What are the key elements of a successful social media post?

The best way to begin is by defining your goal for the post. Ask yourself, "What do I want people to do after reading this post?". For example, if you're hoping to gain more followers, your goal might be to encourage people to share your post with their followers. Once you know what you want to achieve, you can tailor your content to meet that goal. Whether you're crafting a witty one-liner for Twitter or creating a visually stunning carousel for Instagram, make sure that the content you're posting aligns with your goals. Remember, social media is all about engagement! So, when creating your post, think about what will get your audience engaged and excited.

? Awareness Goal = Increase Followers Result ? Drive Traffic Goal = Increase Link Clicks Result ? Generate Leads Goal = Results in Audience Getting Value ? Boost Sales Goal = Result from Leveraging Social Proof Keeping the GOAL directly connected to the RESULTS supports setting up the tone, message, format, and call to action that goes best with the results we want from ideal clients. ?????? #foxrocks

One thing is for sure... there is no smoking gun formula for a social media post that works vs. one that doesn't. Of course there is a best practice to follow, but this alone doesn't make a post successful and the proof is in all of the posts out there on your feed, following best practice but with ZERO engagement! The real key to a successful post is consistency. Posts that carry a consistent thread, theme, tone, topic or creative hook that you or your brand can become recognised for over time. Think of the brands and influencers you most engage with online and the content that you're most likely to forward to a friend or colleague. I bet they use a consistent style and create great content which helps them towards growth.

It‘s the best to map out what you want but still…processes can change and feelings as well…first it seems very time consuming and hard, after you fall in love doing it and the perspective goes in 2 directions.. 1.) sharing your interests with interesting (eye-catching posts) 2.) generate leads (digital sales)

Know your goal yes, and before you move forward align back to the vision and social strategy you have in place. Then take those goals and for each list out what you’re trying to achieve, and what does success look like. Then back in the KPIs to demonstrate the results. Focus on 1-2-3 KPIs at most. Too many and it overwhelms and there are diminishing returns. Plus be mindful of your current social program and maturity level. Walk before you can run.

Every piece of material you add to your social media adds or takes away from your brand equity...know what engages, interests, educates, and entertains your audience and align your content accordingly.

Before hitting that post icon, ask yourself “If I come across this piece of information online, will I want to stop or scroll away?” You see, this is where your content pillar steps in to guarantee the work of proper research. Based on this: you convince your audience to Like. Trust. And ultimately buy from you. Here's a peasy way to do that: → Targeting - you use this to create content for ideal customers based on their style, language, preferences, etc. → Organization - rather than creating mindlessly, draft out a calendar to address pain points in your niche. → Staying relevant - coming up with content every day can be daunting. However, content pillars will help you gather fresh ideas tailored to keep your audience engaged.

Most platforms today have enough data that you can map out a good sense of your audience and their characteristics. If you use a publishing platform like Sprout, or Khoros etc you can also overlay data to inform what content is engaging most with each audience. Once you have clarity around your audience research the conversations you’re focused on with them to understand the key words and hashtags they are using. And then to a content analysis to see what content formats you are sharing that resonate the most, to the least. Plus look for gaps in the types of content you’re serving up. Your audience is not homogeneous nor should your content me. Have some emotional, some analytical, some showing social proof etc.

Focus on your topics. It wouldn‘t make much sense if you talk about robotics but point out those tiktok motivational videos of animals… Social media doesn‘t know any boarders…only if you write in your mother tong you can barely define your area you want to speak to.

Knowing your audience is so key. However, in the current way of Social media this is not enough you also need to have an understanding of the current environment. Additionally, for platforms like TikTok, you might think that you know your audience but remember your posts might be shown to others as well so make your posts suitable for different audiences as well.

LinkedIn = WE Facebook = I Instagram = YOU FOCUS first on how to phrase business stories vs. the features. We can then better decide on the best ways to use each platforms features, hashtags, and ideal posting schedule / formats to benefit the audiences interaction. ?????? #foxrocks

Understanding the nuances of each social media platform is crucial for crafting effective posts. Research platform demographics, algorithms, and best practices to optimize your content strategy. Tailor your posts to fit the unique features and audience expectations of each platform, whether it's Instagram's visual-centric nature, Twitter's character limit, or LinkedIn's professional focus. By knowing your platform, you can maximize reach, engagement, and impact, leading to greater success in your social media endeavors.

Know your platform AND know your audiences expectations for that platforms. Platforms make changes all the time but audiences don't always adopt new features early, or in some cases, at all. So it's important to understand not just what functionality is available on a platform but the user behavior behind functionalities to optimize your social media team's time and efforts in content creation.

Know what is working for you on each platform which will differ from the person or brand. And understand why it’s working for you. Then map out your plan for any one campaign and figure out how to build so that you minimize your development footprint and maximize your impact.

You don't have to post on every platform. Social media has become so fragmented that it's difficult to be everywhere. Instead, focus on the platforms that matter most to you and your audience.

