VE Digital

Day: March 14, 2022

  • How To Create Engaging Social Media Content

    How To Create Engaging Social Media Content

     

    How To Create Engaging Social Media Content

    Do you want to upgrade your social media content creation skills and reap the rewards from it but don’t exactly know how to? Does it feel like you don’t have enough time of the day for creating social media content that’s engaging enough and finding it tedious? Are you worried that you’re not doing enough social media for your brand and business? Stop your worries because, in this post, we will be talking about how to create engaging social media content. A plethora of ideas awaits you.

    The Types of Content Categories:

    Offering a variety of content types and sources of social media content is good for your business. It will keep your followers eager for what you have to post next. Basically, there are three types of content categories that you should be implementing in your social media strategy. 

    1. Content that you have created – blog posts, articles, videos, promotional offers, personal ideas, image banners, etc.
    2. Content from others you shared – can be found through natural search and automation
    3. Content created for engagement – replies, likes, mentions, questions, etc

    The most engaging social media content that is created by you should be short and sweet, like images and videos, a variety of formats, and direct links. 

    Content Created by You

    There are so many contents that you can create and share on social media. Here are some ideas to get you started, don’t forget to jot down your favorites!

    Branded Image

    This first type of content is a crowd favorite. You can post anything, from funny or inspirational message to an image with your logo or website URL on it. It’s a great way to get noticed! Just post a branded image like the one below, and it’s going to be great content for your social media.

    Engaging Social Media Content

    Product Photos

    Posting product photos can be great for your social media content. Show off your products and make them eye-catching so it can drive people to buy your products directly.

    Behind-the-scenes Photos

    #candid – that’s what most people put in their description boxes when they post BTS (or behind-the-scenes) photos. Post candid shots of yourself, your office, your employees. It’s a great idea to show your followers how your brand really looks like behind the perfect photos. This content is interesting and fun to see, and it helps humanize your brand.

    Behind-the-scenes Product Shots

    You can also show behind the scenes of your products. This type of content works best on Instagram or Pinterest. Show how your photos were taken. Think of a great angle to show the bigger picture. 

    Ask for input from your followers

    You can ask for input on new products from your fans and followers. Ask your followers what they think about your products. Not only will your followers interact with your brand, but they will also feel valued. Your followers will love giving their thoughts on how you can improve your products.

    Photos that have nothing to do with your products or business

    You don’t always have to talk about your business. Once in a while, post something completely unrelated to your products and your business. Show your human side, your personality. Post a fun photo, or something humorous, because that’s what makes an engaging social media content.

    Link to your most popular blog post

    Do you have a blog? Why not share a link to your most popular blog post? Post a brief intro to that post and tell your followers why it’s your most read and shared post. You can even pin them to the top of your news feed.

    Share pictures from a recent industry event

    Have you recently been to an industry event? This is a perfect opportunity to create original content from photos and quotes taken from the event. Use the event hashtag for maximum exposure.

    Take a trip down memory lane

    It’s fun to take your audience down memory lane with you. Have you heard of #ThrowbackThursday? These types of posts are so much fun to see. Share photos of your old logos, old websites, or even your very first product.

    Use your website analytics to find content ideas

    Take a quick look through your analytics to find out which topics generate the most interest from your audience. From that, you’ll get an idea of what content to create to post on your socials.

    Link to a guest post

    Have you ever written a guest post before? Why not share that? Don’t just do it once, repost it every now and again. This will increase traffic to your post and will keep your host blog happy.

    Share random tips

    As a business or brand, you want to be seen as an industry leader and stay at the top of your game. Why not share random tips for your niche? You can make it into an image or an infographic, and you’ll stand out even more.

    Answer a question from Quora

    Have you heard of Quora? It’s a website where people ask questions and other people answer them. Find a relevant question in your niche on Quora and answer it on your social media. Answering something that people in your industry are looking answers for will validate your authority and will establish you as an industry leader. Search for the most popular question and create a social media post to answer it. Don’t forget to hashtag the keyword for maximum exposure.

