As social channels gain traction in search marketing, the need to create content that people want to share becomes crucial to an inbound campaign. A 2014 study from Social Media Examiner found that 92% of respondents identified social media as “important to business.” Then why are brands still sharing unoriginal, dull content?
It’s easy, that’s why. Too many brands think it’s better to share something than to leave social channels to the sound of birds chirping.
As brands gain momentum with social media marketing, they must deliver fresh, share-worthy content every time. The new digital landscape calls for creativity and visual assets for social channels.
Not every brand can be BuzzFeed or Upworthy, but that doesn’t mean that your brand has to settle for mediocre social media marketing. Jazzing up your content to increase shares is possible even if you’re working with “boring” B2B content.
Here are four easy-to-use tools that can help motivate your audience to “like,” share, retweet, pin, +1, and more.
Bunkr
Slider sites – where images and text rotate – are all the rage. Why does an established brand need an entire new website just to keep up with the latest slider craze? It doesn’t.
You can skip the website redesign and create visual assets with Bunkr.
Bunkr allows brands to create their own unique slider. Care to add a little strategy to your Bunkr slide? Identify the top-performing blog posts on your website and recycle the content into a Bunkr slide. If the content is popular in a text format, cleaning it up and presenting it in this cool tool will surely gain traction on social channels. Studies have shown that posts with images get more shares and retweets, and providing a clickable image with a slider is easy with Bunkr.
Thrill Scavenger Hunt recently used Bunkr to create a personalized slide show for PR purposes. While a blog post would have sufficed, it’s a format that has become dated and uninspiring. Reaching out to local bloggers and media outlets to promote an upcoming Singles Scavenger Hunt, co-founder Heather Piper created a quick three-slide site to share with news outlets and her social channels. Her outreach was different, simple, and provided everything needed to promote the event.
Why Bunkr is worthy of your attention:
Branded as a presentation tool, each one appears like its own website.
It can help you package a message wrapped in cool.
Clear, beautiful slides can incorporate existing brand videos and graphics.
New to the scene, Bunkr’s beta version is free.
Soundslides
In 2015, innovative brands are moving further toward storytelling as a part of their content initiatives. To stand out, leading brands are gravitating toward images, multimedia files, and other creative digital assets to tell their stories.
Soundslides can help a brand share its story with a creative flair made for social sharing. Creating a slideshow takes image creation one step further, but creating a slideshow with audio is the ultimate extra step.
Why Soundslides is worthy of your attention:
It easily converts slideshows to videos.
It creates a mobile-friendly storytelling asset.
It synchronizes audio with photos.
Available in two editions, Soundslides Basic provides an adequate interface for novice slideshow creators. Advanced users may appreciate the extra features in Soundslides Plus, including pan and zoom image movement, click-through options, and full-screen playback.
Screenmailer
Would your audience like to take a sneak peek into your brand’s web-based tools, processes, or assets? Would video tutorials about your service or product boost engagement and conversion rates?
Enter Screenmailer. Record your screen and voice in a matter of minutes, and be able to share the recording in rapid time. Screenmailer is unique because of its ease of use and testing reveals an impressive turnaround of 12 seconds for a 45-minute recording. Competitors such as CamStudio and EzVid favor Windows users, but Screenmailer works seamlessly with both Windows and Mac operating systems.
Adding screen shares to blog posts can help engage readers and keep their attention, and the graphics surrounding the screencast can invite them to share the content. For example, a copywriting agency wanted to demonstrate the process of creating an in-depth FAQ page from a recorded phone interview. While this demonstration could be outlined in a text-only format, a quick recording with Screenmailer gives readers a glimpse into the process.
Click on this image for a demonstration of Screenmailer in action.
Why Screenmailer is worthy of your attention:
It records and quickly renders videos for sharing through private links.
The process starts immediately upon recording.
In public beta mode, Screenmailer is free.
Pablo
Fact: Adding a visual image to any post increases shares and engagement.
Stock images? Boring and overused.
Introducing Pablo, a new photo-creation tool from Buffer. Instantly add quotes and brand messaging to clean, crisp photo backgrounds designed for easy sharing. You may use it as a standalone posting, add your logo to the bottom of photos or quote images, or combine it with a link to a recent blog post or article.
Why Pablo is worthy of your attention:
It integrates with Buffer for easy social sharing.
You can create your own text or choose from inspirational quotes.
Images are provided by Unsplash or you can upload your own.
Fonts, colors, and effects can be customized.
Conclusion
Social media should inspire, enlighten, educate, and help audiences. It’s time to move along from boring, everyday content and stand out with detailed, informative posts, combined with visuals, screen shares, and video. Step away from asking for shares, “likes,” and mentions, and create something that your audience will love to share instead.
Want to discover more tools to boost the effectiveness of your content? Make plans today to attend Content Marketing World 2015. Use code CMI100 by May 31 and save $100 on registration.
Cover image by Viktor Hanacek, picjumbo, via pixabay.com
Please note: All tools included in our blog posts are suggested by authors, not the CMI editorial team. No one post can provide all relevant tools in the space. Feel free to include additional tools in the comments (from your company or ones that you have used).
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