ads are a popular advertising option on the social media platform TikTok, which enjoys great popularity especially among young users. TikTok offers various advertising formats and targeting options to help businesses effectively reach their target groups. Examples include In-Feed Ads, Branded Hashtag Challenges, Branded Effects, TopView Ads, TikTok Shows and Audience Network.
LinkedIn is a leading professional social media platform that specialises in connecting professionals, businesses and organisations. Founded in 2003, the professional network has been part of Microsoft since 2016 and, with over 800 million users worldwide, serves as an important resource for professional contacts, recruiting, knowledge sharing and corporate marketing. The platform allows users to create detailed profiles with their professional experience, qualifications and skills, making it an effective tool for job hunting and career development. LinkedIn also offers multiple opportunities for content creation and sharing, including articles, videos and posts to share knowledge and position oneself as an expert in a particular field. Companies use LinkedIn to present themselves, recruit employees, attract customers and share industry-relevant information. The platform promotes professional networking and knowledge sharing, making it an indispensable tool for professionals and companies in today’s business world. Nearly 60% of LinkedIn users are split between the 25 to 34 age groups. Users aged 55 and older make up only 2.9 % of total users.
Of particular interest is the survey function, which allows you to ask your community about various topics. They are an effective way to get in touch with your professional network, gain insights and encourage interactions.
XING is a well-known professional network that is particularly popular in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. It is used to make and maintain professional contacts and expand career opportunities. The platform allows users to present their professional history and qualifications in an online-based profile, similar to LinkedIn. XING focuses on networking and job placement. XING users range from career starters to established professionals to entrepreneurs and are looking for professional opportunities, expert advice and partnerships in their respective fields of activity. XING has become an important tool for professional development and networking in the German-speaking business world.
Xing currently has around 13.4 million users worldwide. The platform mainly registers users between the ages of 30 and 69. More than half of them have a high school diploma or a university degree. Another third holds a management position. Unlike its direct competitor, however, the service specialises in German-speaking countries and is therefore hardly international. The functioning of this platform is similar to that of LinkedIn, although more and more functions such as events and groups have been switched off in the past.
WhatsApp is a widely used instant messaging platform that allows users to send and receive text messages, pictures, videos and voice messages over the internet. The app belongs to the Meta Platforms and is available for smartphones and other mobile devices and also offers a web version for desktop computers. In addition to basic messaging functions, WhatsApp also offers group chats, voice and video calls, and the ability to share status updates with contacts.
At first glance, you probably don’t classify the messenger service WhatsApp as a social network. Nevertheless, it is officially counted among them. Although the focus is clearly on private communication, WhatsApp is also becoming increasingly popular with companies. They often use the chat service for customer service. For this purpose, there is a separate version called “WhatsApp Business”, which is specially designed for the needs of companies. Over time, the ad options have evolved. WhatsApp Ads, also known as “Click-to-WhatsApp Ads“, are ads on the Meta Platforms that establish a direct connection to WhatsApp. With a simple click of the button in the ad, leads can immediately start a WhatsApp conversation with your business.
If you want to address your customers as a B2C company, you can access any social media platform. They are all very suitable for this, as they are all geared towards private individuals. However, the individual platforms differ depending on the target group, which is why you should carefully consider which of the social media channels you rely on.
For companies with a B2B focus, on the other hand, not all of them are suitable by a long shot. The best networks with which you can address your target group here are:
But these platforms aren’t the only ones that can be valuable to your business. You should always consider what is the best way to reach your target audience. Depending on your industry and target audience, specific platforms come into question. If you are active in the gaming sector, for example, you should also urgently look at Twitch. If you want to target active, athletic people as a sports brand, Runtastic is another service you should consider. So take the chance of this huge selection and also use a platform that is specifically tailored to your users. At best, expand your marketing measures to include more than just the classic social media services.
To engage your followers with the right content, you should come up with a strategy. A strategy means not only that you should think about how to create content, but also what content to create. In addition, it is important that you manage to make your content stand out among those of the competition and thus remain in the user’s memory.
