Content is king in social media marketing- but many people struggle with content creation. Speaking like an industry authority is easy if you have a quality brand- but how do you make it fun and compelling, too? Especially if you’re in an industry people tend to stereotype as ‘dull’ to start with, as with many financial service providers, IT services, and other complex industries? The experts at Zebra 360 Digital Marketing Agency break it down.

Balancing Engaging and Informative

Information that’s valuable to your reader or watcher is, of course, what you want to carry the core of your content. However, it’s the story you weave around it that will pull others into really engaging with that information.

But that doesn’t mean you just get more verbose, or start writing a novel every time! However, there is something you can learn from the storytelling greats- and that’s the basic ‘3-act’ structure that’s been powering stories for millenia. You have:

  • The Setup: Think of the opening of any good story or film you like. The opening starts slowly introducing you to the details of the story- the where, who, what, and how. But it also has something called the ‘inciting incident’. It’s the moment where the plot gets rolling. Be it quest, conflict, or confrontation, it’s what gets the heroes up and moving. And it also builds curiosity.
  • The Conflict: Here, you start moving the audience towards the answers your inciting incident raised. But there’s challenges on the way to make it extra-juicy. And you hit the turning point, a second ‘plot twist’ that starts leading you to the end goal.
  • The Resolution: And then everything gets brought together for the happy ending!

Building Great Content

You aren’t Frodo heading off on a quest in every blog, of course, but these same key beats can help you jazz up any content. Make sure your readers get a sense of that story and structure from the start:

Setup, into Inciting incident, into Conflict. Then resolve it well.

And, for the short form of social content (and our shrinking attention spans), you’re going to get there fast. You can meet all three in the opening paragraph or introduction. This sets up interest and appeal, and draws people into your beautiful resolution you’re offering them.

 You could just tell people you’re going to tell them how to cut a lawn properly. Or you could set up your tutorial, noting how everyone loves a great lawn (your Setup). Then, you could describe a scene of panic (your Inciting Incident), as you realize your in-laws are on the way over and you don’t have that fabulous lawn on show (your Conflict). And show your now intrigued readers or viewers how you saved the day with your quick and easy lawn cutting tips.

See how one tells a compelling story- you know people are reading to the end just to find out if you saved the day- and the other is just another information-heavy post? That’s the same magic your content can have, too!

Creating great content is the key to seeing the social engagement you’re craving. If you need any more great tips on creating content that boosts your ROI and gets you the results you need, the Zebra 360 Digital Marketing Agency team is always here to help!