Tips for Engaging Creative for Social Content and Advertising: Why Shorter is Indeed Sweeter
Social media content and advertising are likely a major part of your marketing mix. In fact, social advertising can be so affordable and targeted, that many brands are now starting with social and branching out from there as budget allows. It’s important to craft engaging creative for your social channels to capture your target’s attention. How do you do that though? Keep it short and sweet! A study conducted by Facebook showed that it only took 0.25 seconds of exposure for people to recall mobile feed content, and that people spent an average of 1.7 seconds with a piece of content on mobile and 2.5 seconds on desktop. One quarter of a second is incredibly quick, and if you can’t get your message across rapidly you might miss out on gaining important brand recognition.
Here are a few tips for creating engaging—but short—social media content and ads:
- Get to the point
You don’t have time to dilly dally when it comes to social. Get to the point of your message right away so that if your target continues to scroll, at least they remember your messaging. Ideally, you’ll catch their attention, and your audience will stay for your whole message, but if they don’t, getting to the point will help you be memorable. - Embrace short-form video
The popularity of TikTok proves that short-form video works. Not only does it work, but it’s also what people want. You can show so much more with a video than with a static image or copy alone. By embracing video you’ll be able to create engaging content that will capture your target’s interest. - Use telling hashtags
Remember to make the most of every aspect of your social content. It’s not just the image, video or copy. Your hashtags can add to the story and even help your target market find you. A hashtag is a short and sweet way to support your messaging. If you want to create engaging content, use a hashtag that inspires your target to get involved, repost or even create their own content to join the conversation. - Add captions
Think about how you scroll through your own social media. Do you have the sound on all the time? You likely don’t as you may be checking social while at work or at home with others. Adding captions not only makes your message accessible for the deaf and hard-of-hearing community, but it can also help you engage with your entire audience by making your message clear and easily digestible. - Include a brand link
An important thing to remember is that if you produce content that connects with your target market and engages them, they will make the effort to learn more. You don’t have to tell them everything within your post if you can hook them enough that they want to follow your link. Providing an additional resource will help you keep your creative short.
Short is sweet
When it comes to social content and advertising, you only have one to two seconds to make an impression. That means your content needs to be short but engaging. By following the tips above your brand can make the most of this precious time.
Want to learn more about connecting with your target via social media? Contact Beyond Fifteen to learn how our team can create short content that creates a lasting impression.