There are some basics you should think about in advance:
To answer these questions in the best possible way, an editorial plan or a detailed content calendar will help you. In this you can plan exactly what will be published when, where and how. You can also use it to facilitate coordination in larger teams and additionally track responsibilities. Important points that an editorial plan should contain are:
You can download the editorial plan template as a PDF or Excel file
In addition, you can, for example, specify a hashtag set with which you want to work. These hashtags will then become characteristic of your posts, showing followers which campaign the content they are viewing belongs to. In addition, you can achieve a wider reach through hashtags, since on Instagram, for example, users can follow hashtags in addition to a normal profile. If you have thought about all the points of the editorial plan and about your hashtag set, you already have a pretty clear path in mind that you want to follow with your content. You have found topics that you want to play out across your channels. But that’s not quite enough. There are several taboos that you should definitely keep in mind:
This doesn’t mean that you should stop posting spontaneously, because this is what social media thrives on. It’s more about not posting just anything. Even with spontaneous postings, you should have your target audience and your campaigns in mind. Ask yourself the following questions:
Never, really never should you put quantity before quality! This doesn’t just apply to social media, of course, but to all areas where you publish content. Content is King is the universal rule that has been the supreme standard for ages. Your content needs to be relevant in order to appeal to your target audience. Because if one of your followers realizes that he is no longer interested in your postings, you will lose him.
Sure, it’s tempting with the multitude of social media platforms to play as many channels as possible, but that’s not really goal-oriented. Every single channel needs a lot of attention and care. With too many, it’s easy to lose focus. In addition, the individual networks often have different focuses. Therefore, not every social media service necessarily fits your target group. Look at the channels carefully and choose the ones that are most appropriate for you.
As an experienced agency with many years of insights in the field of content creation, we not only specialize in website content, but also social content. In doing so, a target group-oriented approach and accurate content are our hobbyhorse. No matter which platform you want to use, we tailor posts to your needs!
Social Ads are exactly the right keyword here, because they are the perfect symbiosis of content and paid advertising. Normal, organic social posts have been continuously losing reach for years. Instead, users are primarily shown sponsored posts in their feed. This not only brings profit for the social networks, but can also play into your pockets! Social ads help you to address your target group more precisely and efficiently. This increases the performance of your posts and makes your content more visible. You want to know more? We’ll be happy to advise you free of charge and without obligation!
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There are all kinds of content you can use to engage and captivate your followers. Cool ideas include Behind the Scenes posts, which you can use to increase the transparency of your business. You can also work with Call to Actions to encourage your community to interact. Challenges or contests are also very popular and provide user-generated content.
That’s not enough inspiration for you? Here are more ideas that might help you find the right content for your business:
To measure the success of your campaigns, there are several metrics you can look at. Of course, what exactly “success” means to you depends on what your goals are. So you should always choose the KPIs that are necessary to meet your goals. Roughly, the key performance indicators can be divided into four different areas:
Each metrics group has different KPIs that you should look at to analyze the area perfectly.
These metrics give you info about existing and potential audience. You should therefore analyze the following values in more detail:
Engagement metrics show you how your followers are interacting with your content. These are the most relevant:
You can use these metrics to check the effectiveness of your campaigns.
These metrics reflect how active users feel about your business.
Critics here give you the ratings you need to work on. They are dissatisfied with something or have a problem that you need to take a closer look at and fix. Passive or passive-satisfied users are intrinsically happy with the product or service, but are not as solid in their loyalty as promoters. This means that your passive users often skip to competitors. Promoters, on the other hand, are absolutely convinced of your company and your products/services. They are fully behind you and will also recommend these products to acquaintances and friends.
Good content is important. You can reach your target audience particularly well via social media, as the chance of your content being shared and thus reaching many people is high. The prerequisite for this is, of course, that the content captivates followers in such a way that it encourages them to share it. You should therefore monitor the success of your content via the various KPIs in order to constantly optimize it.
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