AI Research

Sometimes, you can’t help but wonder if we humans are up against our very own creation, Artificial Intelligence! Or perhaps, we’re just being overreactive to the overwhelming impact it has on our lives. Either way, we are witnessing an avalanche of technological advancements and AI is becoming a force to be reckoned with.  

Over time, industries especially marketing and advertising agencies have undergone major evolutions due to the unceasing transformation of technology and changing consumer desires. 

To survive the ever-competitive business landscape, 91.5% of top businesses now have investments in AI to manage their operations, bolster customer experiences and ultimately impact the ROI of their marketing campaigns. 

And now, with the AI market expanding at a CAGR of 38.1% between 2022 to 2030, AI could fundamentally transform all marketing tactics and become the best bet for any marketer looking to make their stand against rivals in the global market.

So, what significant impact has AI had on the marketing landscape? Can it withstand the test of time and what surprises await us in the nearest future? Well, you’re about to find out. 

In this article

The advent of AI tech to the marketing space was so overwhelming that even the most underrated and underutilized digital marketing strategy, SMS marketing received a massive and game-changing boost. 

What seemed to be lurking in the background is now taking center stage and more people than ever are beginning to learn more about SMS marketing to up their overall marketing tactics. It’s the single most direct and immediate channel to enhance customer engagement and it boasts a read rate of up to 97%. 

Within the dynamic shift in marketing tactics brought about by AI, SMS marketing has evolved with major contributions from message optimization tools. These tools have revolutionized how e-commerce businesses can automate and enhance their text communication with customers. The ability to personalize messages, create efficient targeting strategies, and analyze customer engagement are crucial features offered by these innovations. For in-depth exploration on this topic, check out our article discussing message optimization tools and their significance in driving better customer interaction for online commerce.

For the bigger picture, marketers can now leverage the viability of AI in marketing to 

• Automate all manual workflows;
• Make better predictions on customer behavior;
• Analyze customer engagement with better accuracy;
• Develop ads that are targeted toward a specific audience;
• Optimize marketing content and much more. 

7 Ways AI is evolving marketing

1. Understanding the needs of customers 

Customer satisfaction and loyalty sit at the center of all business goals and strategies and marketers on the other hand are on a constant stride to 

• better understand the pain points of their clientele, 
• how they interact with their products and
• the overall perception of their brand in the minds of customers. 

AI marketing leverages artificial intelligence programs like machine learning and big data to garner customer information and develop insights that allow you to predict a customer’s next move in a bid to enhance the overall customer experience. 

With AI technologies leading the way, marketers can create customer profiles to ease the process of segmenting their customer lists into people who are set to make purchases and those who are still in doubt about making a purchase or not. 

The significance of this is that it gives marketers a detailed analysis of their progress and how they can systematically channel their resources to attract and retain more customers.  

2. Identify and keep up with the ever-changing marketing trend 

The marketing landscape changes spontaneously, making products and services susceptible to obsolescence. An outmoded product translates to fewer customers and a decline in ROI generated. 

AI-powered technologies are a masterpiece when it comes to analyzing huge chunks of data to develop actionable insights. Its versatility to blend with the marketing landscape gives you a head start in identifying the sudden tilts and upcoming trends through concurrent discussions or curating events for customers. 

Another interesting fact about AI is that it exploits the insights gained from data analysis to provide you with different tactics to 

3. Predict Returns of Future Campaigns 

Does it really forecast events? Well, AI is an exceptional invention and its compact set of functionalities makes it quite intriguing. 

Imagine what you stand to achieve if you could see what is set to happen in the future. That sets you one step ahead of time! 

While AI doesn’t categorically show you what the future is, it has predictive analytics which allows it to garner data about past deals by analyzing data from meetings, phone conversations, emails, and what have you. It then establishes a link between the data and the anticipated sales of your present and future campaigns. 

Asides from sales prediction, AI eliminates the risk of human errors from your data analysis while giving you workable insights about areas begging for improvements in your marketing strategies. 

4. Chatbots Enhance Customer’s Experience  

Talk of a disruptive piece of AI technology that is becoming an integral part of every business strategy, you can place your bet on chatbots. One of the most intriguing features of this hi-tech software is the personal touch it gives to communication.

• Chatbots communicate naturally and in the most effective manner with customers while offering them an all-in-one interactive customer service experience. 

• Chatbots are commonly used by websites to answer FAQs and they boast a satisfaction rate of about 90%, 2% greater than live chats with humans. 

So, are we humans losing our stand against our inventions?

It might interest you to know that top dogs like Facebook have about 300,000 active bots in operation which guarantees a 24/7 response to customer queries. That’s how viable chatbots can be to your marketing strategies. 

And with the constant evolution of AI, you never can tell if chatbots will take the frontlines in engaging prospects and nurturing your email list alike.  

5. Automated Content Creation

AI is leaving no stone unturned and content marketing isn’t left out of its revolution. It has the ability to influence human reasoning to create hyper-personalized content. And how does that work out? 

AI works on the principle of preset algorithms which allows it to carry out analysis on customer data, trending topics and other crucial details that align with the interest of the target audience. By leveraging the viability of AI, marketers can easily 

Interestingly, AI-generated content can be altered to meet the specific needs of different social media platforms and audiences in a bid to boost customer engagement and increase returns on investments. 

6. Identifying and Preventing Fraudulent Transactions 

We all know the drill! For years, cyber crimes have plagued e-commerce businesses and many marketing agencies have been a victim of fraudulent activities one way or the other but thanks to the advent of AI, the narrative has changed abruptly. 

AI technologies are designed to identify and prevent cyber criminals from carrying out malicious activities, protecting both businesses and customers alike. It uses different tactics which may include “monitoring” to keep a close tab on unusual transactional patterns and fake IP addresses.  

Additionally, AI systems can give you real-time updates on the exact location where a fraudulent transaction is taking place coupled with the actual time of events.  

7. Voice Search Optimization 

Finally, We can all attest to the viability of optimizing content for voice search and how significant it is in meeting customer needs. Even now, more people than ever are adopting the use of voice assistants to carry out everyday activities and search for information. 

A typical voice assistant software like Google Assistant combines AI and machine learning to recognize our voices thereby giving marketers the advantage of creating content that allows them to connect with their clientele via these unfolding channels. 

With AI voice assistants, 

• Marketers can now worry less about customer language barriers since it integrates translation services.  
• Marketers can automate routine activities and free up more time that can be utilized for other business operations.
• Clients with visual impairment can get appropriate customer service and employees with the same defect can carry out their tasks without any hindrances.

The Future of AI in Marketing 

THE BOTS ARE COMING! Tides are changing and technologies continue to advance. There is every tendency that human activities will get reduced in the marketing landscape sooner or later due to the versatility and evolution of AI. 

While human activities can’t be completely eliminated, AI might eventually form the basis of all marketing strategies. Its ability to seamlessly automate all workflows is enough of a reason to reckon with it. 

While we may not have the full potential of AI yet, we know for sure what awaits us in the future. The sooner we accept it, the better we get at collaborating with it to achieve our business goals. 

FAQ

How is AI evolving marketing strategies?
AI is evolving marketing by enabling hyper-personalization, predictive analytics, more efficient data processing, and automating routine tasks, leading to more effective and targeted marketing strategies.

What role does AI play in personalizing marketing campaigns?
AI analyzes customer data to tailor marketing messages and offers to individual preferences, improving engagement rates and customer experiences. An AI Text to Image Generator help with creating tailored images in minutes.

How does AI improve predictive analytics in marketing?
AI enhances predictive analytics by processing large data sets to forecast trends, customer behaviors, and potential market changes, helping marketers to plan more effectively.

Can AI automate content creation in marketing?
Yes, AI can automate aspects of content creation such as generating basic written content, optimizing headlines, and personalizing content for different segments.

What impact does AI have on customer segmentation?
AI improves customer segmentation by analyzing detailed data points, allowing marketers to create highly specific segments for more targeted campaigns.

How is AI used in marketing for real-time decision-making?
AI tools can process data in real-time, providing instant insights that help marketers make quick, informed decisions about their strategies and campaigns.

What are the benefits of AI-driven chatbots in marketing?
AI-driven chatbots enhance customer service and engagement by providing immediate responses, resolving queries, and collecting valuable customer feedback and data.

How does AI contribute to SEO and content marketing?
AI aids SEO and content marketing by analyzing keywords, optimizing content for search engines, and creating content strategies based on user behavior and preferences.

Can AI improve the efficiency of marketing campaigns?
AI can significantly increase the efficiency of marketing campaigns by automating tasks, optimizing ad spend, and providing rapid analysis for continuous improvement.

What are the challenges of integrating AI into marketing strategies?
Challenges include ensuring data privacy, managing the complexity of AI systems, keeping up with rapid technological advancements, and aligning AI initiatives with overall marketing objectives.