    Random posts that show you’re a real person

    Putting a face to a name will humanize your brand. Show people that you are a real person. Post a photo of your dinner or what book you are currently reading. Share your plans for the weekend, or even post stories about your pet. These things will show you most authentically.

    Promote your products or services

    There’s a time and place for self-promotion, but first and foremost, use social media to build relationships, establish trust, and build your reputation as an industry expert. Use the 80-20 rule. 20% promotion and 80% value. Make sure you’re providing as much value as you can and only promoting once in a while so you won’t annoy your followers.

    Content Shared by You

    Social media is not always about creating your own content, most times, it’s about sharing and celebrating other people’s work, too. 

    New and Relevant Industry data and statistics

    This type of content performs greatly in terms of retweets and shares. Data can help you influence your audience to engage with your business and buy your product or service. Remember to look out for reports that provide these data so you can share them with your audience.

    Infographics

    Infographics are visually pleasing graphics to share on social media. Find an infographic that your followers would appreciate. You could check out Pinterest or the daily infographic for ideas and share it with your audience.

    Recommend a tool

    You can also share a tool (preferably a free one) or a resource that you think your followers will find useful. Take a look at your business and notice what tools you’re already using. You can recommend those to your fans and followers.

    Share popular Reddit topic

    Have you ever been to Reddit? It’s a website where everything can be found. Visit Reddit’s trending subreddit page to find popular and trending topics to post and share about.

    Share a trending Twitter topic

    You could also use Twitter’s trending content to find popular and trending content and share it on Facebook, Pinterest, or Linkedin. Just because it’s a trending topic on Twitter, doesn’t mean you can’t share it on other social media platforms.

    Share breaking industry news

    You should definitely stay on top of what’s going on in your industry by using google alerts. If you haven’t done this already, go to this link and start creating alerts that are related to your niche. With this, you could be the first to let your audience know about breaking news in your niche and be seen as an industry leader.

    Promote someone else’s sale

    Again, social media is not always being about you, most of the time, it’s celebrating others. So why not share a link to a coupon or sale from a complementary business? Just make sure they’re not your competition.

    Content that engages

    In this portion, we are going to talk about creating content that will generate engagement with your followers.

    Quotes

    This type of content can create great engagement because quotes are very relatable no matter what people do for a living. It doesn’t necessarily have to be an image, even a plain text quote will do. Just remember to tag the person you’re quoting if you can.

    Fill-in-the-blank posts

    Fill in the blank posts are so much fun. It can potentially generate a huge amount of replies, retweets, and likes. It’s important to make it easy to fill in though, don’t go asking your followers to solve a difficult math problem.

    Run Polls

    You can run polls to create engagement. Both Facebook and Twitter have their in-built poll, but you can also create polls on an external website and link it to your social media post.

    Ask for testimonials or reviews

    Obtaining reviews from followers is one of the best ways to get testimonials you can use as social proof on your website.

    Provide a recommendation

    Share the love by recommending a business you’ve worked with successfully in the past.

    Ask for advice

    Another great way to create engagement is to pose a hypothetical question and ask your followers what they would do in a certain situation.

    Recommend someone else to follow on social media

    Spread the love. Share a link to someone else’s social media profile and encourage your fans to like or follow them.

    “Caption This”

    Post a photo and ask fans to come up with creative captions. I personally partake in these!

    Ask for questions

    #AskMeAnything – This is when you allow your fans and followers to ask you anything for a specific amount of time, say an hour or so. A quick tip: Make sure that you are a known industry leader or expert in your field before attempting to do this, or that you have a lot of followers that really do engage with you because if you’re not in that position, you might not get as much engagement and you might be disappointed.

    Start a conversation with an industry leader

    You can also tag or mention an expert or an industry leader in a post. This is a great way to gain a really good quality following. Build relationships with people that influence your industry, but don’t expect them to reply all the time. Be clever about how you approach them. Never be sleazy or be disrespectful of other people’s time and never demand an answer. Always leave the question open-ended because people don’t like to be pushed into a conversation that they didn’t ask to be a part of. 

