Research shows that there are more than 5 billion people who use social media. This makes up nearly 64% of the global population. In many countries, that percentage is even higher. This means that no matter what industry you’re in or which customers you’re targeting, there’s a very good chance your audience is active on social media.
In this article, we’ll explore the most trending social media content types and how you can use them to engage your audience effectively.
Understanding the Role of Your Social Media Content
Before we get started, it’s worth noting that if you’re using social media content to target prospects, you might benefit from knowing at which stage in the sales funnel your prospect is.
For example, you can use short-form videos to build awareness. Or you can use educational content to clear up potential customer doubts.
Additionally, before you get started, we highly recommend tailoring the content to the social media channels you’re using. For example, you can get humorous on Twitter, but you might need to be formal on LinkedIn (it all depends on the platform you’re using!).
13 Trending Social Media Content Types
Let’s go over the most popular types of social media content you can use.
High-Quality Images
Social media channels like Instagram and Pinterest rely heavily on images to communicate with their audiences. That’s why high-quality images are one of the best ways you can educate or engage with your readers in a visual format.
A quick tip when using images for social media: ensure they’re optimized (aka, they fit the image size requirements native to the platform) and clearly communicate the point you’re trying to make.
Short-Form Video
Short-form videos, such as Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, and TikToks, are another great way to educate readers or engage with them. A good example is SoFi’s Richer Live$ series on TikTok, where they bring in influencers, entrepreneurs, and industry professionals to discuss relatable financial topics.
Their content covers a lot of topics, from how to refinance student loans to practical budgeting strategies. By blending expert advice with engaging storytelling, SoFi shows how educational content can be repackaged into snackable video formats that both inform and entertain audiences.
Before you get started making short-form videos, please ensure you have a script or specific pointers noted down before you start filming.
User-Generated Content
User-generated content (UGC) is one of your best resources for building trust among prospects or establishing a community in the most authentic way on social media. Why? Because the positive reinforcement comes directly from your most loyal customers.
For example, Adobe often retweets content created by its customers that shows other users how to use the platform. Another unique way to use UGC is to gather content from your users and churn it into engaging copy.
Another unique way to use UGC is to gather content from your users and churn it into engaging copy.
Educational Content
It’s not uncommon for consumers to heavily research products or services before pulling the trigger on a purchase, especially on large-ticket items.
That’s where educational content on social media really shines. It helps you stand out from the crowd by showing off your expertise. And it helps to hook your readers and convince them one way or another.
For example, if there are five different project management tools on the market, and you show your customers how to achieve an important task (such as time blocking) with their tool, you might end up immediately converting the reader.
For example, a historical tour company that has a special Band of Brothers tour can publish an in-depth article about Captain Lewis Nixon to hook their audience. This is a solid way to demonstrate their expertise and deep authority on the subject, making the reader much more likely to book a tour.
For example, a historical tour company that has a special Band of Brothers tour can publish an in-depth article about Captain Lewis Nixon to hook their audience. This is a solid way to demonstrate their expertise and deep authority on the subject, making the reader much more likely to book a tour.
Different types of educational content you can focus on are historical sites, other famous figures tips, explanations of complex battles, and FAQs about the tours or the logistics. To create engaging educational content, try to focus on topics that haven’t received much coverage and draw from your own experience.
Live Videos
People are sick of faceless brands. Live videos are particularly helpful in building authentic relationships with customers (i.e., you get to address their comments and talk in a way that resonates with your audience) and capturing moments in real-time (e.g., sporting events, product launches, meet-and-greets). Instagram Live videos and Stories are perfect for this format.
One of the most popular live video examples is from Birchbox. They gave a step-by-step tutorial, addressed audience comments, and had a fun trivia round to keep viewers engaged. Plus, they didn’t spend big bucks to do any of it).
Like Birchbox, you can create a tutorial, or you can host webinars, Q&A, product demos, and virtual events.
GIFs and Memes
One of the best ways you can use humor and fun to engage with your readers is by using GIFs. These days, many brands rely on these forms of communication — and the more relatable you make them, the better.
This particular meme from HIMS is relatable to many because of its focus on a common pain point. Plus, it adds some humor to a subject that could be a cause of personal insecurity for many. Making light of the situation in an appropriate way is an excellent approach to engaging your ideal target audience.
So, to begin using this strategy, focus on trending topics, use your native language, see what your competitors are doing, and try to make your content as relatable as you can.
Podcasts
Podcasts can help you increase awareness. And because the podcast market isn’t as saturated as social media, you can stand out fast.
However, while it’s easy to create a podcast, it’s difficult to create a “good” podcast. An example of a podcast that has good content is The Long Game. Why? They focus on different subject matter experts who use their experience to drive a point home.
