How to create content for social media? 5 proven tips for getting started

What will you do if you stumble upon a magic lamp? Way too cliched, right? But the problem I am addressing here is also cliche in many ways. I speak to a lot of budding entrepreneurs, solopreneurs, small biz owners and the only thing that bothers them is this: How to create content for social media? Yes, its not the product, its not the profits, its the fear and hesitation of putting themselves out in the world.

30-second summary

I gotcha roadrunner! If you are here to find a quick fix for social media content creation, I got your back. But, I highly recommend you go through the 5 tips in detail if you really want to get a head start in content creation for social media.

• You gotta have a content calendar. Period.
• Get insanely clear on your goals. Get this right ‘WHY’.
• Know your customers like your BFF (by the way, are we BFFs yet? If not, find me here 😉)
• Learn the basics of copywriting, design, research
• DIY content creation toolbox (I have a handy checklist for you, but you gotta stay for that 😝)

What is content creation for social media?

If you’re still here reading this, oh boy, you and I deserve a piping hot coffee ☕️. Let’s get rolling. If you have ever used any of the popular social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, Snapchat, Pinterest, you must have seen either of the following:

1. Photos
2. Videos
3. Audio
4. PDFs
5. Text
6. GIFs
7. Animation
8. Illustration
9. Memes (oh you know this, eh)
10. Live videos

If your answer to any of the above is yes, well, that’s what it is: social media content. Anything and everything you see on these popular social channels is counted as content for social media.

And this is what you’re gonna learn today: what is content creation for social media and 5 secret strategies that you can apply for your business today. Its not just about creating content for social media, its about getting the desired results. Oh, and please don’t count those dog and cat pictures in your strategy.

01. Get yourself a content calendar

Simple, right? It is actually as simple or as complex as you make it. Since you are just starting out with social media content creation, I recommend you stick to the basics.

Every business, whether a personal brand or a freelancer or company needs to have a calendar. Not just any calendar, a content calendar that is aligned to your goals (that’s tip number two).

Start with the basic content calendar for social media

Content marketing is vortex, beware. The more you dig, the more you get sucked into the details. At this stage, you don’t need to complicate it.

A basic content calendar will help you decide the following:

• What content will you publish?
• When will you publish that content?
• Where will you publish that content?
• How much content you will publish on social media?

Its exciting to go for a fancy, elaborate content calendar when you start. Trust me, I have been there too. But remember this, the more fields you add, the more time you will invest in a document that is only meant to guide.

A social media content calendar will not pay your bills. You still need to create content. You still need to publish. Invest as little time as possible here when you start.

Dev

Here’s a look at my content calendar. Its still basic but it gets the job done. Your calendar will look a lot different depending upon your type of business, the platforms you choose, kind of content you create.

Here’s why you shouldn’t proceed with social media content creation without having a content calendar in place:

1. You will not be consistent
2. You will underestimate the time you need to create content
3. You will not see the bigger picture of your content creation efforts
4. You will skip posting for days, weeks, months altogether (trust me, I know this is how it starts)
5. You will not know what to say
6. You will repeat too often, too soon

Tools you can use to create a basic social media content calendar:

• Microsoft Excel
• Google Sheets ☑️
• Trello
• Asana
• Slack
• Google Calendar
• Airtable

02. Get insanely clear on your content creation goals (know your WHY)

Do you know this? A majority of new online entrepreneurs state ‘making money’ as their goal. Oh, good lord, if I had a penny for every time someone mentioned money as their goal, I would have retired in Bali by now. 😉

If only revenue is your end goal, you are starting on the wrong foot my friend.

Dev Matharia

I agree, monetization is the end goal of all business endeavors but it cannot be the only goal. Specially when it comes to content creation for social media. Content creation is not the end, it is a means to the end. And that is why it is so important to define what you want from your content marketing efforts aka content creation goals.

Your content creation goals will fall in either or all of the three categories below:

You’re getting a lot clear, right? It all starts making sense when you actually put the time and effort to gain clarity on your content marketing objectives aka getting clear on your WHY.

5 Reasons why your content marketing strategy is not working

Define your content creation goals

Its time to define the content goals now. Grab a notebook and start writing down all the goals you can think about your content. What do you want to achieve through your content? How will the audience trust you? What kind of content is most likely to leave an impact?