    Answer an FAQ

    Do you have a question that you get asked a lot again and again? Instead of answering it only for one person, why not answer it on social media? Or even better, you can link the FAQ page on your website to drive more traffic.

    Time Saving Strategies

    Social media platforms are free and easy to use, but many businesses have trouble finding the time and managing their schedule effectively for social media. It takes a great deal of regular work, so here are some tips for effective time management.

    1. Monitor your Time. Try to keep a detailed record of exactly how you use your time on each platform.
    2. Schedule your social media time. Decide when during the day you are going to spend on your social media. Create time slots according to your audience’s peak times.
    3. Write your posts in bulk. Create posts beforehand to save time and schedule them. You can sit down for an afternoon and create a stock of posts for each social media channel.
    4. Create an ideas file. When you get an idea or something that you like to create, save it to an ideas file. This can be very useful, as sometimes we tend to get inspiration from anything we encounter in our day. This will be great when the “writer’s block” happens. At least you’ll have an ideas file ready so you can just go over it to have something to create.

    Creating engaging social media content is not as hard as you think, but it can be time-consuming and requires regular work. But if you develop a technique and keep the things above in mind, you will have a steady flow of ideas. And I’m sure you’ll be creating engaging social media content easily, like a pro!

  • Improving Your Focus With Puzzles and Mental Exercise Games

    Improving Your Focus With Puzzles and Mental Exercise Games

    Improving Your Focus With Puzzles and Mental Exercise Games

    Focusing and concentrating can take a little bit more effort these days because there are all kinds of distractions present. Whether it’s for school or work, learning new things and remembering old information can be a challenge for people who are under a lot of pressure. Stress is a regular thing nowadays and it’s not good for our brains. Fortunately, playing puzzles and games can help in improving your focus and concentration.

    We don’t always realize it but our mental and brain health should be on our list of priorities. Aside from doing physical activities, our brains need exercise, too.

     

    How can you improve your focus?

    You can improve your focus by changing your habits and adopting a healthier lifestyle. Do practices that can make your mind sharper by doing brain game puzzles and exercises. This practice can help improve your level of concentration gradually. 

     

    Why should we prioritize our brain health?

    Having a strong mind and maintaining its health is just like keeping your body healthy and strong as well. Prioritizing your brain health can do a lot of good things for you as you age. It’s never too early to focus on your brain health. As much as possible, engage in a daily physical exercise routine, try out brain puzzles, and socialize with other people to build your brain’s cognitive response. 

     

    Improving Your Focus With Puzzles and Mental Exercise Games —

     

    Improving Your Focus With Puzzles and Mental Exercise Games

    The human brain is an amazing system because, with the right training and simulation, it has the ability to change, adapt, and react in a lot of ways. It is evolving and is smarter than you think it is. When you have problems with remembering and visualizing, there are things you can do to improve your memory and keep your mind sharp.

    Try out something new

    When you keep doing something that you’re already used to, no matter how intellectually challenging it is, it won’t do any improvements to your brain. That’s why if you desire to boost your brain, learning a new skill is the way. Learning something new isn’t only fun, it’s also a sure way to strengthen your brain connection.

    Try out a new hobby or enroll in a new course. Is there something you’ve always wanted to try out? This is the time to do it. Maybe you’re interested in learning a new language, a new program, or a new business venture?

    Anything that’s mentally stimulating, like puzzles and mind games, will make your brain think up of new patterns therefore will train your brain to keep it sharp. Just keep in mind that these new activities are out of your comfort zone so that you can really stimulate your brain.

    Do some brain-boosting activities like puzzles

    There are many brain puzzles and brain training games out there that you can try out. Whether it’s putting together a thousand-piece image of scenery or solving a crossword or playing boggle, the different parts of your brain will be exercised. There are also brain puzzles available online.