Author bio

Rilwan Kazeem is a freelance content writer, explorer, and reader. He writes marketing, and HR-related articles, how-to guides, and product descriptions. Rilwan’s writing has been featured in Leaderonomics, Engagedly, and Newsbreak—where he unraveled “10 simple steps to launch an online business in 2023”, among others. He is the recipient of the 2015 Golden-Ink essay contest award at the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology.   

YouTube shorts are not only fun to watch, but they can also be a powerful marketing channel as short-form content is becoming more dominant. Check out how YouTube Shorts can fit into your Video Marketing Strategy.

In this article

What are YouTube Shorts

In September of 2020, YouTube announced that it was offering a short-form video feature, called YouTube shorts.

YouTube released YouTube Shorts in India before rolling it out to America and 26 other countries by March 2021.

You can find this feature in the ‘shorts’ tab on the YouTube app on your mobile. On Desktop, you will see a shorts section on the homepage and on the navigation on the left:

On the YouTube Search Results page, YouTube Shorts and long-form videos are shown together.

Here’s one of our YouTube shorts video ranking #1 for the term ‘Social Media Marketing Statistics‘ (under the two ads).

And here’s where you can find YouTube Shorts on a channel page:

YouTube Shorts Statistics

Alright. Now let’s have a look at a couple of YouTube Shorts statistics worth knowing:

• YouTube gets about 25 percent of the global mobile traffic;
• YouTube is used by 1/4th of the world population;
• There are over 1 billion YouTube Shorts, with 25 million new Shorts added monthly.
• YouTube Shorts receive over 70 billion daily views.
• More than 2.3 billion subscribers regularly visit YouTube every month;
• The average duration of a Short is 33 seconds.
• RPM for Shorts doubled in a year to $0.061.
• YouTube Shorts got 3.5 billion daily views in 2020;
• YouTube Shorts are viewed over 70 billion times every day in 2024! (huge jump from 2020)
• $100 million in funding on YouTube Shorts went live in 2021 to encourage content creators on the platform;
• About 25.6% of YouTube Shorts originated from India, and 23.4% from the United States;
• More than 70% of YouTube Watch Time Is on Mobile;
• More than 70% of YouTube Shorts Are Longer than 15 Seconds, but Have a 60 Second Time Limit;
• 74% of Adults in America Use YouTube;
• The average YouTube Shorts engagement rate is 5.91%.
• 16.4% of YouTube’s Site Traffic Comes from America;
• More than 26.7M people have a YouTube Premium account in 2023;
• About 72 Percent Of YouTube Shorts Are Over 16 Seconds Long;
• One YouTube Subscriber Is Worth 25 TikTok Followers;
• YouTube generated 19.7B in revenue (ads + premium subscriptions) in 2020;
• YouTube Shorts Are Growing 135 Percent Year Over Year And Have Over 1.5 Billion Monthly Users;
• YouTube Shorts demand is outpacing supply (see image below);

The Future of YouTube Shorts

Short-form content like Google Web Stories, YouTube Shorts, Idea Pins, Instagram Reels, TikTok videos, etc. are an exciting new form of content consumers seem to be enjoying.

Marketers will need to adapt and add short-form content to their Content and Social Media Marketing Strategy.

We are experimenting and documenting and we will keep you updated on our learnings.

Easy way to create YouTube Shorts

Any video you upload to YouTube which is shorter than one minute will be marked as YouTube Short. Therefore, simply talking into your camera in portrait mode and uploading that video seems to be the easiest way to create Shorts.

But!

It´s not the ideal way.

You might want to add two layers on top of your recorded video:

1. Optimizing the video for SEO;
2. Adding captions to your video for people that have their sound off;
3. Adding music to your video to spice it up.

Optimizing your YouTube Shorts for SEO

YouTube shorts can rank on YouTube and Google just as well as longer-form videos do. Therefore, we would advise uploading your video to your laptop so you can easily add some essential SEO elements. We’ve written an extensive article on doing a YouTube Audit where we discuss it in length, but here are a couple of basics.

1. Understand your main keyword. Talk about it in your video, add it to your file name, title, and description;
2. Create a catchy YouTube title and add your main keyword at the start of the title;
3. Add your main keyword at the start of your description and mention it a couple of times throughout your description. Also, add secondary keywords;
4. Add 3 hashtags to your YouTube Shorts in the description.

To find the perfect keywords to use for your video, check out tools like Semrush. If you use our link, you can get 14 days for free to try out their tool and find the keywords you need to rank well on YouTube and Google.

Start for free here.

Come up with effective Ideas with a YouTube Video Idea Generator

Even though creating YouTube Shorts is probably easier than creating long-form content, you still might want to create a list of ideas before starting your video production. Our AI-Powered YouTube Video Idea Generator can help you do just that.

Simply enter the topic of your video as the prompt and see the magic unfold. For this example, we’ve used the input:

“YouTube Shorts Statistics”

Here are a couple of YouTube Video Ideas the Generator provided us:

YouTube Shorts Video Idea Outputs that were generated by AI:

• 1. “Unraveling the Hype: A Deep Dive into the Rising Popularity of YouTube Shorts – A Statistical Analysis”
  This video will provide viewers with a comprehensive breakdown of the surprising statistics surrounding YouTube Shorts. We will explore trends, growth rates, user statistics, and discuss why it is such a valuable platform for creators and brands.
• 2. “Crunching Numbers: How YouTube Shorts is Revolutionizing Short-form Videos – A Statistical Perspective”
  This video will present an extensive analysis of the data on YouTube Shorts, focusing on how it is changing the landscape of short-form video content. From views and likes to subscriber growth, we will tackle it all, providing a fascinating and robust picture of this platform’s success.
• 3. “The Anatomy of a YouTube Short: A Fact-Based Look at Short-form Video Success”
  In this content, we will break down the elements of a successful YouTube Short, based on hard data and statistics. We will discuss the optimal length, the most engaging topics, and the frequency of posting, all backed by compelling, up-to-the-minute statistics.

Now let’s see what YouTube Shorts ideas we get when we keep the same prompt but change the style to Comedic:

• 1. “Dissecting YouTube Shorts Statistics With Stand-Up Comedy”
  This video would take a hilarious approach to analyze YouTube Shorts statistics. Imagine a stand-up comic on stage, breaking down statistics like views, likes, and watch time with outrageous comparisons and analogies. We might compare the dizzying ascent of Shorts views to a lovestruck teenager’s heartbeat when they see their crush or the average watch time of Shorts to how long it takes to finish a packet of chips.
• 2. “YouTube Shorts Vs. Tiktok: A Funny Showdown”
  In this video, we’d pit YouTube Shorts and TikTok against each other in a comedic, mock-battle format. Using the statistics of both platforms, we’ll create a slapstick-style competition complete with fictitious boxing match commentary. We’d pepper this video with hilarious misinterpretations of data, backing up absurd claims such as ‘the higher number of views means people’s fingers are getting tired from all the scrolling.’
• 3. “The ‘Shocking’ Truth Behind YouTube Shorts Statistics”
  This video will be a mock-investigative report, akin to a satirical crime documentary. Using a humorous, melodramatic tone, the video will delve into YouTube Shorts statistics, creating conspiracy

Pretty cool, right? I can come up with a pretty big list of YouTube Shorts Ideas in just a couple of minutes and then select the best one to create my YT Short.

Create catchy YouTube Titles with a YouTube Title Generator

Your video titles are important to get people to click on your video and to rank better on YouTube and Google. Don’t settle for the first title you come up with. Let AI help you come up with multiple ideas in seconds and select the best one.

Here’s how it works.

For this example, we want to create catchy YouTube titles for our video on the importance of YouTube shorts. Our input was:

“Why marketers should pay attention to YouTube Shorts”

Here are a couple of YouTube title ideas the Generator provided us:

YouTube shorts title ideas generated by AI:

• Reach More with YouTube Shorts: Explosive Growth for Marketers
• Why Marketers Should Harness the Power of YouTube Shorts!
• Revolutionizing Your Marketing: Unlocking the Potential of YouTube Shorts
• Harness the Power of Short-Form Content: Get Results with YouTube Shorts
• How YouTube Shorts Can Double Your Reach and Engage More Customers

We don’t want to stop with just a short list of video title ideas, so we ran the generator again and got the following suggestions:

•  Unlocking the Potential of YouTube Shorts for Marketers
• How YouTube Shorts could Help to Triple Your Reach & Engagement
• From Zero to Hero: How YouTube Shorts Can Help Your Brand Take Off
• Grow Your Business with YouTube Shorts: A Marketer’s Guide
• Unlocking the Power of YouTube Shorts: A Marketers Must-Do

Now we have enough ideas to help us come up with a really nice SEO-optimized and catchy YouTube Shorts Title.

