Running low on social media photos and videos? Don’t worry we have got your back. Social media changes on a daily basis and you have to keep growing with it but, managing your own social media content plan can be tricky. The pressure to keep posting original content demands a constant flow of high-quality graphics. It’s a little overwhelming, we know. The good news is, even if you’re lacking high-quality images or have no images at all, there is still hope for your social media content plan. To help keep you posting on social, we’ve put together five content creation tips to keep your social media platforms booming.
5 Social Media Content Plan Tips
Don’t have great product photos? That shouldn’t hold you back! Here are our top 5 social media content tips that don’t require photography skills!
- Create graphics that your consumers can relate to.
- Create videos for your platforms.
- Use your brand as your creative inspiration.
- Make use of the free high-quality photos you have easy access to online.
- Involve your consumers and use the content they share.
Helpful Tools
Before we get started, let’s take a look at some of the websites and applications that will help you implement these tips:
- Unsplash
- Canva
- Adobe Spark
Tip#1: Use Your Words
The first tip seems easy but, it comes with having a good understanding of your target audience. Think about their sense of humor and their daily lives. What is the kind of content that your audience will relate to? Once you have a good understanding of the tone you’re going for, coming up with phrases for your social media will be easy.
Take our client, Hasta Ice Cream, as an example! Part of our content plan for them includes fun text graphics. These graphics serve several purposes. First, they expand our content library. Second, they give us an alternative type of content to post (you only have SO many angles of ice cream pics, right?). Third, it allows us to communicate the brand personality, and fourth, it encourages shareability!
Our quote/graphic posts for Hasta Ice Cream usually get 2-3 times more shares than other posts!
Tip #2: Create Social Media Video Content
Video content is hot on the trends this year and shows no signs of stopping. The incredible truth? Creating video content isn’t as hard as it seems. Apps like Adobe Spark will have you creating video content in seconds. If you can source one great photo, the options are endless. If you have absolutely no photos at all, take a look at Unsplash. The website has loads of options and will give you the quality that you need. So, how do you create a video when you have no photos? Let’s go through the steps:
- Plan your video.
- Source an image online that matches the ideal outcome.
- Download Adobe Spark on your cell phone and upload the image there.
- You can now use the tools that Adobe spark offers to animate text overlays, add shapes, edit images
- and, finally, export as an animated video.
And, there you have it. Video content for your social media platforms without needing anything to start.
Let’s take a look at a simple video put together on Adobe Spark. You may view it here!
Tip #3: Use Your Branding Assets!
You may not have high-resolution images but you’ve got the best of them all; your brand. Get creative and make use of your logo and brand name. There are thousands of ways that you can use your brand name to create graphics for your social media strategy. You can create gifs, videos or overlay your logo on images. The result will be amazing graphics that show off your brand in the best way possible.
Take a look at this video for The Manly Man Company who cater to the manliest men in town with their flagship product; beef jerky bouquets.
Tip #4: Use What The Good Internet Gave You
With nothing but a wifi connection, you have access to endless high-resolution images. Websites such as Unsplash have libraries of photographs taken by photographers around the world. If you credit the photographer, a simple search will give you access to all the high-resolution images you could think of. You can also make use of editing apps such as Canva to design graphics. The application allows you to design to social media specification with incredible templates and easy editing.
Take a look at this post created for Dazbog coffee. The image was taken from Unsplash and the design was done on Canva.
Tip #5: Use Consumer-Generated Content
Do your customers take photos of your products or post about your services? If you credit your consumers or ask them to use their content, you can use that on your social media platforms! Whether it’s photos or just reviews, user-generated content is the perfect addition to your social media platforms! You can repost their photos, or even use quotes from their reviews to create graphics! The benefits of using user-generated content is that it brings your audience closer to your by making them feel like a part of your company, it’s already crafted for your target audience by your target audience and it proves that your brand is customer approved.
Not sure how to find user-generated content?
Check your tagged images: Usually, if you have been tagged it’s okay to use the contents of the posts, however, we would recommend asking anyway.
Search hashtags: Use the search bar to search hashtags that your consumers are likely to use when posting about your product and/or service.
Search your location: If consumers haven’t tagged you or used hashtags, they may have checked into your location. Search your location or area to identify posts like this.
Take a look at how Dazbog has seamlessly included user-generated content in the social media content plan. Try guessing which two photos below are user-generated? And YES – one of them was taken on a hanglider in the sky!
See? You CAN come up with lots of things to post, even if you aren’t a professional photographer. Our advice is always to swap “buts” for “hows” don’t let something like not having photos hold you back from growing your business!
After all, you can’t get noticed if you don’t show up.
You can make use of our five tools to create social media graphics and apply them to your social platforms. If you would like a little help from your friends at Dawning Digital, let’s chat about it over coffee.