When you start writing down your goals, your content calendar automatically starts filling up. Now, this is not all. There is a lot more that goes into these steps like creating a content bank, how to find content ideas, how to create your ideal customer avatar or ICA, how to know more about your customers and so on. But for starters, this exercise is good.

03. Know your customers like your BFF

Oh boy, isn’t this fun? Imagine knowing your would-be customers so well that you can tell what coffee they like! Whoa, that would be something. (Hush, my fav coffee is Dark Hot Mocha without cream, caramel, in case you want to buy me a coffee ☕️😉).

The answer to ‘what is content creation for social media’ lies here specifically – knowing your customers. When you know who your customer is, you can create the kind of content they would like to see. Fairly simple, right?

Well, its a little complicated than this. When I say you need to know your customers or audience like your BFF, I mean it. And how will you do this?

By being present on all the platforms where they might hang out. This will require a lot of research, a lot of conversations in the message boxes, a lot of trials and errors too.

How to know your customers like a BFF?

• If you have existing customers, ask them
• Do short surveys and reward them for participating
• Do polls
• Ask direct questions about their likes/dislikes
• Review all feedback you have ever received
• Specially review the complaints
• Get into conversations with them
• Observe what they do when they are online
• Watch and listen to their conversations (yeah, its close to stalking but it isn’t)
• Always ask for a review, specially after you make a sale
• As important it is to know why they like your competitors, it is also important to know why they like you (the answers will surprise you)

4. Learn the basics of copywriting, design, research

Amazing, you now have a basic content calendar, you know your content goals, and you are getting closer to know your audience/customers. That’s a great start, my friend. You are now 4 steps closer to getting your answer to how to create content for social media.

Ok, we’re gonna rush past this step because of two reasons. Firstly, you might not be comfortable with the idea of doing it all yourself and secondly, you already have a team to do it.

As a business owner, it’s always a great idea to outsource or delegate the tasks that do not directly impact your profitability. But still, if you are just starting with your online business or content creation for social media, you gotta learn the basics.

Learn a bit of copywriting

Invest some time to learn the basics of copywriting or copy that convinces the reader to take an action.

Learn a bit of design

Yes, design. Design is a key element when it comes to social media content creation. If you are a solopreneur, you’ll probably end up doing a lot of design for your business. Canva is a great tool to get started. Don’t focus on becoming a designer, pick a template, customize, and create.

Learn how to research

All said and done, if the research is not great or right, you’ll end up with a loss of things of say. That means your content calendar will dry up too often. Identify 3-5 resources related to your business and keep an eye on them. I use Google Alerts to keep track of the keywords related to my business. Try it!

5. DIY Social media content creation toolbox

Look at you! You’re already here, the last tip on how to create content for social media. I know it sounds a lot and I would be lying if I say it isn’t. Social media content creation takes time. Getting better at it takes even more time. But the key is to get started.

90% of content marketing is about taking action. The rest 10% is planning.

Dev Matharia

As you continue to create more social media content, you’ll find and build your own arsenal aka content creation tools. Apps like PowerPoint, Keynote, Canva, Figma, WordPress, Inshot, Splice, Anchor etc.

Download the free social media content creation toolkit

To save you time and to get you started instantly (that’s my promise to you: I will always give you actionable advice, something that you can use right away) I’ve created a social media content creation toolkit that I use myself.

Go ahead, download the free content creation toolkit and get started.

Conclusion

That’s all, folks! I hope you’ve learned a thing or two on how to create content for social media with this post. To summarize, here’re the essentials you should focus on to get started:

• Create a basic social media content calendar before you start creating social media content
• Define and refine your content goals. Know exactly what you want from each and every post
• Get to know your customers better. The more you know them, the sharper your content, the better the results
• Get hands-on with writing copy, captions, emails and basic designing using apps like Keynote or Canva
• Download my social media content creation DIY starter toolkit and choose the apps you want to use

If you liked this post, please leave a comment. I would love to hear more about your challenges and wins. You can support me by sharing this post with someone who is getting started with social media content creation. And if you really loved this post, send me my coffee ☕️😃.

PS: Part II of the content series ‘Everything about content creation: Basics’.