Before you export a social media graphic or schedule a Tweet, here’s a simple checklist to help you produce content that will help you share your story and reach the right people.
- Remember OTAC. OTAC stands for Objective, Target Audience and Consequences (you can learn more about the power of this framework right here in the eBook). Essentially you need to ask yourself the following questions in order to create the right content:
- Why am I creating this content? (What is the objective?)
- Who am I trying to reach? (Who is the target audience?)
- What will be the ramifications of creating and posting this content? (What are the consequences?)
- Remember your branding.
- Have you used your “brand voice” in any text? Tone, context, words are all important parts of the message.
- People should be able to instantly recognise this content as yours. Consider the font, colours, spacing and other assets to make sure they all contribute to your branding.
- Use special characters and Emojis (appropriately) to increase post engagement.
- Check SPAG. Spelling, punctuation and grammar.
- Once a video or graphic is exported and uploaded there’s no going back without deleting the original content. BEFORE you export, make sure you have checked SPAG. Even better, get another pair of eyes to check over everything.
- Some social media platforms allow you to edit a post, but some don’t. There’s not much worse than seeing “this Tweet is unavailable“.
- Adhere to platform specific requirements. Social media platforms aren’t all created equally…
- You can’t just shove the same graphic on each platform and hope for the best. It takes time to create a landscape image for Twitter and a square version for Instagram. It takes time to add post data (like feeling/activity and location) on Facebook, or relevant hashtags in the description of a YouTube video. But it’s worth the time investment!
- Your target audience might differ between social media channels, so ensure that your message is adapted to better engage the people you are trying to reach. What works on Facebook won’t necessarily work on Instagram…
- Understand the difference between proactive and reactive content.
- Follow the 70% rule: you should spend at least 70% of your time creating proactive content (content that promotes your agenda). Of course you will need to respond to what other candidates or doing or saying, but don’t allocate more than 30% of your time, budget and resources producing reactive content or campaigns.
When it comes to creating compelling content for your social media channels, there are two simple rules you need to remember: the WHAT and HOW of social media content.
| WHAT | HOW |
| Inspire, educate, entertain | Short, simple, shareable |