It’s one thing to say that you have to make your content creative. But how do you actually do that?
It’s easier said than done. The key is getting your audience to actually engage with what you’re posting. And there are ways to make your content stand out and to get people coming back.
Here are a few ideas to get your brain storming:
The Coffee Shop Tip Jar Method
Have you ever been to a coffee shop where they have two different tip jars with a little sign that says Star Trek vs Star Wars? Or Rolling Stones vs The Beatles? It’s an awesome way for baristas to get extra tips, because people can relate to it. It gets people involved by voting on something they care about and can relate to.
One way you can emulate this method is by posting polls on Twitter, for example. Or, let’s say you have two pop-culture-related designs – you can tweet the two images and ask people to chime in and comment on their favorite. It’s a good way to get people commenting and engaging with your stuff.
Talk to Customers
When you get customers tweeting or Instagramming or hashtagging pics and comments about your product or designs, reply! Talk to them, favorite and retweet their stuff, if they take selfies wearing your product, share it. Your relationship with your customers is like any other – they don’t want it to feel one-sided.
HOST CONTESTS
Fact: people like free stuff. One thing you can do is hold contests – selfie contests of people reppin’ your product, a trivia question, a “caption this design/photo” contest, etc. – and offer something for the winner. A promo code, dollars off of a product, a giveaway, etc. It’s a great way to spread the love, and hey – the people who don’t win it now have exposure to your product and might spread the word, and so on.
Create Your Own hashtag
Most apparel sites have a specific hashtag that people can use to show off wearing the company’s product. This is a no-brainer way to get people engaging with you online and sharing your product. People like sharing their face and #OOTDs on social media (that’s “outfit of the day” for you non-hashtag-gurus). But on your side of things, you get to see people wearing your stuff which is always exciting and validating, you get to keep track of those photos, and you get to show those pics to other people who might then buy your stuff. Quid pro quo.
- eat24 – retweet dinner photos taken by customers
- Charmin – goes between edgy and inappropriate, has hasthag #tweetfromtheseat
- mayhem (Allstate) – sends users V-Day candy hearts
PROCESS PHOTOS
It’s all well and good to just see photos of your beautiful finished products. But people also love to see how you got to that design, what your process is. Your final design is your product. How you got there? Showing your artistic process? That’s relatable and shows your talent and effort as a human person – not a salesperson.
Give ’em something to talk about
Have a new design you’re working on? Post “coming soon…” images showing off just a tiny peak at part of the design to build anticipation (and make customers feel like they’re looking at something exclusive).
Give ’em a little something extra
Give your customers something to engage with that isn’t just pushing your product. Post things that might interest them – DIY tutorials on something they’d get excited about, a picture of a book, comic, or movie you’re obsessed with right now that your audience would also dig, a picture of an old Blockbuster VHS you found in your house, etc. The best companies to engage with on social media are the ones that offer their companies something more than just “buy this thing.”
- SpaceX – live broadcasts of rocket launches, space pictures, etc.
- Cranium – trivia questions, games, polls, etc.
- Popchips – provides recipes yo ucan make with popchips, super witty
Have a voice People like to hear
Don’t be afraid to make your tone personal and relatable. Of course, also be careful that its a voice your audience will be attracted to. If your designs are all cute baby versions of animals on kids shirts, you might not want to post stuff like, “IT’S F*CKN METAL MONDAY, MOTHERF*CKRS #\o/” Miiiiight not resonate. But having tweets or captions that are funny and unique can be a great foot in the door for getting people to engage with your stuff.
- BarkBox – posts funny images of dogs and memes, talks to audience as if they’re dogs
- Pizzahut – gets weird, posts jokes, humanizes the brand (which is good – a chain like pizza hut could EASILY be a dehumanized corporation)
- Old Spice – just look at their Twitter bio. ‘Nuff said.
Here are some other sources with great ideas on how to make your posts creative:
Do you have any tips for making clever, click-worthy content? Drop it in a comment below!