3 Steps to Creating Engaging Social Media Content
If you know anything about the current social media algorithms, you probably understand that the level of engagement you receive can make or break the overall performance of your social media presence.
Beyond performance stats, putting out engaging content can also help position you as trustworthy and a leader in your industry.
So, how exactly do you create content that people will want to interact with? Let’s break it down into 3 steps.
Step 1. Use a Hook
People scroll through social media fast. If you don’t start with something attention grabbing, they will more than likely scroll right past your post without giving it a second thought.
A scroll-stopping hook can be verbal or visual. Here are some examples:
- A surprising statistic, like “80% of your followers never see your posts.”
- A bold statement, such as “Your brand is boring. Here’s how to fix it.”
- An unexpected or controversial image
- A graphic with attention grabbing color combos
Take a look at a visual hook we used in one of our own recent social media posts:
Quick tip: if you’re going for a visual hook, try to use contrasting colors, oversized/bold typography, or interesting imagery. For a verbal hook, keep your statements short, punchy, and emotionally resonant.
Remember, in order to get people to engage with your content, you have to draw them in first. The goal is to interrupt their autopilot scrolling before anything else.
Step 2. Deliver Instant Value
Everyone loves a quick win. If you want people to engage, you should always aim to inspire, educate, or solve a real problem that your audience is facing right now. The key is to frame it in a way that makes it feel instantly useful.
Here are some ideas to inspire you:
- Quick tips they can apply today
- Applicable formulas, frameworks, or checklists
- Real world lessons
- Answers to frequently asked questions
For example, if you were crafting a social media post using the hook we previously mentioned, “Your brand is boring. Here’s how to fix it,” this is where you would follow it up with practical, actionable advice, like how to perform a DIY brand audit.
Here’s the content we used to turn that earlier hook into a quick win:
Quick tip: Use easy-to-read formatting so the users can easily skim through your content. Keep paragraphs short, use bullet points or emojis to break up text where possible, and try to keep text to a minimum while still getting your point across.
Step 3. End With a Call-To-Action
The last step to creating engaging content is to simply ask your audience to engage with you (sounds obvious, right?).
Just like on your website, you shouldn’t assume they will take action on their own. End your post with a clear call-to-action that invites engagement by liking, commenting, saving, or sending to a friend.
Whether you include this in the final slide of your post or in the caption, make it easy and obvious.
Here is what we typically use at the end of our posts:
Quick tip: Design a branded CTA slide you can reuse across all your posts. It keeps things consistent and easy to implement.
When you follow these steps, your content becomes something people want to interact with, and even stick around for more value-packed posts from you. If you’re ready to take the guesswork out of your social media presence, reach out to us. We’d love to help you build a brand that’s worth sharing.