    Jigsaw puzzles are great for engaging short-term memory because it recruits multiple cognitive abilities. With jigsaw puzzles, the brain has to sort through a series of shapes, colors, and visuals when you put the image together.

    Keep your brain fired up with physical exercise

    While doing puzzles and brain training games are great, it doesn’t mean that your body does not need exercise. Doing physical activities is good for both your mind and your body. Exercising enhances your brain because it releases chemicals that can reduce your stress hormones. Go for a quick walk, jog, run, or maybe work out at the gym. Sweating out is an effective way to keep your body and mind in shape.

     

    Useful tips to exercise your brain

    Exercising in the morning

    Before starting your day, doing a few stretches and exercises can make a big difference. Exercising in the morning will clear out the sleep fog in your brain and wake you up, as well as help you burn some calories.

    Aerobic exercise

    This is a good exercise that will help your brain relieve you from feelings of depression and anxiety. Even a simple thing as walking can clear out your mind and help you put your thoughts and emotions in perspective.

    Regular physical activities

    Having a daily routine of physical activities can help you get over mental fatigue. It can also increase the size of your hippocampus which is the part of your brain that’s responsible for learning and remembering.

    Can brain puzzles really improve the way your brain functions?

    There are a ton of brain training app ads that catches your attention, promising to make you smarter and sharper if you use it a few minutes every day, but can these games really deliver those promises? Yes.

    These games and puzzles are made with the goal of improving your brain performance while challenging your mental capacity. Every day, it gives you a new level and it’s a fun way to strengthen your brain health and performance.

     

    Final Thoughts

    Brain exercises are effective in improving your focus and maintaining your cognition. However, it’s not an overnight thing. Improving your focus and keeping your mind sharp is not going to be quick and easy, it will require time and effort. And if you are diligent with your habits and practices, you will surely reap the benefits of your efforts.

    Read Next: 9 Tips on How to Do a Social Media Detox as a Marketer

  • Make the Most of Your Social Media Presence With 5 Tips For Good Way

    Make the Most of Your Social Media Presence With 5 Tips For Good Way

    Make the Most of Your Social Media Presence With 5 Tips!

    So you have set up all your social media accounts for your business and you’re ready to start publishing your content. Before you go through with it, here are some things you should know to make the most of your social media presence.

     

    Social Media Marketing Tips:

    Customize Your Content

    Don’t just use the exact same static message and format all across your social media accounts. Different social media platforms have different feels for audiences. Depending on which social network you are posting them to, customize your content to fit the tone on your different platforms.

    Read: Conversations on Social Media

     

    Make the Most of Your Social Media Presence

     

    Be Consistent With Your Branding

    To have a solid marketing message that correlates with your brand, the images and social media content you create should reflect on your brand and company values.

    Moreover, customize your avatar and header image to be consistent with your branding and marketing guidelines. Your profiles should ideally be similar to your website.

    Read: The Power of A Personal Brand

     

    Optimize Your Bio

    Use your account bio to make the most of your social media presence. Many companies overlook this aspect and just write generic and basic information.

    Your social media bio is what sets an individual’s first impression about you so it’s imperative to make the best out of it. Your bio can attract followers and visitors, promote your business, and make your brand stand out from your competitors.

    Your bio should include your website, your contact information, and your location. Craft a brief but catchy description of your company and make it as interesting as possible.

    Read: Writing Tips for Social Media Profiles

    Build and Expand Your Audience

    Social media marketing is about building your audience and widening your reach. And while there are a lot of effective strategies to achieve this, here is some universal knowledge you should know.

    1. Follow your clients, business partners, and vendors on social media and interact with them. Like and comment on their posts, and soon, many will follow you back.
    2. Do a giveaway or a contest to show appreciation to existing customers and engage potential prospects. Make it exciting!
    3. Promote your accounts via paid ads. You can use Facebook or Instagram ads, even LinkedIn or Twitter!

