The Essential Social Media Content Creation Guide

by Walter Lim | Jul 19, 2024 | Blog, Social Media Marketing | 0 comments

Creating social media content can be quick and easy. After all, you can update your brand’s Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, or LinkedIn accounts in mere minutes, using just your mobile device.

Producing effective social media content, however, is another matter altogether. Often, it takes a considerable amount of time, effort, and skill to create quality content that engages your audience and prompts them to take the right action.

From understanding how social media algorithms work, conducting research to define your target audience, determining the right mix of content, to deciding on the right schedule for posting content — the sheer amount of work needed for social media content creation may seem formidable.

To help you break down the process, we have created a comprehensive Social Media Content Creation Guide that covers the following:

How social media algorithms work
How to fine-tune your social media content mix
How to map out a social media content blueprint
The nuts and bolts of creating great content

Read on to begin the exciting journey of creating content for your brand’s social media pages!

1. How Social Media Algorithms Work

First, let us dive into the world of social media algorithms to see how they work. These are the complex sets of rules and data-driven processes used by social media platforms (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube, and others) to determine which content is shown to users and in what order. The goal of these algorithms are to deliver the right type of content to users—those that are most relevant, interesting and engaging to them at a specific point of time.

There are several factors at play here.

1.1 Engagement and Interactions

These include interactions like reactions, comments, shares, saves, clicks and other forms of interaction on your content. The more highly prized interactions are shares — this is how brands can “go viral” on their social media accounts.

Generally speaking, the more interactions you get on your posts/reels/stories, the higher the chance of it being shown to more users.

1.2 Relevance

There are several factors at play here:

User Interests: Past behaviours, such as the types of posts a user interacts with, influences future content.
Content Type: Different types of media (videos, images, text) are shown based on user preferences.
Location: Users are more likely to see content produced by creators close to their location (usually cities).
Previous Interactions: Users are likely to see content from accounts that they’ve previously interacted with (especially shares or reposts).

1.3 Recency

More recent posts are typically favoured over older ones, particularly in “fast-moving” social media channels like X (formerly Twitter), Instagram and Facebook. On LinkedIn, TikTok and YouTube, posts may have a longer lifespan (particularly YouTube) if they rank well for certain keywords.

1.4 Relationships

There are several factors which are important here:

Interaction Frequency: Content from accounts a user frequently interacts with is shown more often.
Direct Connections: Friends, family, and frequently contacted accounts are prioritised.

1.5 Content Quality

This can be subjective—one man’s meat on TikTok may be another man’s poison. However, there are general rules that apply here.

First, you should focus on creating unique and original content rather than repost or duplicate some other creator’s content. You should also focus on trending topics (e.g. what’s in the news, any recent celebrity updates, sports events) as these have a great chance of being shown to more people.

1.6 Platform-Specific Factors

Finally, you should consider how the different platforms work. Here are some rules of thumb to consider:

1.6.1 Facebook Algorithm

The 2024 Facebook algorithm prioritises content that fosters meaningful interactions and engagement. It ranks posts based on several factors, including the user’s past behaviour, the relevance of the content, and the engagement it garners. To optimise your posts for this algorithm, focus on crafting content that promotes interactions, such as asking questions, using polls, and encouraging comments. Facebook Groups are particularly effective for driving community-driven conversations. Short, snappy videos and authentic content are key, as they tend to engage users more deeply.

1.6.2 Instagram Algorithm

Instagram’s algorithm in 2024 still looks at the aesthetics of your feed, consistency of theme, and the use of Stories and Reels. Posting around six Stories per day and one Reel daily can significantly boost visibility. Consider using Carousels (multiple images as “cards”) to see if they work well here.

The algorithm prioritises content that is visually appealing and resonates with users’ interests. To succeed, maintain a cohesive visual style and use trending music, relevant hashtags, and engaging captions to draw attention and foster interaction.

1.6.3 TikTok Algorithm

TikTok’s algorithm rewards content that uses trending music, hashtags, and memes. Videos that promote shares, are watched to completion, and encourage repeat views (loops) are prioritised. Incorporating text boxes and speaking quickly with humour and wit can enhance engagement.

