It’s 2024, and the highest-ROI advertising channel continues to be good ol’ social media.
Our State of Marketing & Trends Report reveals that 43% of entrepreneurs use it as a advertising channel. I’m wondering why that quantity isn’t even greater.
Nowadays, sharing content material on social media is a no brainer for manufacturers. Whether or not you’re in search of a method refresh or making an attempt out the channel for the primary time, this publish is your information to the several types of social media content material, what works greatest, and the way it can empower your small business.
Completely different Varieties of Social Media Content material
1. Video (Brief-form, Particularly)
Social media entrepreneurs are nonetheless putting their wager on short-form movies in 2024, some even upping the ante:
- 67% plan to extend their funding in short-form movies
- 31% will preserve their present funding
- 33% plan to take a position extra in short-form movies than some other content material kind
It’s not shocking, contemplating brief movies yield the very best ROI for social media advertising, in response to HubSpot’s 2024 Social Media Trends Report.
Some widespread examples of short-form movies are TikTok movies, Instagram Reels, and YouTube shorts. This TikTok beneath is from Candeeze, a small husband-and-wife model that sells freeze-dried sweet on-line. It racked up 1.8 million views by exhibiting the behind-the-scenes of their enterprise operation.
Don’t overlook reside video — they gained steam throughout the pandemic permitting distant participation in occasions. Twitch and different popular live-streaming platforms let individuals work together with their favourite creators in actual time. This format has the second highest ROI of all social media content material sorts, in response to 57% of entrepreneurs.
Lengthy-form movies are additionally widespread, regardless of having decrease ROI than short-form. They’re extra pricey to provide; shoppers anticipate excessive manufacturing high quality from them whereas missing the eye span to complete them.
But when lengthy movies are your jam, don’t fear — for every long-form video you produce, you’ll be able to repurpose it into a number of shorts, maximizing the worth of your sources.
2. Audio Chat and Dwell Rooms
Keep in mind when Clubhouse was all everybody might speak about? That frenzy has handed, however audio chats and reside rooms are right here to remain. Many platforms have native audio options, like Twitter Areas, LinkedIn Dwell, and Fb Dwell Audio.
Audio chat rooms let manufacturers instantly talk with audiences and develop nearer relationships than seeing a billboard or watching a YouTube video. And, throughout a time when clients worth connections with manufacturers greater than ever, audio chat rooms are a beneficial instrument.
After seeing passable ROI, 91% of social media entrepreneurs plan to proceed or improve their funding in audio chat and reside rooms.
Audio chat rooms are additionally trendy among Gen Z, the most important social media demographic. A Spotify examine discovered that 80% of Gen Z take pleasure in audio content material as a result of it permits them to specific their individuality and discover completely different sides of their personalities.
3. Content material That Represents Model Values
Nearly half of entrepreneurs say that content material reflecting model values is a part of their present social media technique.
One of these content material is something that highlights what your organization stands for, corresponding to commitments to sustainable manufacturing practices, truthful therapy of staff, social justice, and extra.
Customers care more than ever about what the manufacturers they purchase from stand for and the values they’ve. They wish to know the causes that companies assist and the commitments made to bettering the world.
In case you want an instance of doing brand value content right, look no additional than Patagonia.
It’s not nearly loyalty: Entrepreneurs additionally say that it has the 5th biggest ROI of any trend. 48% of entrepreneurs are already posting this sort of social media content material.
4. Person-generated Content material
User-generated content (UGC) is content material your viewers creates that options your small business/model that isn’t paid for by your small business. For instance, somebody shares a non-sponsored TikTok about how a lot they like your product or posts an image carrying your clothes and tags your small business.
One of these content material is nice to share on social media as a result of it helps your audiences see that individuals use and like your merchandise, vouching for you in a real-life method. Why toot your individual horn if you will get another person to do it, proper?
UGC pays off, as clients belief evaluations from family and friends greater than they belief branded adverts, and almost 80% of individuals say UGC extremely impacts their buy selections, significantly extra so than branded content material and influencer content material.
Whenever you do use UGC, the platforms it performs greatest on are YouTube (26%), Instagram (24%), and Fb (21%).
5. Humorous, Stylish, and Relatable Content material
Social media entrepreneurs know the worth of a viral publish too effectively. They’re onerous to come back by, however you’ll be able to improve your likelihood by hopping on viral memes, relating them to your small business, and utilizing trending hashtags or sounds.
One of these buzzy content material requires a excessive stage of consciousness of what’s taking place on-line, cultural moments, and present occasions.
