When it comes to digital marketing, content is everything. Are you struggling to reach your audience? Does your content stand out above your competitors? If you’re looking for ways to improve your content, you’ve come to the right place. In this article we will address different types of content, engaging social media content, and content for your brand.

Content Types

There are many different content types and they each have their own value. Let’s take a look at some of the pros and cons of these types of content, as well as how to produce the content.

Blog Posts/Articles

Blogs and articles show your company’s expertise and knowledge. This content will help you build brand recognition, credibility, and reputation. Because there is a lot of blog content out there, it’s competitive. Therefore, you need to constantly have new and original ideas. Writing takes time, especially if your topic is complicated. You can get blog ideas by looking at trending searches. This will give you insight into the questions people want answers to.

eBooks

eBooks are longer and more detailed than blog posts, which helps you showcase your industry expertise. There are lots of blogs out there so taking the time to write an eBook will help you avoid the heavy blog competition. However, not everyone is interested in reading an eBook. It takes more time to find and produce content that interests your target audience. You’ll want to choose your best content and oftentimes hire a professional writer with experience writing eBooks.

Photos/Videos

Good images or videos will definitely increase your engagement. They should be eye-catching and keep your audience from scrolling by them. Images and videos are more digestible and engaging then blogs and articles. Also, smartphones take great photos and have apps with filters and editing features. Images are some of the easiest content to create. A downside is that image-focused platforms are competitive.

Videos are also easy and convenient to create. They are more engaging than photos. How-to, video tours, product updates, and demonstrations are all great ways to drive website traffic and increase sales. Videos are inexpensive but can become expensive if you want a higher production level.

Infographics

Infographics use visuals to support explanations, statistics, and other written concepts. They are especially impactful for conveying complex ideas. Infographics may require more than one person working on them because they take creativity and research.

Testimonials/Reviews

People trust the opinions and experiences of others. Testimonials and reviews are out of your control and it can be difficult to encourage customers to leave this content. There’s also no guarantee that the reviews will be positive. It’s not the best practice to incentivize people to review your business because it can come across as dishonest on review sites like Yelp.

Announcements

Audiences love getting the inside scoop. Therefore, getting your products, events, live-streams, and other important content is important. You should carefully plan the length of time you begin building up your announcement. If you launch the announcement too early, you might not gain any traction.

Contests

Because people like to win things, hosting a contest on social media can be fun. Your prize needs to be something the audience would be interested in. You should create rules and a timeline for how long the content will run.

Holidays

Many people enjoy holiday themed content. It’s easy for a business to piggyback on themes, traditions, and other holiday specific concepts. Since many small businesses create holiday themed content, it can be very competitive.

Engaging Social Media Content

Engaging social media content contains a variety of content. Some ways to build a good social media post is:

• Build the perfect post by using hashtags, mentions, emojis, great captions, visuals, and  calls to action.
  

• Curate and repurpose existing content.
  

• Know your social media platforms and best practices.
  

• Develop a content calendar to keep your content organized and in one place.
  

What Should You Publish?

Educate- Tips, FAQs, Top 10 lists (use any number), and Did you know? questions.

Entertain- Unusual stories, behind-the-scenes perspectives, and before-and-after posts.

Inspire- People-focused stories, and stories about social responsibility or community involvement.

Promote- Shop now, enter our contest, see the link in our bio, and leave a comment.

Content for Your Brand

What does engaging content look like for your brand? In order to answer this question, here are some tips on how to create engaging content.

Be Unique

People aren’t interested in the same content. By creating original content your business will stand out above your competition. You can create blog posts with the same or similar topics to other posts, but be sure to put your own spin on it.  Unique content will keep people hooked and interested in your business.

Use Strategic Keywords

Keywords are essential when it comes to ranking high on Google. Your content should be optimized and keep people coming back for more. It’s important to know your audience and what people are searching for so that you can effectively use keywords.

Create Interesting Titles

Your titles should also be unique and interesting. Without interesting titles, it’s not very likely people will want to read your content. As a result, people could be missing out on some great information.

Include a Call to Action

A call to action is another important component to engaging content. You want to tell your audience what to do after looking at your content. Some examples include:

• Buy
• Subscribe
• Learn More
• Donate
• Reserve

Have Accurate Information

Your content must be accurate and current. Before posting anything, make sure you fact check with multiple sources. Make sure you have the correct spelling and grammar. Without accurate information, people are less likely to read or pay attention to your content.

Tell a Story

Your content must also be relatable. People are more likely to engage and connect with your business if you tell them who you are, what you do, and what you stand for. It’s important to be creative and interesting, rather than just relaying the facts.

Use Visuals

As previously mentioned, adding visuals to your content is a simple way to keep your audience engaged. Well written text is great, but people are more likely to remember a creative photo or video.

Finally, engaging content is essential for any business. It’s also important to mix up your content to keep your audience interested and coming back for more. As you develop a content calendar, think about the types of content you find engaging, be creative and have fun!

Katie Meyers is an SEO Specialist at SEO Design Chicago. Before joining the SEO Design Chicago team, she interned for them, as well as interned as a Content Writer at HZD Creates. Katie is from Washington State and has an AA and a Social Media Marketing Certificate. She enjoys writing and is a volunteer writer for her church’s newsletter. She sponsors children through World Vision. Katie also organizes an awareness and fundraising event alongside World Vision’s Global 6K Walk for Water. She enjoys Gonzaga men’s and women’s basketball, and spending time with her dog, family, and friends. Katie likes reading and taking a variety of classes. She studies voice and piano. Her favorite places to visit include the Oregon coast and a local lake cabin.