The platform’s focus is on keeping users entertained, so creating content that aligns with current trends and encourages viewers to interact is crucial.

1.6.4 YouTube Algorithm

YouTube’s algorithm favours content that maximises watch time and viewer retention. High-quality thumbnails and broadcast-level production values can attract more viewers. Episodic content and maintaining a steady flow of new subscribers are also beneficial. The algorithm rewards videos that keep viewers on the platform for longer periods, so creating engaging, informative, and entertaining content is essential.

1.6.5 LinkedIn Algorithm

LinkedIn’s algorithm prioritises industry-relevant content, long-form text posts, and visual formats like infographics and carousels. Educational videos and content driven by industry news are particularly effective. To optimise for LinkedIn, focus on creating posts that provide value, encourage professional discussions, and showcase expertise in your field. It is also important for you to reach out and engage with others.

2. Content Mix: Use the 30-40-20-10 Rule

Whether you’re marketing a product or a service, it’s ideal to have these four types of content in your social media content mix:

2.1. Edutainment (30% of Your Content)

As its name suggests, edutainment is content that educates as well as entertains. Such content is targeted at strangers to your brand—your goal is to get them to pay attention and notice you when they’re scrolling through their feeds.Why should you focus on edutainment? Well, regardless of whether you’re managing a B2B or B2C brand, you need to bear in mind that the bulk of social media users enjoy and consume entertaining content.

According to Deloitte’s recent study, about half (47%) of Gen Zs and a third of millennials surveyed say their favourite form of video content are social media videos and live streams. Many younger users have also reported that social media helped them to discover new products, games, TV shows, or places of interest to visit.

To fulfil these needs, you should aim to post current or interesting content that also offers some useful takeaways for your audiences. In this way, they will feel that engaging with your content is time well spent and will look forward to more updates from your brand.

Examples of edutainment content may include:

Problem-Solution: Focus on short, snappy videos or images that present a customer problem and a quick way to resolve them.
Memes: Humorous images or videos with educational elements that convey information in a light-hearted way. These are usually triggered by popular culture or the news (eg the US Presidential Election or a popular Netflix show for instance).
Video Stories: Narratives that combine educational content with engaging storytelling to make learning enjoyable.
Quizzes and Polls: Interactive content that tests knowledge or gathers opinions, making learning fun and engaging.
Infographics: Visual representations of information or data designed to make complex information easily understandable.
Quotes: Inspirational or thought-provoking statements from notable figures, often used to illustrate key educational points.
Contests: Competitions that encourage participants to apply their knowledge or skills, often with educational themes.

To determine which of the above content will appeal to your followers, check your followers’ demographics, interests, and social media consumption behaviours. Younger social media users may prefer videos while older users may prioritise news articles. (Read about content trends across generational lines here.)

Do also keep up with what’s new or trending on social media while ensuring that the topics you’re covering are relevant for your audience and aligned with your brand identity. If not, you could attract the wrong audiences to your social media channels.

2.2. Brand Storytelling and Education (40% of Your Content)

Of course, you should mention your brand on your social media channels. However, the challenge is to find ways to talk about your brand and generate interest—without too much hard selling (see below).

You should also consider educating your audience and providing a regular social media show that they can “tune in” each week. Doing so helps to build brand trust and affinity.

To do so, consider these content ideas:

In-depth educational posts showing them how to solve their product-related problem. For instance, if you’re selling a vacuum cleaner, you want to demonstrate how it can be used.
Day-in-the-life posts or stories featuring your company’s staff
Product research ideas
A behind-the-scenes look at your production process
Profiling of your colleagues, suppliers, or customers
Brand stories featuring your company’s founders, your brand’s heritage, or other trivia about your company or brand

2.3. Hard Selling (20% of Your Content)

If you have been mostly using hard selling (“buy now”) tactics on your social media channels, this will be your biggest adjustment.

Hard selling content includes anything from promotions and discounts, special deals, new product or service launches, to unboxing videos. You can also extol the virtues of your product and state how it compares against your competitor’s offerings.

The best way to present such content is to use what we call “pre-sale” content—demonstrations of how your product or service works in specific contexts, scenarios where it can be deployed, and showcasing capabilities. This can be used for both B2C and B2B contexts.