For this example, we’ve decided to create the following headline (putting our main keyword at the start of the title):

“YouTube Shorts – Grow your Brand from Zero to Hero”

Create SEO-Optimized YouTube Descriptions with a YouTube Description Generator

If you want your videos to rank well on YouTube and Google, you need to provide the platforms with as much information as possible. The YouTube description section is perfect for adding your most important keywords and getting people to take action.

AI can help you do the heavy lifting in creating well-optimized Descriptions. For this, we’ll be using our YouTube Description Generator.

Here’s how it works.

Our input was the title that we created in the example above:

Here are a couple of description ideas the generator provided us:

YouTube shorts description ideas generated by AI:

• In a world of social media and content creation, staying up to date with the latest trends is key for marketers. YouTube Shorts are quickly becoming one of the newest ways for brands to increase their online presence, gain more visibility and reach their target customers. With this in mind, understanding what YouTube Shorts is all about can be your first step towards taking advantage of its potential opportunities for your brand – from growing it from zero to hero!
• YouTube Shorts is the latest social media product from YouTube, allowing users to create and share micro-content from their smartphones. It can be used by brands of all sizes—from small start-ups to established companies—to boost visibility and get their messaging out loud and clear. This blog post will take a look at how you and your business can use YouTube Shorts to engage potential customers, increase brand awareness, generate leads with zero cost for content creation, promote products or services, and measure your
• YouTube Shorts has become the fastest-growing social media trend of 2021. With over millions of views each day and many people tuning in from all around the globe, it’s no surprise that brands are competing to make an impact on these short videos. From activating high-profile influencers to creating your own Shorts content, there are many ways you can grow your brand using this new feature – but only if you know what works. In this blog post, we’ll discuss some tips on how to capitalize on

We can re-run the generator or take one of these ideas, add our unique human touch, perfect them, and add them to your YouTube Shorts Description.

Make your YouTube Short More Engaging

In this day and age, we need to capture people’s attention within seconds. That’s especially the case for short-form formats like YouTube Shorts, TikToks, Instagram Reels, etc.

In order to do that, we turn to Canva Pro.

We either add engaging layers to the YouTube Shorts we’ve recorded or create entire Shorts using video and sound elements within Canva pro.

Canva is a very intuitive Design Tool and very affordable, so perfect for content creators to create some awesome content.

Here’s an example of a YouTube Short where we added:

• An intro;
• Music background;
• Captions;
• Outro with a CTA.

Using Canva Pro.

And here’s an example of a YouTube short we created entirely in Canva Pro:

Start Creating Great YouTube Shorts

I hope this resource of YouTube Video Shorts Statistics has helped you understand the power of YouTube shorts and short-form content and gives you some guidance on how to get started and be successful.

There is more to your story. Let’s get it out!

FAQ

What are YouTube Shorts?

Short-form videos on YouTube, typically under 60 seconds, designed for quick, engaging content.

How do I create a YouTube Short?

Use the YouTube app to record, edit, and upload videos up to 60 seconds long.

Are there specific content guidelines for YouTube Shorts?

Follow YouTube’s community guidelines; avoid copyrighted material.

Can YouTube Shorts be monetized?

Eligible creators can earn through the YouTube Shorts Fund.

How do YouTube Shorts differ from regular YouTube videos?

Shorts are shorter, vertical videos optimized for mobile viewing.

Can I use music in my YouTube Shorts?

YouTube provides a library of licensed music for Shorts.

How do YouTube Shorts impact channel growth?

Shorts can increase visibility and subscriber growth due to their format.

Do YouTube Shorts have analytics?

Yes, analytics for Shorts are available in YouTube Studio.

Can I edit YouTube Shorts after uploading?

You can not edit the video, only the title, description, etc.

Are YouTube Shorts available globally?

YouTube Shorts are rolling out globally, availability varies by region.

How important are hashtags in YouTube Shorts?

Hashtags enhance discoverability and categorization of Shorts.

Can YouTube Shorts be part of a playlist?

Shorts can be included in playlists like regular videos.

How can creators use YouTube Shorts to interact with their audience?

Creators use Shorts for quick updates, polls, and engaging with viewers.

Do YouTube Shorts support all the features of regular videos?

Shorts have limited features compared to regular videos but are evolving.

How do YouTube Shorts influence the YouTube algorithm?

Shorts can boost channel visibility due to their format and engagement.

Can YouTube Shorts be shared outside of YouTube?

Shorts can be shared via links, similar to regular YouTube videos.

What video quality is supported for YouTube Shorts?

High-quality video up to 1080p is supported for Shorts.

Are there any duration exceptions for YouTube Shorts?

The maximum length is 60 seconds, with no exceptions.

Can businesses use YouTube Shorts for marketing?

Shorts are an effective tool for short-form video marketing.

How do comments work on YouTube Shorts?

Viewers can comment on Shorts similar to regular YouTube videos.

How do thumbnails work for YouTube Shorts?

Thumbnails are automatically generated.

Is there a way to track the viral spread of a YouTube Short?

Analytics in YouTube Studio provide insights on Shorts’ performance and reach.

Can YouTube Shorts be scheduled for later release?

Yes, scheduling options are available for uploading Shorts.

How do captions work in YouTube Shorts?

Captions can be auto-generated or manually added for accessibility.

What role do YouTube Shorts play in community building?

Shorts are effective for quick, frequent engagement with a community.

Are there editing tools available within YouTube for Shorts

YouTube provides basic editing tools for creating Shorts.

How can influencers effectively use YouTube Shorts?

Influencers use Shorts for teasers, behind-the-scenes, and engaging snippets.

Is there a limit to the number of Shorts a creator can upload?

There’s no limit to the number of Shorts a creator can upload.

How are YouTube Shorts different from stories or live streams?

Shorts are permanent, short videos, unlike temporary stories or longer live streams.

Can YouTube Shorts be used for educational content?

Yes, Shorts are suitable for quick educational or informative content.

Sources:

• https://techcrunch.com/2021/08/03/youtubes-100-million-shorts-fund-to-challenge-tiktok-goes-live/
• https://rootnote.co/youtube-shorts-stats-and-what-they-might-mean/
• https://www.adweek.com/adweek-wire/short-form-videos-continue-to-grow-viewership-on-youtube-according-to-tubular-labs/
• https://www.cnbc.com/select/karat-black-card-the-credit-card-for-social-media-influencers/
• https://www.statista.com/statistics/1261865/youtube-premium-subscribers/
• https://www.businessofapps.com/data/youtube-statistics/
• https://abc.xyz/2024-q1-earnings-call/
• https://www.statista.com/statistics/1466388/short-social-video-engagement-rate/

Author bio:

Raul Tiru: Raul loves to build companies and help startups and scale-ups grow. Raul started his first website when he was 17 years old, has held several growth marketing positions in fast-growing companies, and has helped companies via his Freelance Marketing services. You can find Raul on his community GlobalOwls where he helps Nonprofits and Startups to do better marketing.

Top AI Marketing Generators

Do you ever wonder if prospective students are reading your content?

If the answer is yes, that’s a legitimate concern — and you’re not the only one.

Marketers across various industries are continually looking for ways to increase engagement for their content. For schools, that means creating websites, landing pages, multiple brochure types, and other types of content that are compelling enough to nudge prospective students to apply or persuade alumni to give back.

Aside from engaging and encouraging your target audience to take a desired action, great content will help strengthen your school’s brand.

To get you started on creating quality higher education content, we’ve put together 12 traits to guide you toward creating stunning content that will engage prospective students, alumni, and staff alike.

1. Create Visual Higher Ed Content

Images, videos, GIFs, you name it — any of these visual elements can help boost your content’s recall rate since visuals are 60,000 times easier to process than words. Not to mention that visuals transform your content into an aesthetically pleasing viewing experience. Visual content is an excellent way for your communications materials to show off your school’s culture, campus, and world-class facilities.

2. Create Interactive Content

It’s hard enough to hold people’s attention these days, and there’s no better way to lose your audience than a dull, static piece of content that doesn’t allow for any interaction. Including animations, transitions, and elements will elevate your readers’ journey. Whether it’s first-time visitors or student applicants that are visiting your website, you show you are committed to all of your audiences when you create an engaging content experience for readers of all stages. Interactive content enables your audience, drives the reading experience, and boosts engagement throughout the session.

3. Create Story-Driven Content

Emotions are powerful, and stories drive emotions. There’s no denying that people make emotionally-driven decisions if they can relate to your narrative. This is the moment for you to share your school’s story and showcase your values. To make your narrative even more compelling, try including stories as told by your school’s faculty, students, and alumni. Social proof can help strengthen your brand identity and trustworthiness in the eyes of new audiences.