The Copy Formula for Successful LinkedIn Content: ?? Hook Line - Short "News Like" Headline ?? Intrigue Line - Get Clicks on "...see more" ?? Story / Value Lines - Give us Emotion / Value / Connection ?? Call to Action - Ask a Question, Give Action, or Energy ?? Close - Personal Hashtag and / or Community hashtags We love creative copy with story telling and NOW with AI content being generated I think it's going to be even more important to humanize content. My advice is to find ways with your copy to be creative while also prioritizing clear Calls to Action! ?????? #foxrocks

Captions are not an afterthought on Social Media. They're not an 1 line throwaway after you've spend ages on an image ... neither are they a made up fairy tale narrative. These are the 3 key elements of success on Social media. Image – to stop people on the scroll Caption – to attract a response Hashtags – to extend the reach of your posts As you can see the caption is a huge part on that. When you think about the type of response you want - a comment means more than a like, so why would you risk not getting a reply with a dull as f**k caption. I heard quote on a podcast recently that described copywriting as this "Copywriting is closing in print" Now translate that to social media & the phrase means something in the digital world

Stop ?? using ?? ChatGPT ?? At least to generate your content. It's dry and completely devoid of you/your brands personality. By all means, use it as a tool in every step of ideation and post creation but think very carefully about using it verbatim to create posts.

AUTHENTICITY, AUTHENTICITY, AUTHENTICITY! When writing your copy, be authentically you. Don't feel compelled to follow all the latest trends and methods. How do you think those trends were set? Someone did it first. If it doesn't feel like you, don't do it that way. Write in a way that is authentically you.

Be inclusive with your writing and audience centric. Make it for and about them, not you. Use ‘we’ instead of ‘I’, make them the hero of your stories. Educate your audience, given them relevant information to help them achieve a goal of overcome an obstacle. Take them behind the scenes to learn and build trust with you. When writing, write the hook last. Write your whole post first and then look for the hook. And if mentioning others, ex. business colleagues, make sure their profiles are optimized because clicking through to them is a part of your post experience and you want it as compelling as the rest of your copy.

Great visuals makes content stand out in the newsfeed! But if you can't find / create a visual image to go with your post it is better to do a "text only post" instead of forcing the post visual to be a generic stock image. Stock images are easy and can even "seem relevant" to posts, but long-term stock images can slow down your content being shared / reposted and overall decrease top-of-mind brand referability. I believe in always creating content that is visually more brand recognizable, builds trust for audiences to increase likes, comments, and shares, and creates thought leadership authority. ?????? #foxrocks

Use emoji’s but not too many. They are fun to make a better overview but also can irritate people. Clear massage with clear descriptions is key element to make your headline visible.

Don't forget to consider accessibility in your visuals. Yes, emojis help break up content - but they're also inaccessible. Use them wisely to add to the content without making the experience of those using a screen-reader a nightmare. Same goes for graphics, photos, and video. Ensure you're thinking about how EVERYONE can easily consume your content, not just those who have good vision.

Visuals are our super power to stop the scroll ????♀? ??Brains process pics 600,000 faster than text, in 13 milliseconds ?? Visuals create an instant emotional connection to earn trust ?? 90% of our memories are visual My most successful strategies -for all audiences- begin with visual inspiration. I used to let text decide the visual, but I see stronger results the other way around.

The head of Instagram has revealed that within the algorithm's criteria, including comments, likes, saves, and shares, it is the shares that count the most when pushing content in discovery. So keep that in mind when creating your visuals. Aim to make your content SHARABLE.

Model after your own success! We can learn so much from a MACRO view of our contents past performance from a 90 day to 365 day view point. Then resurface or remodel the best performing pieces as the audience grows because new followers will appreciate great content from even a year or two ago that you give a new polish, update to the story, or post again! ?????? #foxrocks

Testing is SO important in social media. Why? Social media is constantly evolving, so your content should evolve too. There are so many answers when looking at data. Take a look at your content over the past 60 days to see what’s working and what’s not. Change your strategy based on your findings. If you think the content within a post didn’t perform how you wanted, test different copy or change the visual element. It’s ok to repurpose and test!

Never be afraid to fail! Try things, change them, adapt them and go again. But learn! And be interested in that part. Review your content performance regularly because the social media landscape is always evolving so what works today may not work tomorrow

Social media's a learning game. ???♂? Keep an eye on how your posts are doing. Use insights and analytics to track reach and engagement. A/B testing? A great way to see what clicks with your audience. Don't ignore the comments and feedback – they're gold for understanding what your audience loves (or doesn't). Test, tweak, and optimize to keep your social media strategy sharp and effective. #SocialMediaGrowth ??

Continuous testing and optimization are essential for refining and maximizing the effectiveness of your strategies. Experiment with different content formats, posting times, and messaging to gauge audience response. Analyze metrics such as engagement rates, click-through rates, and conversions to identify trends and areas for improvement. Use A/B testing to compare variations and determine the most successful approaches. By iteratively refining your tactics based on data-driven insights, you can continuously enhance your performance and achieve better results.

Strong relationships are at the core of success on LinkedIn. It is important to post valuable content but what really makes a difference is the conversations you carry through the comments. That goes for our own content and especially the posts that our community puts up. Support the people you believe in and you won’t be sorry. People want to do business with those they trust.

You can optimize your hooks, copy, CTAs, and everything, but nothing can beat your story and just being ‘you’. Write in a way that forces your reader to say- This is what I wanted to read. This is what I've been missing in life. Or simply, This was fun. Woooooooooo. PS. Bonus points for adding your picture w/ a Macbook while enjoying your vacations in The Maldives.

??Engagement: I think it‘s really important to answer on the comments have been made. Answer on follower requests and show interest of the individuals. If they figure out you don‘t care, you‘ll not succeed.

You can have a content machine creating the best copy, photos, videos, etc., but NOTHING beats authenticity. When people can FEEL you, everything changes.

Social media content is all about building value, trust and credibility. Value creation comes by understanding what you are good at and what your society needs and creating content. Trust by engaging with community, building a network, and being active. Credibility is all having an up to date active profile, collaborative work on your platform and posting as per the platform requirements.