For example, in a B2B context, you could promote a new software solution by saying, “Our latest project management software, ProManage, offers unparalleled integration with your existing tools, boosting productivity by 30%. See how it outperforms other solutions in the market.” You can complement this with presale content such as, “Watch our demonstration of ProManage in action, showcasing its seamless integration with CRM systems and its ability to streamline project workflows in a corporate environment.”

In a B2C context, a promotion might look like, “Get ready for summer with our exclusive 20% discount on all swimwear! Dive into our collection today and enjoy unbeatable prices on the latest styles.” To enhance this, pre-sale content can include, “Check out our latest beach fashion show where we try-on the new summer swimwear collection, highlighting the unique features and versatility of each piece for different beach activities.”

2.4. Customer Loyalty (10% of Your Content)

Last, but most certainly not least, you need to try to build up confidence in your brand with customer success stories and use cases. These include the following:

Testimonials: Share authentic quotes from satisfied customers to build trust and credibility.
Case Studies: Detailed accounts of how your product or service has solved specific problems for clients.
User-Generated Content: Encourage customers to share their own experiences with your brand on social media.
Before-and-After Comparisons: Visual evidence of the positive impact your product or service has made.
Customer Interviews: In-depth discussions with customers about their experiences and benefits gained from your offerings.
Reviews: Highlight positive reviews from third-party platforms to reinforce credibility.
Success Stories: Narratives that detail the journey and achievements of your customers using your product.
Loyalty Programmes: Announcements and updates about loyalty programmes to reward and retain customers.
Milestone Celebrations: Share significant achievements of your customers that were facilitated by your product or service.

3. How to Plan Your Content? Map Out a Social Media Content Creation Blueprint

To approach your social media content planning in a step-by-step manner, here’s what you need to do:

3.1. Define Your Audience

Effective content is relevant for your audiences, which is why you should know exactly who you are creating content for. To develop a more concrete idea of the personality types that you will be addressing, you can create a customer persona for your primary and secondary audiences, using a template such as this one:

First, invent a fictitious name for the person who represents your audience such as “Marketer Maggie.” In the description, you should include important geographic, demographic, and psychographic information about your audience, as well as other details such as their purchase patterns (seasonality of purchases, budget, frequency), pain points, and online behaviours.

If you want to learn more about creating a customer persona, check out our guide here: What are Buyer Personas and How to Create Them

3.2. Choose the Most Suitable Social Media Channels

Before you choose the social media platforms that you want to focus on, be it Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, YouTube, or TikTok, you will need to be sure that your target audience is actually using these platforms.

3.2.1 Facebook

Ideal for a more mature audience, typically 30-65 years old, both B2B and B2C. Suitable for detailed posts, community building through groups, and customer service interactions. Dominantly Gen-X and Boomers.

3.2.2 Instagram

Best for a younger, visually-driven audience, ages 18-35, predominantly B2C. Focus on aesthetic images, Stories, and Reels to engage users. Dominated by Millennials (Gen-Ys) and some Gen-Zs.

3.2.3 LinkedIn

The platform for professionals, used mainly for B2B marketing. Ideal for long-form content, professional success stories, and industry-related posts. Target audience is 25-55 years old.

3.2.4 YouTube

Perfect for video-centric content, suitable for all age groups, B2B and B2C. Great for detailed product demonstrations, how-to videos, and customer testimonials. Covers virtually all demographic and psychographic groups.

3.2.5 TikTok

Best for a younger audience, ages 16-30, primarily B2C, although we do see more older users migrating to the platform. Focus on short, engaging videos that are both instructional and entertaining—tap on trends, challenges, storytelling, and user-generated content.

Next, consider whether your content is suitable for the platforms that you want to use. For instance, if your best content is text-based, visual platforms such as Instagram will be less effective for showcasing your content in its current form. Instead, consider using LinkedIn or Facebook for text-heavy content and leveraging visual and video content for platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.

3.3. Audit Your Current Social Media Content

There are two reasons to audit your content: to see if your existing content is being maximised and to identify your stronger content pieces.