4. Spark Conversational

Conversations aren’t just something you have in real life — they also extend to paper (or the screen). Writing in a conversational style helps you communicate better and connect with your prospects more genuinely. Nothing turns people off more than a written sales pitch. When writing your content, imagine yourself talking to your prospects and write the way you would speak to them. Instead of forcing your prospects into performing your desired goal, offer them benefits and solutions, and find out how you can help them achieve success.

As with any conversation, your content should lead them down a specific path to the desired action: your CTA. Do you want your audience to sign up for a trial? Do you want them to subscribe to your newsletter? Whether or not they take the desired action will be determined when your prospective students feel comfortable engaging with your content and spend time reading it thoroughly.

5. Have an Integrated Content Marketing Approach

Don’t treat each of your content pieces like individual islands. They should complement each other to form a narrative for your prospects. This helps readers connect the dots and remember why they came to you in the first place. For example, instead of sending your alumni an event invitation and a separate blog post about giving back to your school, tie the two pieces together in the same sequential campaign. Add social sharing buttons or social media feeds onto your content to enable your audience to share them with their connections and simultaneously interact with you in real-time.

6. Create Original Content

This is where you draw on your school’s past to tell a story. For example, do you have a tradition that’s unique to your school (e.g., Harvard’s Primal Scream)? Don’t be afraid to add fun facts and use new ways of delivering your content and attract readers’ attention. For example, Middlebury College’s website doesn’t share the typical website layout that shows a navigation bar and school logo at the top like other schools. Instead, their website renders each content piece as color bars in a very minimalistic design, which stands out from the rest.

7. Create Shareable Content

In our age, social media is the easiest way for news or content to travel. Leverage the power of social media by making your content shareable on all essential platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.

Making something “shareable” isn’t just adding social media buttons. You should tailor the content and use the appropriate format for each platform. For example, if you have a blog post that you’d also like to promote on Instagram, consider creating a square image or infographic related to the post, and then link to the post in your Instagram profile.

8. Create Snackable Short-Form Content

Imagine yourself having a snack on the go while you’re working on other essential tasks. Would you prefer a whole meal with utensils or something bite-sized and portable? The latter sounds like a more convenient option, and this is exactly how most people prefer to read their content. Breaking up your content into smaller bits can help your audience process content more easily and retain the message you are trying to communicate in a much more effective way. Creating snackable content involves thoughtful planning on both design and text. Write in short sentences or bullet points. With regards to the layout of your content, use whitespace to separate images, and create visual blocks for your readers.

9. Your Content Should Be Accessible

Given that higher education institutions include people from very diverse backgrounds, being inclusive should be second nature. Universities are also required by the government to be ADA-compliant to accommodate individuals with disabilities. There are plenty of online resources that will guide you towards creating content that’s compliant with accessibility standards and inclusive of disabled audiences.

10. Make Sure Your Content Is Easy To Find

Your content shouldn’t leave your visitors in a confusing maze. A piece of content that’s easy to navigate reduces barriers and helps your audience reach the desired goal faster. For starters, an easily navigable website creates a better experience for users and makes your content more visible to your prospects. A well-designed navigation bar can tremendously reduce the amount of time it takes for your prospect to get from the homepage to your contact page. Having your content readily visible rather than buried under layers of different pages means your visitors are more likely to revisit your site.

11. Create Personalized Content

Help your prospects feel welcome by personalizing your content. This can be as simple as addressing them by name in the email subject line or writing in the first person to address your readers directly. If your content is targeted (email, sending a content offer, etc.), use personalization tokens to automate the process. This can also help you save time when working with big audience groups.

12. Make Sure Your Content Is Skimmable

Our reading habits have changed. As the world becomes more saturated with web-based content, people are getting increasingly good at skimming. Your Generation Z and Millennial prospects are probably skimming through your website pages, emails, and content on their smartphones as they’re performing other duties. Delivering your content in bite-sized chunks with a focus on delivering maximum value allows prospects to capture the core benefits you want to emphasize.

For example, instead of creating a multi-page eBook, a one-pager with a bulleted list of information on your programs and offerings may be much more skim-friendly. This can help get prospects to understand the value of your offerings in a short time without asking them to commit to spending time on your content while they are still learning about your institution.

Colleges and universities must now market themselves not only to prospective students but also to parents, donors, and other stakeholders. Crafting engaging, relevant, and timely content is essential—but it’s also time-consuming.

Enter artificial intelligence (AI). AI is revolutionizing content marketing by streamlining processes, enhancing personalization, and delivering insights that improve results. In this article, we’ll explore how AI can elevate higher education content marketing efforts and help institutions stand out in an increasingly crowded field.

1. Effortless Content Creation

Content is king, but creating it often feels like a marathon. AI can take much of the heavy lifting out of content creation, freeing up your team to focus on strategy and creativity.

• Generate ideas: AI tools like ChatGPT can brainstorm blog topics, social media posts, or email campaigns tailored to specific audiences.
• Produce drafts: AI can assist in writing blog posts, press releases, or even scripts for videos, ensuring tone and language match your brand.
• Editing and proofreading: AI tools like Grammarly or Hemingway Editor refine your content, making it polished and professional.

For example, an AI-driven tool could draft a blog post about campus sustainability initiatives or provide inspiration for TikTok videos highlighting student life.

2. Personalized Audience Engagement

Today’s prospective students and stakeholders expect content that feels tailor-made for them. AI makes it easier to deliver personalized experiences at scale.

• Behavioral insights: AI tracks user interactions on your website, emails, and social media to identify what content resonates with different audience segments.
• Dynamic content: Tools like HubSpot allow you to customize website banners, email subject lines, or calls-to-action based on visitor data.
• Chatbots: AI-powered chatbots can answer prospective student questions 24/7, providing personalized responses about programs, admissions, or campus life.

By personalizing content, universities can create meaningful connections with potential students and stakeholders.

3. Smarter Distribution Strategies

Creating great content is only half the battle—you also need to ensure it reaches the right audience. AI can optimize content distribution strategies, ensuring maximum visibility and engagement.

• Social media optimization: AI tools like Buffer or Hootsuite analyze when and where your audience is most active, ensuring posts go live at the right times.
• Email campaigns: AI can craft personalized email sequences based on audience behavior, improving open and click-through rates.
• Search engine optimization (SEO): AI-driven platforms like SurferSEO or Clearscope help identify the best keywords and optimize content for search engines, increasing organic traffic.

For instance, an AI tool could recommend promoting a scholarship blog post on Instagram at 7 PM, when prospective students are most likely to be scrolling.

4. Data-Driven Decision Making

Higher education marketers have access to a wealth of data, but sorting through it can be overwhelming. AI excels at turning raw data into actionable insights.

• Content performance analysis: AI tools track metrics like engagement rates, time spent on pages, and social media shares to reveal what’s working.
• Predictive analytics: AI can forecast trends in enrollment interest or donor behavior, allowing you to stay ahead of the curve.
• Competitive analysis: AI-powered platforms provide insights into what peer institutions are doing, helping you refine your strategy.

With AI, higher education marketers can make informed decisions backed by real-time data, boosting campaign effectiveness.

5. Improved ROI on Marketing Efforts

Marketing budgets in higher education are often tight. AI ensures that every dollar spent goes further by streamlining workflows and improving targeting.

• Automated tasks: AI handles repetitive tasks like scheduling social posts, tracking campaign performance, and responding to FAQs, saving time and money.
• Audience segmentation: AI pinpoints high-value prospects, ensuring your resources focus on audiences most likely to convert.
• Cost-effective ad optimization: AI-powered platforms like Google Ads use machine learning to optimize your campaigns, reducing cost-per-click and maximizing reach.

By improving efficiency and targeting, AI helps institutions get more from their marketing budgets.

6. Keeping Up With Changing Trends

The digital landscape evolves rapidly, and staying relevant is a constant challenge. AI ensures your content strategy remains agile and aligned with current trends.

• Social listening: AI monitors conversations on social media, forums, and review sites to identify emerging topics and concerns.
• Content refresh: AI tools can analyze your existing content library and suggest updates to improve SEO or relevance.
• Trend forecasting: AI tools like Google Trends or Exploding Topics highlight what prospective students and parents are searching for.

For example, if AI identifies an uptick in searches for “online master’s programs,” your team can create targeted content to capture that demand.

Why AI is Essential for Higher Education Marketing

AI is not just a trend—it’s a transformative tool that can help higher education institutions craft engaging, data-driven content marketing strategies. From automating repetitive tasks to delivering hyper-personalized experiences, AI enables colleges and universities to connect with their audiences in meaningful ways.

By leveraging AI, your institution can stay ahead of the competition, maximize ROI, and focus on what matters most: sharing the stories, programs, and opportunities that make your school exceptional.

