People love variety and social media is no exception. Users tend to jump from social media platforms throughout the day the same way they might a relationship. That’s because the best types of platforms offer users something unique from their competitors. Where Instagram offers a brilliant gallery and curated feed, Pinterest allows members to “pin” images, videos, and other objects to various pinboards.
For that reason, it’s important for brands to stay up-to-date on current social media platforms and trends. By continually introducing new content types into your social media lineup, you’ll keep your audience engaged. The Internet is an ever-evolving global system of interconnected computer networks, a network of networks carrying an extensive range of information resources and services. It is a highly complex system, made up mostly of file sharing—Love letters, business contracts, holiday snaps, spam, petitions, emergency bulletins, wedding announcements, TV shows, news articles, vacation plans, home movies, press releases, celebrity Web pages, secrets of every stripe, military orders, music, newsletters, confessions, congratulations—every shade and aspect of human life encoded as 1s and 0s. Taken together, they weigh roughly the same as the smallest possible sand grain, one measuring just two-thousandths of an inch across.
So, if you’re eager to explore, here is a list of a few cool type of social media content you should be creating:
Custom GIFs
If a picture is worth a thousand words, a GIF is worth ten thousand words. Along with driving traffic and monster engagement, GIF’s can add variety to your feed, if not a lot of fun. Here are a few our favorite GIF-making tools:
- Gipyh’s GIF Maker (turn videos and YouTube links into GIFs)
- me (stitch together a series of images in a GIF)
- Licecap (screenshot GIFs)
- Invision (a wireframing and prototyping tool)
- Cinegraph (a static image with movement in one part of the frame)
Snapchat Stories
Snapchat is a great opportunity to market your brand on an authentic and spontaneous level. Kids these days don’t want to feel like they are being sold something, but rather ingomething, whether it be a product or service, which can be made useful to their identity. It’s not enough to say, “Hey, kids! This will make you really cool and it’s only $5.99.” They want to hear “What’s up, I’m cool, you’re cool, let’s be cool together, forever.”
The “stories” feature allows your brand to connect with consumers in a very intimate, creative way that garners trust over time. Here are a few of our favorite ways to use this fun feature:
- Create title cards for longer Snapchat stories
- Doing Snapchat takeovers with celebrities or partners
- Using shortened URLs for links
- Adding music over your snaps
User-Generated Content (UGC)
Using UGC will help rack up loyalty points with your followers. Some unique benefits are making your customers the heroes of your story and giving your feed some much-needed variety. By regramming posts from your followers you also get to showcase your product or service in interesting ways. You can also ask your followers to submit photos of themselves with or partaking in your brand.
Infographics
If you count early cave paintings, humans have been creating infographics for the past 32,000 years. This is because people respond more to symbols than any other form of communication. Think of a “stop” sign; if you were to take away the text, you’d still recognize that octagonal shape and red color as an indicator to pause. Here are a few neat tools that can help creating an infographic easier:
Shareable Quotes
There’s something a good quote that sticks in your mind, sometimes even inspiring you to achieve something you never thought possible. Not only does it break up any visual feed, it teaches people too. Combining visuals with quotes are even better, but don’t stray too far from your brand’s beliefs. Share quotes that are relatable and boost your brand. Here are a few of our favorite quote sites:
Exploring new types of social media content strategies can be challenging, but a really great way to experiment with user engagement and brand appeal. See what your brand can come up with and don’t forget to have a bit of fun while you’re at it.
