It’s been almost a year when I started to do social media marketing. Back during the day, I thought my job would be mainly posting on a client’s Facebook page, filling it up with pictures and short by funny one-liners that would give the brand a voice.
But while the posts I made on my client pages were short and sometimes flimsy, I realized that the process of creating content for social media use is also difficult; at times I even felt that they were more challenging to do as compared to writing blog posts.
And yes, despite dedicating time and effort to prep up for the content I am going to publish on my clients’ social media profiles, there were still instances in which I came up with bad content.
The criteria for knowing the good from the bad are based mainly on four factors:
- Relevance of information
- Engagement
- Marketing appeal
- Eye candy
We already know that once we meet these criteria, we’re looking good on social media. However, there are still instances when even if we hit these standards right, the bad kind of content may still be published.
Based on the lessons I’ve learned by studying new trends and many months of being a social media manager, here’s my take on what makes bad social media content. I do hope you can dig out valuable points from these, the same way they helped me in effectively promoting my client brands on social media.
#1. Content Too Technical
One of the major blunders of social media is that you cannot post highly technical jargon on your business pages. But why?
Your audience isn’t always looking for specific information. Rather, they want to be entertained.
A significant portion of your audience will not easily understand what you’re talking about, unless of course they’re experts in the topics you’ve posted.
Tech stuff is BORING.
Social media content is not really designed for brands to provide in-depth information for content publication; hence, you better save such posts for your blog, where you have more specific followers who are interested in learning more about the topics that you discuss.
#2. Content Too Sales-Oriented
Another type of bad content on social media is the kind that overly promotes the brand’s latest offerings. There’s nothing wrong with promotional content-that’s actually your goal in going social. However, you should also understand that most of your audiences are not always customers, but are just in your brand profiles to hang out.
If you’re planning to promote your brand on your social networks such as Facebook, it might be better if you schedule your posts accordingly so that they won’t crowd your page. At least your followers won’t feel like your compelling them to purchase your stuff.
#3. Content Not Visual
I started out as a writer. And I admit the transition towards adopting more visual content for social media has been difficult for me because in a way it dissolves the purpose of my posts. Call it writer’s ego or what, but it hurt my pride (LOL). But I had to face the reality that social media relies more on the lighter side of content, which is more visual and graphic.
So, to make your posts more effective, not only in terms of engagement but as well as for sharing, then match your valuable text with relevant pictures. Eye candy has become essential, and you must make the most out of it.
Final Word
It’s actually normal that you get to post the bad kind of content from time to time, but the thing is, you should learn from your mistakes. Monitor your posts and see how they are received by your audience, as this is where you get to discover the types of content that best work for your brand.
Guest Author: Fae Esperas is a social media manager for Social Media Hub, a pioneer social media marketing agency in Southeast Asia. She also writes for the company blog,
My new book – Blogging the Smart Way “How to Create and Market a Killer Blog with Social Media”