Now’s the time to embrace AI in your higher education marketing strategy and take your content to the next level. After all, the future waits for no one—especially in the fast-paced world of digital marketing.

Conclusion

Whether you’re creating new student materials, reaching out to alumni, or connecting with faculty and staff, you have the same end goal: to engage your audience. Keeping these twelve traits in mind will help you create content that captures your prospect’s or alumni’s attention and move one step closer to their goal.

FAQ

What is higher education content marketing?
Higher education content marketing involves creating and sharing valuable, relevant, and informative content to attract, engage, and retain prospective students, alumni, and faculty, ultimately promoting educational institutions.

Why is content marketing important for higher education institutions?
It’s important for building the institution’s brand, enhancing online presence, communicating unique value propositions, and engaging with the academic community effectively.

What types of content are effective in higher education marketing?
Effective content types include informational blog posts, success stories of alumni, faculty research highlights, virtual campus tours, and educational webinars.

How can higher education institutions use storytelling in their content marketing?
Storytelling can be used to share student and alumni experiences, research breakthroughs, and campus life, creating a more personal and emotional connection with prospective students.

What role does SEO play in higher education content marketing?
SEO is crucial for increasing the visibility of educational content in search engine results, helping prospective students and researchers find relevant information easily.

How can social media be utilized in higher education content marketing?
Social media platforms can disseminate content to a broader audience, engage with students and alumni, and foster a sense of community around the institution.

What are the challenges of content marketing in the higher education sector?
Challenges include addressing diverse audience needs, creating content that stands out, staying up-to-date with educational trends, and measuring the impact of content marketing efforts.

How important is video content in higher education marketing?
Video content is highly impactful for showcasing campus facilities, student life, and academic programs, offering a dynamic and engaging way to attract prospective students.

Can higher education content marketing aid in student recruitment?
Yes, by providing valuable information and a compelling portrayal of campus life and academic programs, content marketing can be a powerful tool in recruiting new students.

How can higher education institutions measure the success of their content marketing?
Success can be measured through website traffic, engagement rates, the number of inquiries or applications received, social media metrics, and overall brand awareness and perception.

Author bio

Ritesh is a digital marketing manager with years of experience in driving growth. He’s currently the director of inbound marketing at Foleon. You can find more about him on his LinkedIn profile.

Long before we called content marketing “content marketing,” companies were leveraging white papers to generate and nurture leads.

While many new types of content offers have emerged over the past few years, white papers have lost none of their value. Audiences want access to expert advice, and they’re often willing to hand over contact information to get it.

Today, your ability to reap value from white paper driven leads is greater than ever, especially if you view these publications as starting points in your relationships with new prospects and customers.

Is your white paper strategy set up to create and nurture these quality relationships? The following three questions will help you answer that question — and eventually secure a higher, more consistent ROI.

Check out the White Paper Marketing Tips You Need to Know.

The tips in this article are based on new HTML-5 interactive white papers. If you’re not familiar with them, we recommend checking out how you can create interactive white papers. 

1. Are you welcoming readers or putting barriers in their way?

The most popular way to capture leads with your white papers is by gating them, asking readers to enter some contact information before they get access. This can be an effective strategy, but there are also pitfalls to watch out for.

A form, especially one that is unnecessarily long, can deter potential leads from engaging with your content. This is what marketers call friction. In a best-case scenario, the sales process slows down. In the worst case, you’ll lose potential leads entirely.

Gauging your audience’s appetite for forms through testing is essential. If you see lots of traffic on your landing pages but very few conversions, the form could very well be the culprit. In that case, you want to have another option for visitors.

Use social login for your white paper

A significant advantage of using interactive white papers (instead of PDFs) is that you can use social integrations with sites like LinkedIn. Visitors can access your white paper with just one click, and you gain even more information than you would have captured with a form. Another benefit here is that you can be sure the information isn’t fake.

Mid-gate your white paper

Another option that’s increasing in popularity is mid-gating. Make the first few pages of your white paper open access so your readers get a taste of what you’re offering, and then gate the rest. This also has the effect of increasing the quality of your leads because readers will only sign up if what they’ve already read resonates with them.

Add a skip option to your white paper mid-gate

You can also use a form to gate your white paper but include a “skip it” option. You’ll still collect details from visitors with a high degree of interest, but you’ll avoid turning away those unwilling to part with their information.

Think about retargeting white paper traffic

If you choose not to gate your content, interactive white papers still allow you to embed retargeting pixels so you can engage with readers later using relevant offers on other channels.

The bottom line is that you should test prospects’ willingness to share their contact information and change your tactics accordingly. You want to gather data but still make it easy for them to engage with you through your white paper.

2. Personalize your white paper for your readers

You’ll find that when you personalize white papers, your leads will spend more time engaging with your content (22%, on average) and are more likely to share it on social media.

When prospects fill out a form or log in with their LinkedIn profiles, they provide you with all the details you need to personalize their reading experience. Don’t pass up that opportunity.

In addition to addressing visitors by name, you can make strategic editorial choices based on information such as their geographic region or their industry. One way to utilize this information is by filtering your publications so people with a particular profile only see particular pages of your white paper.

Personalization is a powerful way to increase engagement. Many major brands use it to create tailored experiences on their websites — and with interactive white papers, you can use it as well.

3. What are you doing after prospects read your white paper?

From the moment a prospect requests your white paper, they begin a relationship with your brand. At least, that’s how it should work. Too many companies treat a white paper download as an ending, not a beginning.

How you follow up with a lead determines whether or not a relationship develops. If you do it right, you’ll guide him or her further into the funnel and, eventually, take some profitable action.

With traditional PDF white papers, the most you can do is move them to a drip campaign. But with digital white papers, you can decide how to follow up based on how they’ve interacted with your content.

You might use a pixel, for example, to retarget certain readers that spent time on a particular page with a relevant offer on Facebook. If they used their LinkedIn account to access your white paper, you might choose to connect with them there.

By analyzing data from your interactive white paper using our Google Analytics integration, you’ll get an idea of how your readers interacted with your content and, therefore, how aggressively you should follow up. You can see which users were highly engaged and might warrant immediate direct contact with your sales team.

Look at the pages on which users spent the most time and which specific links they clicked. Did a user watch an embedded video all the way to the end? All of this information can inform your nurture strategy.

White papers are a cornerstone of B2B marketing, providing in-depth insights and solutions that build authority and trust. Yet, creating, distributing, and promoting white papers effectively can feel like a Herculean task. This is where artificial intelligence (AI) steps in, offering tools and strategies to make your white paper marketing efforts smarter, faster, and more effective.

In this article, we’ll explore how AI can revolutionize the way businesses approach white paper marketing, from content creation to data-driven promotion.

1. Streamlining White Paper Creation

Let’s face it: writing a white paper can be daunting. Research, outlining, and drafting take time—and that’s before factoring in revisions. AI-powered tools can simplify and speed up the process, allowing you to focus on strategy and creativity.

• Content generation tools like ChatGPT can assist with drafting sections of a white paper, ensuring your ideas flow clearly and persuasively.
• AI-powered research tools sift through vast amounts of data to surface relevant statistics, case studies, and reports in seconds.
• Editing and proofreading assistants such as Grammarly or ProWritingAid identify errors and suggest improvements, polishing your document to perfection.

With AI, teams can spend less time wrestling with writer’s block and more time crafting compelling arguments and solutions.

2. Targeting the Right Audience

A well-crafted white paper is only effective if it reaches the right audience. AI excels at audience segmentation and analysis, ensuring your content lands in front of decision-makers who need it most.

• Use AI-driven analytics platforms to identify key audience segments, including job roles, industries, and regions.
• Leverage natural language processing (NLP) to analyze what your audience is discussing online. This can guide the themes and tone of your white paper to match their needs.
• Implement predictive analytics to identify prospects most likely to engage with your content, improving lead generation efforts.

By using AI to refine your targeting, you’ll maximize the ROI of your white paper campaigns.

3. Optimizing Distribution Channels

Gone are the days of posting a white paper on your website and hoping for the best. AI can supercharge your distribution strategy, ensuring your white paper gets the attention it deserves.

• Email marketing automation: AI tools like HubSpot and Mailchimp can craft personalized email campaigns based on audience behavior, increasing open and click-through rates.
• Social media scheduling: Platforms like Buffer or Hootsuite use AI to determine the best times to post and which headlines are most engaging.
• Content syndication: AI helps identify third-party sites or industry forums where your white paper could gain traction, boosting visibility.

4. Enhancing Lead Nurturing

White papers are often designed to capture leads, but what happens next? AI can take the guesswork out of lead nurturing, keeping prospects engaged throughout the buyer’s journey.