To cut down on content creation work, make a list of your existing content and find ways to repurpose the better-performing or better-quality posts. For instance, could you summarise the contents of a text post into an infographic or short video? Could the content of a webinar be shared as a short text or visual post?

Auditing your social media content also involves seeing which of your content topics and types are doing better (or worse) than others. This will help you to focus on content that is more likely to be well received by your audiences and to avoid the poorer-performing content topics or formats.

3.4. Define Your Content Themes & Topics

Together with your social media content team, brainstorm the topics and themes that might be of interest to your primary and secondary audiences. Next, determine the content formats to focus on, such as FAQs, how-to posts, a weekly or monthly series, and behind-the-scenes stories.

For a clearer picture of your customers’ concerns, you can use social listening tools, such as Answer The Public, to discover search queries that might be relevant for your brand.

Source: Answer The Public

For instance, if you are selling athletic shorts, it would be useful for you to see some related questions that people have asked. If you are using Answer The Public’s search tool, note that it also lets you specify your country of interest.

If you’re more interested in the types of ads that have generated engagement for your topic of interest, you could do some quick research with a tool like TikTok Creative Center. From the Top Ads page, you can determine which ads do well, along with the types of scripts used to generate those videos.

3.5. Adopt the Right Content Pillars

What is the story that you want to tell about your brand? This requires you to be very clear on your brand’s mission and values. You should also list the sources of inspiration for your brand.

Once you’ve defined your brand’s mission, values, and inspirations, you can use the 30-40-20-10 content framework that we’ve detailed earlier to fine-tune your content mix.

In addition, you may also find the “Hero, Hub, Help” content pyramid by Google useful:

At the top of the pyramid is Hero content, which usually involves a major campaign (often paid) on social media platforms. Examples include a new product launch or a festive promotion. It takes a lot of work to produce hero content which is why you can’t do it all the time!
In the middle of the pyramid is Hub content for engaging your audience on a regular basis. Compared to hero content, hub content is much more low-key, and may include day-to-day happenings in your company, the latest news from your organisation, or featured products and services.
At the base of the pyramid is Help content, which aims to answer consumers’ questions and concerns, based on their keyword searches. For instance, a video on “How to Tile a Bathroom Floor” will not go wildly viral (as your hero content might) but it could end up being your most popular video over time, helping to draw in new customers month after month.

3.6. Set Publication Frequencies & Goals

To decide how often to post on social media, think about what you want to achieve. Bigger awareness, consideration, and conversion goals would require that you post more frequently — over an extended period — to remain in your customers’ minds.

Once you have decided on a social media posting frequency across your social media channels, bear in mind that your followers (especially loyal followers) would expect you to keep up with your posting schedule. Proceed with your plan only if it is sustainable for your social media content team because there’s nothing worse than starting off with a big bang and quickly running out of steam.

3.7. Build Your New Social Media Calendar

A detailed social media content calendar will help you to set the pace for each week, month, and year. By looking at your calendar, you will also be able to see how all of your content works together to achieve your social media content goals.

To build your social media calendar, consider using the following online tools:

Google Sheets: A versatile tool for creating and managing content calendars. You can customise sheets to track post dates, platforms, content types, and engagement metrics.
Trello: Use Trello boards and cards to visually organize and schedule your social media content. Create lists for each platform or week and add cards for individual posts.
Canva: While primarily a design tool, Canva also offers a content planner feature to schedule and preview your posts across various social media platforms.
Hootsuite: A comprehensive tool that allows you to schedule posts, track performance, and manage multiple social media accounts in one place. The free plan offers basic scheduling and management features.
Buffer: Similar to Hootsuite, Buffer allows you to plan and schedule social media posts across various platforms. The free plan includes basic scheduling and analytics.
Later: Focused on visual content, Later is ideal for planning and scheduling Instagram posts. The free plan allows for basic scheduling and media management.
Asana: Use Asana’s project management features to create a content calendar, assign tasks, and set deadlines. Integrate with other tools to streamline your workflow.

For Facebook and Instagram users, consider using the content planner tool incorporated into the Meta Business Suite. This tool helps you to find the best times to post within the Facebook environment, without the need to purchase any third-party tools!