Like The Long Game, you too can focus on topics people want to hear more about, bring in different SMEs to keep it interesting, and provide unique insights.
Text-Based Content
Consider your favorite tweets and LinkedIn posts from brands; that’s a perfect example of text-based content.
This type of content is typically easy to read, has sufficient spacing, and conveys a point which is clear and concise. And it’s much easier to produce now with ChatGPT integrations.
However, more brands are using this approach on visual platforms like Instagram. Here’s an engaging example from Olipop that uses vibrant colors and images of text to stand out in a crowded feed and promote a new banana cream flavor.
Interactive Content
Have you ever seen a poll or Q&A box on your favorite brand’s Instagram story? That’s a form of interactive content.
In other words, it can be anything that makes your audience stop and engage with your content for a moment — e.g., polls, quizzes, surveys, contests, etc.
This type of content is great for getting audience feedback, understanding pain points, knowing audience perspective, engaging with prospects, and identifying your customer types.
Here’s an excellent example of a poll that showcases the reader of the author’s thought process and asks them to elaborate on their points later.
Thought Leadership Content
Do you want to establish yourself as an authority in your industry? Create thought leadership content.
It’s one of the best types of content to ever exist in a professional setting. It can show your unique expertise, experience, and thought process. All of these factors help contribute to building your credibility in your industry.
For reference, here’s a thought-leadership social media post on a winning SEO strategy by Jeremy Moser, a member of the 2023 Forbes 30 Under 30 Marketing and Advertising list.
According to Lily Ugbaja, a fractional content manager, thought leadership content should be logical, explicit, memorable, and actionable.
Carousels
The carousel format is particularly helpful if you want to create a highly engaging social media post. And that’s because you can use multiple slides to show examples and keep it visually engaging.
In fact, carousels are increasing in popularity. According to Statista, LinkedIn users with up to 55,000 followers post nearly four carousel posts per month. However, it’s essential to ensure you post them at the right time, especially for time-sensitive content.
That’s where you can use scheduling tools to plan and schedule Instagram posts in advance. This way, you can effortlessly maintain a consistent presence and reach your audience optimally.
Instagram engagement rate statistics
But carousels don’t belong to just Instagram. People also use them on LinkedIn. For example, here’s a carousel where Kiran writes down her five top tips for collaborating with freelance writers.
Long-Form Content
LinkedIn has a popular feature known as LinkedIn articles, which helps you write content that you would typically post on your blog to your LinkedIn page.
This type of content is well-written and formatted, has a lot of spacing, and uses clear copy.
Repurposed Content
There are many different social media content types. But how do you keep up with content creation, when you have all these different formats that you need to post across social platforms? It comes down to repurposing your content.
It helps you to tailor your messaging depending on the social media channel you’re communicating with your audience. If you’ve created a blog on a topic, you can create tweets, podcasts, and LinkedIn and Facebook posts on the same topic, too. This approach works best when you start with a strong foundation of good website content, which provides the depth needed to fuel multiple smaller social posts.
One effective type of social media content is the product spotlight, where you showcase a specific item in a way that tells a story. Pairing this with user-generated content or reviews adds authenticity and encourages engagement, turning a simple product mention into an immersive, sensory-driven experience.
Most Effective Social Media Platforms
According to Data Reportal’s 2023 report, Facebook has the largest market share in terms of customers, followed by YouTube, WhatsApp, Instagram, WeChat, and TikTok, respectively.
But there are other metrics to focus on as well. For instance, keep these other data points in mind:
- Click-through rates (CTR). Leverage industry benchmarks to help you understand the average CTR for your niche.
- Costs. Leverage social media management tools to learn how much it costs you to acquire a lead on that channel or to partner with influencers on those channels. Stick to the social media channels that prove most fruitful to you in terms of costs.
Choosing the Best Social Media Platform for Your Business
What works for you might not work for other businesses. So before choosing a social media channel, ask yourself these questions:
- What social media platforms do your customers visit most?
- What kind of social content do you specialize in?
- What can you bring that’s different from the existing conversation?
- What is the cost to acquire leads on the platform?
- How does this channel tie in with your overall social media marketing strategy?
How MexSEO Can Help You Succeed On Social Media?
Understanding what types of social media content can benefit your business and audience is just the first step. Managing, creating, and optimizing them consistently can be challenging, especially if you’re just getting started.
Our digital marketing team can help with social media management and content strategies that drive measurable growth.
Get in touch with MexSEO today to discover how we can help you boost your online presence and turn social media into a powerful growth engine for your business.
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