• AI-powered chatbots can follow up with readers who download your white paper, answering questions or guiding them to additional resources.
• Use AI to score leads based on how they interact with your content, helping sales teams focus on the most promising opportunities.
• Automate personalized follow-up emails with AI tools to keep leads warm and guide them toward conversion.

5. Measuring and Improving Performance

White paper marketing doesn’t end after publication. AI provides deep insights into how your white papers perform, enabling you to refine your strategy for future success.

• Engagement tracking tools reveal how much time users spend reading your white paper, which sections they linger on, and where they drop off.
• AI-powered A/B testing allows you to experiment with different headlines, visuals, and calls-to-action to see what resonates best.
• Use sentiment analysis to gauge audience reactions on social media or in feedback forms, providing valuable insights for future content.

Why AI is a Game-Changer for White Paper Marketing

AI isn’t just a tool; it’s a game-changer for white paper marketing. From drafting to distribution and beyond, AI enables marketers to work smarter, not harder. By leveraging AI’s capabilities, you can create high-quality white papers that reach the right audience, drive engagement, and deliver measurable results.

As the marketing landscape continues to evolve, businesses that embrace AI will find themselves ahead of the curve—delivering content that informs, persuades, and converts. So why wait? Start integrating AI into your white paper marketing strategy today, and watch your results soar.

Conclusion

White papers hold more potential value for marketers than ever. They can introduce you to the prospects you’re most interested in meeting. If you deliver an experience that is both useful and memorable, those introductions will lead to quality customer relationships.

Examining your white paper strategy with the questions we introduce here is the first step to boosting ROI, generating more leads, and building better customer relationships.

You might also like:

FAQ

What is white paper marketing?
White paper marketing is a strategy where businesses produce and distribute white papers — authoritative reports or guides — to inform their target audience about complex issues or solutions and promote their expertise.

How effective is white paper marketing in lead generation?
White papers are highly effective in lead generation as they offer valuable insights, attracting potential customers who seek in-depth information on specific topics.

What are the key elements of a successful white paper in marketing?
Key elements include a compelling topic, well-researched and authoritative content, a clear structure, professional design, and a call-to-action.

How can businesses distribute their white papers for maximum impact?
Businesses can distribute white papers through their website, email newsletters, social media, industry forums, and by partnering with other organizations for wider reach.

What role does SEO play in white paper marketing?
SEO can enhance the online visibility of white papers, making them easier to find by target audiences through search engines.

Can white paper marketing be used to establish thought leadership?
Absolutely, white papers are an excellent tool for establishing thought leadership by showcasing a company’s expertise, insights, and innovative approaches in their field.

How does white paper marketing differ from other content marketing strategies?
White paper marketing focuses on providing in-depth, research-based content on specific topics, targeting a more informed and professional audience compared to other content types.

What industries benefit most from white paper marketing?
Industries such as technology, finance, healthcare, and consulting, where complex solutions and detailed information are integral, benefit greatly from white paper marketing.

How can businesses measure the success of their white paper marketing?
Success can be measured by tracking downloads, leads generated, engagement on social media, and the paper’s influence on sales or business inquiries.

What are the challenges in creating effective white papers for marketing?
Challenges include ensuring high-quality research and writing, selecting relevant topics, maintaining reader engagement, and effectively promoting the white paper to the right audience.

How long should a white paper be for effective marketing?
The length can vary, but typically, a white paper should be detailed enough to cover a topic comprehensively, usually ranging from 6 to 50 pages, depending on the subject complexity.

Can white papers be used for both B2B and B2C marketing?
While more common in B2B marketing due to their detailed and technical nature, white papers can also be effective in B2C contexts, especially for complex or high-value consumer products.

What is the ideal structure of a marketing white paper?
An ideal structure includes an introduction outlining the issue, a body discussing solutions and data, and a conclusion with a clear call-to-action, all presented in a logical, easy-to-follow format.

How can visual elements enhance a white paper in marketing?
Visual elements like charts, graphs, and infographics can make the content more engaging and help in explaining complex information more effectively.

What strategies can be used to promote a white paper on social media?
On social media, highlight key findings, use compelling graphics, create teaser content, and consider paid advertising to target specific professional groups or interests.

Can white papers be repurposed into other content forms for marketing?
Yes, white papers can be repurposed into blog posts, infographics, webinars, or a series of social media posts to maximize the content’s reach and lifespan.

What makes a white paper credible and authoritative for marketing purposes?
Credibility comes from thorough research, expert insights, accurate data, a professional tone, and clear, unbiased presentation of information.

How can businesses ensure their white paper resonates with their target audience?
Understand the audience’s challenges and interests, use language that speaks to them, and address their pain points or questions comprehensively in the white paper.

What is the importance of a call-to-action in a white paper?
A call-to-action is vital to guide readers on what to do next, whether it’s contacting the company for more information, signing up for a service, or accessing additional resources.

How does the distribution channel impact the success of white paper marketing?
The choice of distribution channels (such as the company website, email campaigns, industry forums, or social media platforms) can significantly impact the reach and effectiveness of the white paper, making it crucial to select channels where the target audience is most active.

Author bio

Ritesh is a digital marketing manager with years of experience in driving growth. He’s currently the director of inbound marketing at Foleon. You can find more about him on his LinkedIn profile.

Do you want to get serious about promoting your business on LinkedIn?

See how, by following these tips, you can get a lot more out of your LinkedIn company page and grow your followers month over month.

LinkedIn is becoming a Content Powerhouse with many opportunities to build a strong following, organic, and via paid advertising.

In this article, we’ll mainly go into how to get more LinkedIn followers for your company page organically.

If you want to get a more holistic view, check out our LinkedIn Marketing Strategy Guide.

Let’s get started!

1. Why would anyone follow your LinkedIn company page?

Some organizations get a large following by simply sharing updates about their product or service. A lot of people follow Apple’s product updates. Chances are, you’re not yet in that league. You would need to ask yourself the question:

‘how interesting are my company/product updates?’

If the answer is: ‘quite interesting’. You can get some very loyal followers that want to know everything about what’s going on with your organization, what’s new, where they can find you, what’s up with your employees, etc.

Sharing only company updates will lower your potential though.

Why?<

Because chances are that you won’t get a lot of ‘top of the funnel’ new followers. Followers who would follow your company page because you are the go-to place for new inspiration, helping them to solve their problems, etc.

Examples of great B2B LinkedIn company pages 

HubSpot sells sophisticated CRM software to organizations. They have a ton of product updates, but that’s not the only thing you see on their LinkedIn company page. They share a lot of interactive content, tailored to attract new followers in their target group. It’s not a coincidence that they have more than 800,000 followers on LinkedIn.

Here are some examples of posts from great B2B Linkedin company pages: MailChimp, Hootsuite, Slack

This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t share company updates. It means that, if you want to attract new followers that are not that well acquainted with your organization, it helps to provide content that is valuable even if they don’t use your product (yet).

Also, if there are influential people in your industry, and non-competing companies, that you respect and wish to be associated with, be sure to mention them in your updates. You’ll have a better chance to get in front of their network since they’ll be able to reshare your post to their followers.

2. Be consistent with sharing content and your branding

You probably have noticed in the examples above that the content HubSpot, MailChimp, Hootsuite, and Slack share is recognizable. If you want to build a loyal following on LinkedIn, it’s important to be consistent in your: messaging, posting frequency, and branding.

Let’s put it like this:

If you manage to get 1,000,000 content views with 100 pieces of content that are on-brand, people recognize it and start seeing a story a brand is trying to tell. If you get the same 1,000,000 content views with 100 pieces of content that are NOT on-brand. Your message get’s diluted and people would not even know that many pieces of content were from your brand because they did not recognize it. This leaves major gaps in the story you’re trying to tell.

It’s not just about how many people you have reached over time. It’s also about being consistent, telling a consistent story, and using on-brand messaging and visuals helps. Especially on Social Media where people scroll past content very quickly if it’s not engaging.

Create great Social Media captions

I understand it can be difficult to stay consistent with creating content and posting on LinkedIn. Therefore, I’m happy to be able to introduce this great AI-Powered Social Media Caption generator that can help you come up with new ideas and even entire LinkedIn captions. We do advise adding a human touch to your posts and never relying on it 100%. Nonetheless, using the AI Social Media Post Generator helps a ton. No more starting with a blank page and you can get ideas from different angles. Check out the example below.

You can re-run the generator as often as needed and create a list of LinkedIn posts for the entire week or month. You can get started with a free trial to see if you like it.

AI Tool for the Pros

Want to take it one step further? Check out the Blog to Social Post Generator. Simply enter a piece of text from any of your blog posts and let AI help you create up to 25 LinkedIn posts. This helps you promote your blog post more easily and cover your topic from various angles. Check out the video to learn more. Also, check out our AI LinkedIn Post Generator and learn how to create effective LinkedIn Images, video scripts, and more.