    Read Next: Common Social Media Mistakes

  • 5 Reasons Why Having High-Quality Photos On Your Website Is Crucial

    5 Reasons Why Having High-Quality Photos On Your Website Is Crucial

    5 Reasons Why Having High-Quality Photos On Your Website Is Crucial

    When you own a website for your business, it’s a no-brainer to maximize its potential. Meaning you have to optimize it for SEO, improve its loading speed, and assure that your visitors will have a pleasant experience when browsing through your website. One integral part of a website that is often neglected is its visuals, and today, we are going to be discussing why having high-quality photos on your website is important.

    Images and videos are a big deal in a business website especially when you are selling tangible products and services. Are you in the fashion industry? Do you sell books? Are you a restaurant that wants to showcase your menu online? Do you offer spa services? In any case, having high-quality photographs on your website is crucial as it sets the tone for when your visitors view your website.

    Here are five (5) Reasons Why High-Quality Photos On Your Website Is Crucial:

     

    Visual Content Marketing

    This term refers to communicating and advertising your products/services using different forms of visuals such as photos, videos, illustrations, graphics, and the like. Having a strong visual presence for your brand is a great marketing strategy today because people nowadays lean mo towards visuals rather than just plain texts.

    Having high-quality photos on your website is crucial because it can effectively communicate who you are as a brand to your potential clients before they even read a word about you.

    The average person is bombarded with information and so having appropriate images will help them process the content better and faster.

     

    Strengthens your Brand

    The photos on your website enforce the impact of your brand on your current and future customers. So it’s only ideal to put out images that represent your business. Crappy photos or having none at all will negatively affect not only your website but also your company overall.

     

    5 Reasons Why Having High-Quality Photos On Your Website Is Crucial

     

    Enhances your SEO

    When a viewer clicks through a website, the first thing that catches their attention is the visual of the screen they are looking at. Having clean, crisp, and professional-looking photographs will make your online presence attractive and welcoming. These visuals on your website will provide your viewers a great user experience and they will more likely click through your links.

    For example, you are a restaurant owner and you’re launching a new website to branch out online and reach a larger audience. Having a well-designed website is one thing, but having high-quality and professional photos of your menu is another. It will not only level up your website, but it will also entice more customers to actually visit and order from your restaurant.

    Visually pleasing photographs can also mean more shares on social media which will drive more traffic to your website.

    When adding images to your website, don’t forget to properly name them and include alt text descriptions and image title tags.

    See one of our case studies: Bánh Mì Lê

     

    Can Convert Leads

    High-quality photos on your website will definitely attract more viewers and this will increase your SEO. With useful images, having an increase in user engagement will also mean longer visit times from your visitors allowing you more time to sell your product or services via both your content and visuals.

    Let your photos tell your story and explain what your company is about. Forming this relationship with your audience will build trust which means that they will more likely choose your services.

     

    Sell Your Product/Service Better

    Using photos is an incredible way to tell a story. Leverage photos and other visual images to elevate your brand’s story and show off your products and services.

    Make sure to use crisp and high-quality photos for the best results! 

     

    Guidelines in Using Photos On Your Website

    • Use professional photos. You can hire someone for photography services if you struggle in this area. There are a lot of reputable agencies and freelancers you can trust. VE Digital offers photography and videography services.
    • If you are using stock photos, always get them from leading stock photo sites like pexels, istockphoto, and Shutterstock.
    • Strive to show positive imagery. Always spread positivity. Showing photos of happy and smiling people emits good vibes and positive energy, and this will invoke positive emotions from your viewers and site visitors.
    • Less is more. Fewer and bolder photos attract audiences better than lots of smaller photos scattered all around your website. Make sure that each photo is relevant and significant.

     

    When planning for your website, always consider putting in high-quality photos and images. If graphic design and photography is not your strength, you can always outsource and find affordable ways to get someone to help you out. 

    No matter where you get your photos, your priority is to ensure that your visitors have a great user experience. With the right mix of stock images and original photos, you’ll be able to bring in more leads, improve your rankings, and boost conversions.

    Looking for someone to help you out with your photo and graphic needs? We offer graphic design, photography, and videography services, contact our team today!