Module 2 – Creating Engaging Social Media Content
Every brand — no matter how big or small — can benefit from social media content planning. Investing time up front to brainstorm ideas and work them into actionable content saves time and energy in the long run.
In Module 1, we explored how to plan your digital content. This piece will build on those skills by exploring how to create content specifically to encourage engagement on social media.
About This Article, Guide, Tool
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Format: Article, Guide, Tool
Leading Users to Book Through Social Media
Your content should always support your digital marketing goals and content pillars, and often, it should prompt users to take the next step, like learn more or book now. Always include some form of engagement prompt in your posts. It doesn’t have to be a strong call to action; simply asking a question or inviting people to share their experiences can significantly boost interaction. To do so, you’ll want to be sure your content (post captions, IG Stories, pin descriptions, and more) includes a call-to-action (CTA). CTAs include language like:
- Visit our website to …
- Visit the link in our bio to …
- Swipe up to …
- Learn more [link]
- Book now [link]
- Start planning [link]
You should always include a link on your Instagram profile (bio), whether it be to your homepage, a blog or website page, or to a Linktree-style page. The link you provide should always reflect what you’re pushing in your captions. For example, you just posted a blog containing the 7 Most Unique Restaurants on Vancouver Island, and you’ve placed a CTA in your caption to read the blog. You’ll want to make sure the link in your IG bio leads users directly to that blog post.
There’s no formula for how often you should add CTAs to your posts vs how often you’ll want to post more inspirational, storytelling, or even fluffy content— but you’ll always want to work CTAs into your content to increase website referrals. When you’re mapping out your content concepts and pieces, keep a CTA in mind that can lead users along their customer journey). When you make more in-the-moment, spontaneous posts, don’t worry about adding a CTA. Just have fun interacting with your audience!
Coming Up with Content Ideas
How do you channel your creative genius and get some ideas on paper? Start from the top! Brainstorm some loose ideas, then use your content calendar template to bring some order to the chaos.
There are a few ways to facilitate brainstorming. Here are a few suggestions:
- Host an informal brainstorming session: Invite key stakeholders who know the most about your business, like management, staff members, or even frequent guests. Talk about who is engaging with your content, which content has been most successful, and why.
- Explore content from your local Community DMO, and other local businesses.
- Tap into your most frequently asked questions: If users often ask the same things (e.g. Where can I get a great coffee near the hotel? Where’s the best view of the mountains from the resort? Is this a good place to bring kids?) — answer them with content they’ll click-through for!
Use Your website analytics data: If you’re familiar with website analytics (or Google Analytics), look at KPIs like “Top Landing Pages” and “Time on Page” to determine which pages are drawing people in through search (and entertaining them for more than a few seconds). Another excellent resource for valuable analytics are scheduling tools like Hootsuite, Later, and Sprout Social. These tools provide key performance indicators (KPIs) such as “Top Posts,” helping you identify which content resonates most with your audience.
Hashtag Research
Before using hashtags, do some research to discover which topics are trending in your region, community, or experience sector. You can also look at what other businesses with a similar target audience or who have a similar geographic are using as inspiration. Do this by searching common hashtags on Instagram and see if there are similar or related hashtags with high volume search. For example, you could search “#ExploreBC” and find similar hashtags, but if they’re all low volume, you won’t want to incorporate them into your posts. However, when we search “#OutdoorAdventure”, there are plenty of high-volume hashtags to capitalize on.
Before using a new hashtag you’ve discovered, you’ll also want to click onwards to understand who and how others are using the hashtag.
Each social platform is different -On X (formerly Twitter), 1–3 hashtags is best. On Instagram, you can incorporate as many hashtags as you wish (though we recommend adding a block of 10-20 hashtags to your Instagram posts as a “comment” on your own post). On Facebook, you may choose to use 1-2 hashtags in your posts. Hashtags are important for other platforms too! 3-5 is recommended for LinkedIn and 3 for Pinterest. We always recommend including your branded hashtag if you have one (for example, #VisitNelsonBC).
User Generated Content
60% of marketers agree that authenticity is key to creating social content that converts. And there’s no other content type that’s more authentic than content generated from your guests. User-generated content (UGC) is any content— like images, videos, reviews, testimonials, blog posts, etc. – created and shared by unpaid contributors (in our case, travellers) to online platforms. In the US, authenticity ranks as the third highest value consumers identify with.
Explore UGC that others have shared about your business, and reshare it on your feeds to help grow your community and establish brand loyalty. The best ways to find this content are through tagged posts, searching through your personalized hashtag/s and simply searching your business name in the platform search bag itself (both Meta and TikTok’s search engines are much more intelligent and capable of searching for content now).
Be sure to always ask for permission before sharing another user’s content. If you don’t have their consent or permission, then you should not repost UGC. The easiest way to ask for permission is to directly message the user and get explicit permission to repost their content.
Learn more about UGC here.
Putting Your Ideas Into Action
After some great brainstorming, you’ll need to translate your ideas to actionable pieces of content. Organize your ideas a bit, then open up your content calendar template.
Review the special holidays and events you’ve documented in your content calendar— do any of them align with your content ideas? Perhaps you’re a resort with a fantastic restaurant, and you wrote down “feature our dessert menus” when brainstorming. This is a great concept— and you know July 7th is “#WorldChocolateDay”! This is a perfect opportunity to feature a special chocolate-themed dessert menu. Perhaps you post an Instagram Story asking followers to choose whether it should be a milk or dark chocolate dessert using the poll feature. Maybe you also post to your Facebook page, sharing 3-5 photos of beautifully-plated menu dishes, using the hashtag and prompting users to visit your website for dining inspiration. There are plenty of options, and with a little guidance from your content calendar, you’ll be able to turn them into actionable assets.
There are a multitude of social media holidays like this – Review a list like this one or do a Google search for more ideas. Here are a couple links for finding both important and traditional along with fun holidays: Canadian Heritage and Canadian Holidays.
If Nothing Else, Be Consistent
Social media is a fast-paced medium, with trends constantly changing and features ever-evolving. If resources are low for your business during certain periods of time, we recommend planning or scheduling out some very simple posts so your feeds don’t go quiet. Consistency is key on social media — the algorithms favour accounts that post frequently and regularly. Simple is better than nothing, and posting is better than silence (Think simple, straightforward photos with short captions). Reshare popular posts to your Instagram Stories to boost engagement. There are plenty of ways to stay present on social media even during busy seasons. Check out your competitors and brands you strive to emulate on social media for inspiration.
Last updated: August, 2024