3. Understanding the LinkedIn Algorithm to get better Organic Reach

After you came up with what content you would like to share, what story you would like to tell, and created engaging branded content, it’s time to post in a way that will maximize your chances of getting a high organic reach. Understanding LinkedIn’s algorithm is very important.

Basics LinkedIn Algorithm:

Share content that people would like to engage with and help LinkedIn to reach its goal of becoming a Content Powerhouse.

A couple of key points to their algorithm:

1. Receiving thoughtful comments should be your main goal if you want to increase your organic reach. LinkedIn loves comments the most because these will add even more value to a content piece and helps LinkedIn to become a Content Powerhouse. That is why you often see people asking questions and saying ‘link in comments’ (more on that on point 3).
2. The second best way to increase your organic reach is by receiving likes and shares.
3. LinkedIn wants to become a Content Powerhouse. This means they would like to keep people engaging and contribute more content on LinkedIn. Content that does not include links to get people off the platform, tends to perform better.
4. Interactive posts perform best. So text with images, carousels, etc. Not link posts 😉
5. Receiving engagement in the first hour is key for how LinkedIn will score your content. More on LinkedIn’s filter and the scoring mechanism is below. Be sure to post content when your followers are most active. You can easily see in your data in which country your followers live. Make sure to tailor your posting time to them ;).

A broad overview of LinkedIn’s algorithm

Below, you can see how LinkedIn’s algorithm works in a broad sense. 80% holds true for just about any Social Media platform. The algorithm tries to define what is spam or low quality with its own tools, if the piece of content passes the test, it’ll be shown to a couple of real people. Based on the interactions, the piece of content will be shown to more people and the algorithm keeps evaluating how many people it should be shown to.

Therefore, gaining a lot of followers that will never engage is a big miss in your LinkedIn growth. People used to buy Facebook followers and soon found out that it was doing a lot of harm and stopped.

Let’s say you have a total of 5,000 followers of which 1.000 are following your company page because all employees invited all their connections and the invitees wanted to support you and accepted but will never engage. That means that you have 4,000 followers who did follow your company page because they want to receive your updates. This still doesn’t mean that those 4,000 followers will engage with each and every content piece you post.

In this situation. When you post an update, and it passes the low quality / spam filter and it’s being shown to a couple of followers, chances are pretty high that just a few people interact with your post, meaning it will not be shown to all your followers.

low engagement / reach does not always mean that you’re not posting quality content. Just keep that in mind. It can also be that the followers you have gained are just ‘supporters’ that never interact with your content.

Organic reach on LinkedIn is really great compared to many other social media platforms. Using the right hashtags helps you to get in front of the right audience.

LinkedIn posts with 0 hashtags, will mainly be seen by your followers and connections of people that interact with that post.

LinkedIn posts with the right hashtags will be seen by people who are not following you yet and you’re not connected with them.

LinkedIn is even encouraging you to use hashtags. They want to catch up on being a content platform like Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram. Work with LinkedIn and you will get rewarded.

When posting on your LinkedIn company page, you’ll see that the post-builder is helping to use relevant hashtags.

Using relevant hashtags is great to get better results, but if you want to get great results, you will need to also check the popularity of a hashtag.

If you have a small LinkedIn company page as we do. You shouldn’t (only) use the most popular hashtags because your post will never get seen in the big ocean.

But some hashtags seem nice but have 0 (or close to 0) followers. That’s also a waste of hashtag usage.

Homework

Make a list of hashtags that fit your LinkedIn company page and content you publish. The hashtags should be just right. Not too popular, but also don’t choose the hashtags that no one follows.

Check out your hashtags here:

https://www.linkedin.com/feed/hashtag/?keywords=[enter hashtag]

5. Let colleagues know that you’ve published a post on your LinkedIn company page

All platforms are aware that some content is great and some… isn’t. Listings on Booking.com, Tweets on Twitter, photos on Shutterstock, etc.

They all have an algorithm to boost great content up the ranking. Usually, they look a data provided by the users. In the case of Social Media platforms, the percentage of people interacting with a post.

Example:

Post that has been seen by 500 people and has received 10 interactions.

Is of better quality than:

Post that has been seen by 500 people and has received 1 interaction.

Even if you have 10,000 followers on your LinkedIn company page. That doesn’t mean that all your followers will see your post. You will need to prove to LinkedIn’s algorithm that your post is worth showing to all your followers and their connections.

You will need to raise the interactions, FAST.

How?

One simple way is to message your colleagues to let them know that a post has been published and that liking, sharing, commenting, and even clicking on the link is appreciated.

You’d want to show the algorithm as soon as possible that the post that has been published is great and all your followers should see it.

You can message your colleagues within your group app or on LinkedIn.

6. Educate your employees on how to get the best out of LinkedIn

Not all your employees or colleagues are marketers. It’s not their job to know about the best practices on LinkedIn.

Often time, they do want to help the organization they work at to get more followers and to build their personal brand.

Share a short explainer on the best practices and benefit from the collective power of your organization.

Here’s an example:

Also, be sure your employees are properly mapped to your Page (by citing it accurately in their Work Experience), because every time your employee makes a new connection on LinkedIn, the new connection will be prompted to follow your Page.

7. Interact in LinkedIn groups

Did you know that there are some great thought leaders in various LinkedIn groups? There are small- and large LinkedIn groups and you can even start your own.

You can share articles, comment on what others have shared and interact with people in your target group. Be sure to be present and mention your company page when it’s relevant.

8. Invite connections to follow your LinkedIn company page

LinkedIn had introduced this option for a short period, then removed it and has now re-introduced it.

You can invite your first connections to follow your LinkedIn company page. All team members that are page admins can use this function. You can invite an individual only once.

This can be a powerful tool to get more followers for your LinkedIn company page, but be sure not to spam people.

9. Interact with your LinkedIn company page

You can interact on various topics with your personal account and tag your LinkedIn company page.

Or.

You can simply interact directly with your LinkedIn company page (like, share and comment).

On your company page, you have the option to add three hashtags and change the hashtags as often as you like.

By clicking on these hashtags, you’ll enter a feed about the hashtag you selected and can interact with your company pages.

10. Publish long-form content on LinkedIn with your personal account

As I mentioned before. LinkedIn wants to catch up with other content platforms and is doing its best to help people reach a large audience on LinkedIn without having to pay for it.

One of the best ways to reach a large audience on LinkedIn is to publish long-form content with your personal account. Of course, be sure to mention your company page, add the right hashtags, invite your colleagues to like and share, etc.

If done well, this tactic can really help you get more followers for your LinkedIn company page. The people you’ll reach will at least have a LinkedIn account but will likely also be highly active on the platform. Following your company, there will make more sense than, for instance, on Instagram.<

11. Make it easy to share website content on LinkedIn

Aside from tactics, you can follow to get more followers from within LinkedIn, there are also tactics to utilize your assets and channels.

One of the most straightforward ways is to make it easy for people to share your content on LinkedIn.

First, it’s important to have the LinkedIn share button on your web pages.

Second, it’s important to have the LinkedIn O.G. tags configured properly.

If you have a visitor that likes your content and wants to share it on LinkedIn, it would be a shame if he would not do so, simply because the post looks really messy.

12. Ask people to follow your LinkedIn company page

You would be surprised how many people will follow your LinkedIn company page if you would just ask.

We’ve already covered the option to invite your first contact to follow your LinkedIn page, but there are several other ways you could go about it, depending on how important it is to you to get LinkedIn followers.

Many organizations add a LinkedIn follow button to their website footer and email footer, but they don’t ask to take action.

You could simply add a line of text in your email that goes something like:

“Be sure to follow our LinkedIn company page where we share the latest updates on [fill in the blank]”

Or.

You could add a pop-up on your blog with the same message.

13. Run ads to get more followers to your LinkedIn company page

If you really want to take it a step further, you should run LinkedIn ads. Make sure you know how much a quality follower is worth to you before running the ads and testing various tactics.

This is a topic for the next post, but if you’d like to get started check out our guide on setting up your LinkedIn Insight Tag.

With over 900 million users competing for attention, growing your follower count can feel like trying to stand out in a crowd at a packed conference.

Enter AI. From crafting engaging content to optimizing your profile and building relationships, artificial intelligence offers tools and strategies that can significantly boost your LinkedIn presence. In this guide, we’ll explore how to use AI effectively to gain more LinkedIn followers and amplify your impact.

1. Optimizing Your LinkedIn Profile

Your profile is your first impression, and AI can help ensure it’s irresistible to potential followers.

• AI-driven headline suggestions: Tools like Copy.ai and Jasper can craft attention-grabbing LinkedIn headlines that highlight your expertise and attract your target audience.
• Profile keyword optimization: AI tools like Resume Worded analyze your profile to ensure it’s optimized with keywords that make you more discoverable in LinkedIn searches.
• Professional headshots: AI-based platforms like Remini can enhance your profile photo, making you appear polished and approachable.