4. Social Media Content Creation Tips

Not a writer, videographer or designer? Many brand owners aren’t either and yet, they are able to create authentic and relatable content for their brands. Here’s how you can do the same:

4.1. Be Relevant & Informative

To attract the right fans or followers on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and LinkedIn, you need to consider your target audience’s specific needs, wants, and desires. Perhaps they’re looking for a solution to their challenges or wish to learn more about a topic of interest. If your content provides value to your audience, you’re more likely to build brand trust and affection — this helps you to grow your fanbase over time.

Note that you don’t have to stick strictly to content within your industry. For instance, if you spot meaningful content unrelated to your business but you know that it will appeal to a large segment of your audience, feel free to share this too.

4.2. Be Clear & Provide a Call to Action (CTA)

What do you hope for your audience to gain from your content?

If you merely want your followers to learn something, provide “TL;DR” (too long; didn’t read) bullet point summaries for your audience at the beginning of your posts to ensure that they can at least walk away with the gist of your message or choose to bookmark it for later reading.

However, if you hope that followers will complete an action such as visiting your website or signing up for a mailing list, make sure that they are fully aware of this. Don’t try to be glib but use simple and straightforward language to get your message across.

4.3. Avoid Jargon

You may assume that industry jargon makes you appear more credible but it can have the opposite effect on your followers by making your business seem unapproachable!

Our advice is to stay away from jargon and stick with conversational language wherever possible. If you absolutely need to use certain industry terms, be sure to explain them — for the benefit of those who may not know (or may have forgotten) what these terms mean.

4.4. Tell, Don’t Sell

The reason hard-selling salespeople have a bad reputation in real life is because we know they’re only interested in their bottom line and not in the customer’s welfare. Similarly, social media users have developed a wariness for sales tactics online.

This is why you should use the tried-and-tested method of telling a good story to gently draw in customers, before showing them how your product or service can solve their problems.

4.5. Build Trust

You will have to give customers a reason to trust your brand and you can do this by treating your customers with respect and empathy in your social media interactions with them, especially when their feedback is negative.

You can also affirm your followers by acknowledging and thanking them regularly, and delivering content that is useful and meaningful to your target groups.

4.6. Focus on Your Visuals

Visuals are crucial to capturing and retaining audience attention in today’s social media environment.

Video production, particularly User-Generated Content (UGC) style, resonates well with viewers because it feels authentic and relatable. Platforms like TikTok and Instagram have popularised this format, making it a staple in effective social media strategies.

Additionally, using carousels and infographics can enhance engagement by presenting information in an easily digestible and visually appealing way. Carousels allow for storytelling and deeper dives into content, while infographics simplify complex data into eye-catching visuals.

Embracing these “visual-first” formats helps brands convey their message more effectively and connect with their audience on a more personal level, leading to increased interaction and loyalty. You can also leverage on free tools like Canva for creating infographics and using Instagram’s carousel feature can significantly enhance your social media presence.

4.6. Repurpose Your Content

Learning to repurpose your existing content will help you to save time, money, and effort! No one sees all of your content — much less remembers it vividly — so you will be doing your followers a favour by resurfacing your old posts in a different format.

5. Final Thoughts

To up your social media content creation game, you will have to start thinking like a customer! This means that you should place yourself in your followers’ shoes and put their social media needs above your own.

Once you have compiled a list of your customer’s common needs, the rest is up to you or your social media team to create quality content that speaks to the hearts and minds of your followers.

However, if you feel like you need to learn more, we host a wide range of digital marketing courses, including WSQ Social Media Marketing, here in Singapore.

Find out more about our Certified Digital Marketing Strategist (CDMS) V2 Programme which covers the following seven modules:

Upon completion of these seven modules, a Certificate of Completion and WSQ Statement of Attainment (SOA) will be awarded for each successfully completed course. All of these courses are WSQ accredited and available for up to 70% subsidy.

Written By: Walter Lim

Walter is the Founder and Chief Content Strategist of Cooler Insights, with over 25 years of leadership experience in content & social media marketing, PR, strategy, and industry development. He is also the lead trainer for the Social Media courses here at Equinet Academy.