Digital

9 Easy Ways to Create Social Media Content

by

Tamar Koifman | May 05, 2011

Tamar Koifman of Fashion's Collective, details 9 easy ways brands can create engaging social media content

Tamar Koifman of Fashion’s Collective, details 9 easy ways brands can create engaging social media content

By now most brands and companies have realized that a social media presence is an important, if not mandatory, component of a successful business strategy. But having a Facebook page or Twitter feed in itself is not the barometer for success. It’s the continued engagement with the audience (be they customers or not) that will dictate the affect social media plays for the business.

As a social media consultant I am often asked, “Well now I have a Facebook page. But how do I keep it fresh with content? Isn’t that expensive and time consuming?” The truth is that good social media content can be both affordable and EASY to do. We’ve shared some of these ideas before but updated the examples and added in some additional ideas on how anyone can develop interesting, shareable, and most importantly, EASY content for social media:

1. Share Anything “Behind the Scenes”

Customers love having the opportunity to go behind the scenes of a glossy brand; and there are countless, simple ways to accomplish this. From photo shoots to fashion shows, planning meetings to manufacturing. J. Crew recently posted photos to Twitter from behind the scenes at one of their catalog shoots and has also been known to put a focus on this kind of content with the creation of their J.Crew Goes to Italy series.

2. Ask your Customers / Fans / Followers for feedback

Another simple tactic in content generation is to let your consumers do it for you. It is truly amazing to post a question and to then monitor the myriad of responses by customers. Lancôme recently asked their Facebook fans to select the name for their holiday collection. In only a few days they have had over 500 responses.

3. Feature your Employees

Does one of your employees have an impeccable sense of style? Feature fashion favorites from your team members! Net-a-Porter has been featuring their fashionable employees in a series called Staff Style: Seven Days of Dresses, which showcases different trends and how various employees wore them.

4. Live report from an event

Have an exciting press event, party, or product demo in the pipeline? Enlist someone to report live from the event, best done via Twitter with the occasional picture post. Gilt Groupe held a party during New York Fashion Week and used a custom hashtag #GiltNYFW to live-tweet the event for fans to follow along.

5. Share inspiring content from others

Especially relevant on Twitter, an easy way to create substance for your brand is to simply share what’s already out there. Was there a recent magazine spread that you particularly enjoyed? A painting at a museum that influenced what you wore this morning? Just share the link. Tumblr is especially useful for sharing inspiring images and Kate Spade does this very well on their Tumblr page.

6. Pull out something from the archives

Saks Fifth Avenue regularly posts on Facebook images that it’s dug up from the archives. Not only does this strengthen the importance of the Saks heritage, but it also provides fans with inspiring looks at the past from a fashion perspective. Though it hasn’t been updated in the last few months, the Saks Archive Fridays photo album has close to 2,000 Likes and 200 comments.

7. Host an online event

Wish you could invite all your customers into your store to answer questions and help them find the right product? Invite them into your digital flagship by hosting an online event (no catering required!). Skincare and cosmetics powerhouse, Clinique, uses Twitter to connect with customers and answer their skincare questions, and for the first time will be hosting a Twitter event with their VP of Product Development answering questions.

8. Don’t forget the power of the press

It’s hard to find a company big or small that doesn’t do whatever it can to highlight positive editorial coverage it receives, and the same philosophy can be applied to social media. Was your brand recently featured in a magazine or newspaper? Get it up online and share it around. You’ll be surprised how interested your fans and followers will be. DKNY gets the power of the press; they have several Facebook photo albums dedicated to editorial coverage, including this one focused on shoes and accessories.

9. Top and Best of Lists

Take a hint from the headlines that sell magazines and create your own “Top 10” or “Best of” list. Pick a topic, make your list, and share it across your social properties. You’ll be surprised how much attention these get. Multi-brand retailers seem to do this particularly well, as do beauty brands. Tip: Research shows that the most clicked on lists have 10 items or less and that odd numbers do particularly well. Think of limiting your list to the top 5, 7, or 9 for the most impact. Which means… I’ll be stopping here at number 9.

10. If there were to be a number 10, what other easy social media content categories would you add?

Beauty | Social Media