Over 40% of entrepreneurs already share humorous, fashionable, and relatable content material on social media, and 59% say they’ll double down on humorous content material in 2024, it being the best of the three. Customers find it irresistible, too – they’re starved for quality humor from brands.
Our very personal social media group is savvy at this type of content material, like this humorous and relatable tweet.
6. Shoppable Content material
Shoppable social media content material permits shoppers to flick thru merchandise in your accounts, uncover issues they like, and even make a purchase order with out leaving the app.
The picture beneath is an Instagram storefront for Ink Meets Paper, the place somebody can browse its merchandise, discover what pursuits them, and make a purchase order.
This can be a beneficial content material sort as social procuring is at the moment on the rise, and shoppers are discovering new merchandise and shopping for merchandise on social media apps greater than ever earlier than.
In actual fact, social media is the preferred method for Gen Z, Millennials, and Gen X to find new merchandise — over 1 in 5 have made an in-app buy prior to now three months. No marvel 87% of entrepreneurs plan to keep up or improve their funding in social promoting enablement instruments in 2024.
The best platforms for promoting in-app are Instagram (26%) and Fb (26%).
7. Instructional Content material
Instructional content material shares useful data with audiences that helps them attain their objectives and meet their wants. It could possibly are available infographics, movies, text-based posts, pictures — any of the content material sorts we mentioned on this publish.
HubSpot typically shares academic content material via YouTube movies, the place viewers can study extra about ideas of curiosity. The video beneath is a current one which educates viewers on making a model fashion information.
8. Ephemeral/Disappearing Content material
Ephemeral/disappearing content material is content material that solely stays up for a sure period of time, like Instagram Tales that disappear after 24 hours.
Leveraging people’s FOMO is likely one of the oldest tips within the advertising playbook. The sensation will get much more amplified in social media, which is why 47% of manufacturers plan to extend their funding in this type of “limited-time” content material.
Customers solely have a set interval to interact with it, in order that they may be extra keen to maintain observe of your profiles and hold returning to expertise.
Creating quizzes and polls in your Tales is a good way to leverage this sort of content material. Folks solely have a sure period of time to reply, producing pleasure and instant motion and galvanizing respondents to come back again and see outcomes.
Try examples from LEGO, Harvard Enterprise Evaluate, and Outback Steakhouse, and see how they’re crushing it on the Instagram Tales sport.
9. Different Varieties of Content material You’re Acquainted With
Pictures
Our current survey discovered that 47% of entrepreneurs leverage pictures as a media format, which works effectively on all social media platforms.
Really, 54% of entrepreneurs assume that social media content material that’s polished and has excessive manufacturing worth (e.g. excessive decision pictures/movies) is much more necessary than the content material being genuine and relatable. However attempt to goal for each!
Textual content-based
We see text-based content material on social media on a regular basis, from Twitter(X) threads to thought management posts on LinkedIn. The first purpose is to share perception via phrases — you’ll be able to pair it with an attention grabbing picture, however the level of the publish is within the textual content.
Blogs are widespread text-based content material the place individuals learn longer posts and uncover useful data. However a standard mistake is sharing weblog hyperlinks instantly on social media. Social platform algorithms don’t favor linking out (they need you to remain!), so that you higher adapt an present weblog publish into snackable takeaways that’s extra appropriate for social customers’ habits.
Infographics
Infographics are a content material sort with the share-ability and visible attraction of photographs however are full of useful information and knowledge. It’s an impactful type of social media content material and academic content material.
The picture beneath is a publish from HubSpot’s Instagram account that’s an infographic that informs viewers about the best traits of a gross sales chief.
Infographics are efficient, too, with 51% of entrepreneurs that often use them saying it yields excessive ROI.
Repurposing Content material Is Nonetheless A Priceless Technique
Social media entrepreneurs say they use a mean of three platforms in 2024, every with its greatest practices and norms to comply with.
It may be difficult to create particular person items of content material for each single platform, so many entrepreneurs share related content material throughout platforms however repurpose it to suit the tone and necessities of every one.
The important thing to success, nonetheless, is repurposing content material, not resharing. Folks don’t look fondly at manufacturers that share the very same factor on every platform. 47% of entrepreneurs already share related content material throughout platforms with tweaks to make it extra related to the platform’s calls for.
It’s a brand new period for social media. To maintain up, I like to recommend you take a look at this video about making a social media technique this 12 months and past.
Need Extra Social Media Insights?
Study extra concerning the State of Social media with extra of this information, movies, and unique business tips about our State of Social Media Hub— which is able to include a free downloadable useful resource.