By creating a well-optimized profile that resonates with your niche, you lay the groundwork for growing your followers organically.

2. Creating Engaging Content

Content is the lifeblood of LinkedIn, and AI can help you produce posts that stop the scroll.

• Content idea generation: Struggling with what to post? AI tools like ChatGPT can suggest timely and relevant topics based on your industry.
• AI writing assistants: Platforms like Writesonic or Jasper can help you craft posts, blogs, or articles that are clear, engaging, and formatted for LinkedIn’s audience.
• Content repurposing: Turn long-form content, like blogs or white papers, into bite-sized LinkedIn posts using AI tools like Repurpose.io.

AI ensures your content is not only professional but also tailored to what your audience wants to see, driving more engagement and followers.

3. Personalizing Your Outreach

Building a larger LinkedIn following often involves direct connections and personalized outreach. AI can streamline this process without making it feel robotic.

• Smart message generation: Tools like HyperWrite craft connection requests or follow-up messages that sound natural and align with your personal tone.
• Audience segmentation: AI analytics platforms like Crystal Knows offer insights into a person’s communication style, enabling you to tailor your approach.
• AI-powered lead generation: Tools like LinkedIn Sales Navigator, enhanced with AI plugins, can identify and recommend the best people to connect with based on your goals.

When outreach feels genuine and customized, people are more likely to follow you.

4. Leveraging Data for Insights

AI’s ability to analyze large sets of data can give you an edge in understanding what works—and what doesn’t—on LinkedIn.

• Content performance tracking: AI-powered platforms like Shield Analytics can show which posts perform best, helping you refine your strategy.
• Trend analysis: Tools like Exploding Topics or BuzzSumo use AI to identify emerging trends in your industry, so you can create timely content that resonates.
• Competitor analysis: AI tools can analyze your competitors’ profiles and posts to uncover what’s driving their engagement and apply those insights to your strategy.

With data-driven insights, you can focus on creating content and connections that actually grow your followers.

5. Automating Time-Consuming Tasks

Consistency is key to building a LinkedIn following, but it can be hard to keep up. AI tools automate repetitive tasks, allowing you to focus on higher-level strategy.

• Scheduling posts: Tools like Hootsuite or Buffer use AI to recommend the best times to post for maximum visibility.
• Auto-comments and engagement: Platforms like MeetAlfred or Podawaa help automate engagement with relevant posts, increasing your visibility without extra effort.
• Hashtag optimization: AI tools can suggest the best hashtags to expand the reach of your posts.

By automating these tasks, you can maintain an active LinkedIn presence without spending hours each day on the platform.

6. Enhancing Visual Content

Visuals play a big role in LinkedIn posts, and AI can help you create eye-catching graphics that boost engagement.

• Graphic design tools: AI platforms like Canva Pro offer templates and designs tailored for LinkedIn, making it easy to create professional-looking visuals.
• Video editing: Tools like Pictory.ai allow you to transform long videos into short, impactful clips for LinkedIn posts.
• Infographic creation: AI-powered tools like Venngage simplify the process of turning complex data into engaging visuals.

Visually appealing posts are more likely to grab attention and earn followers.

7. Boosting Engagement with AI-Powered Interactions

AI can help you engage authentically with your audience, encouraging more people to follow you.

• Smart comment suggestions: Tools like ChatGPT can craft thoughtful comments on posts from influencers or peers, helping you build visibility.
• Engagement tracking: AI monitors who is liking, sharing, or commenting on your content, so you can prioritize engaging with your most active supporters.
• Interactive polls and surveys: Use AI to generate questions for polls that spark conversation and drive engagement on your posts.

Engagement isn’t just about posting—it’s about showing up for your audience, and AI makes that easier than ever.

Why AI is a Game-Changer for LinkedIn Growth

Growing your LinkedIn followers takes time, effort, and a strategic approach. AI streamlines the process, offering tools to optimize your profile, create engaging content, personalize outreach, and analyze what works best.

By leveraging AI, you can build a stronger LinkedIn presence, attract the right audience, and establish yourself or your brand as an industry leader. Start integrating AI into your LinkedIn strategy today, and watch your follower count—and your opportunities—soar.

FAQ

How can I increase my LinkedIn followers?
Regularly post valuable content, engage with your network, and use relevant hashtags is the short answer.

Does sharing industry insights help in gaining followers on LinkedIn?
Yes, sharing expertise and insights positions you as a thought leader, attracting followers.

How effective are LinkedIn groups in increasing followers?
Participating in or creating LinkedIn groups can boost visibility and followers.

Can personalizing connection requests help gain more followers?
Personalized requests are more likely to be accepted, expanding your network.

Does posting frequency impact follower growth on LinkedIn?
Consistent posting keeps your profile active and engaging, aiding follower growth.

How important is a complete LinkedIn profile for gaining followers?
A complete profile with a professional photo and detailed information attracts more followers.

Can engaging with others’ content increase my LinkedIn followers?
Regularly commenting on and sharing others’ content can attract more followers.

Is it beneficial to tag relevant people and companies in posts?
Tagging increases visibility to broader networks, potentially increasing followers.

How do LinkedIn articles influence follower growth?
Publishing articles on LinkedIn can showcase your expertise, attracting followers.

Does cross-promoting LinkedIn on other social media help?
Sharing your LinkedIn profile on other platforms can drive traffic and increase followers.

Does networking at LinkedIn events help in gaining followers?
Networking at LinkedIn events can expand your connections, leading to more followers.

Is it useful to include a LinkedIn follow button on my website or blog?
Adding a follow button can direct your audience to your LinkedIn, increasing followers.

How can I use LinkedIn analytics to grow my follower base?
LinkedIn analytics provide insights into what content resonates, helping tailor your strategy.

Does collaborating with influencers or industry leaders boost followers?
Collaborating with popular LinkedIn users can expose you to a larger audience.

Can participating in LinkedIn Live sessions increase my followers?
Engaging in Live sessions can boost visibility and attract new followers.

How does optimizing my LinkedIn profile with keywords help?
Keyword optimization enhances searchability, making your profile more visible.

Is it beneficial to follow and engage with industry-related LinkedIn Pages?
Following and engaging with relevant Pages can increase your visibility.

How do recommendations and endorsements affect my follower count?
Recommendations enhance credibility, potentially attracting more followers.

Can promoting my LinkedIn profile at conferences and meetings be effective?
Promoting your LinkedIn in professional settings can lead to more connections.

Does setting my LinkedIn profile to public affect my follower growth?
A public profile is more accessible, potentially increasing your follower base.

How can hosting webinars or online workshops increase LinkedIn followers?
Hosting online events can showcase your expertise, attracting attendees to follow you.

Is using LinkedIn’s video feature effective for follower growth?
Videos often engage viewers more effectively, leading to an increase in followers.

Can asking engaging questions in posts attract more followers?
Posts with questions can spark conversations, drawing more people to your profile.

Does regular interaction with comments on my posts help gain followers?
Actively responding to comments builds community and can attract followers.

How does sharing my LinkedIn posts in newsletters contribute to follower growth?
Including LinkedIn content in newsletters can drive your subscribers to follow you on LinkedIn.

Is it helpful to set goals for LinkedIn activities to grow followers?
Setting specific goals for engagement can help focus efforts on effective follower growth strategies.

How can aligning my LinkedIn content with trending topics boost my following?
Posting about trending topics can increase your content’s visibility and reach.

Does offering free resources or advice in posts help in gaining followers?
Sharing valuable resources or advice can establish you as a helpful resource, attracting followers.

Can participating in relevant LinkedIn Polls increase my followers?
Engaging with polls exposes you to a broader audience, potentially increasing followers.

How effective is it to write testimonials or recommendations for connections?
Writing thoughtful testimonials can strengthen connections and encourage others to follow you.

Author bio:

Raul Tiru: Raul loves to build companies and help startups and scale-ups grow. Raul started his first website when he was 17 years old, has held several growth marketing positions in fast-growing companies, and has helped companies via his Freelance Marketing services. You can find Raul on his community GlobalOwls where he helps Nonprofits and Startups to do better marketing.

Top AI Marketing Generators

We live in a world where roughly ten percent of our waking time, we’re scrolling on social media.

What I’m seeing a lot of, still, is companies – startups, scale-ups, SMB’s most notably – who don’t know how to approach organic social media.

They either hardly ever post on social, or what and when they post is almost purely an expression of the feeling that “well, we have to post *something*”. And usually, that kind of shows.

Setting up a basic social media content strategy doesn’t have to be that hard.

Here’s some simple advice I give to people with this problem.

This generally breaks down into three layers:

Brand hygiene:
At the most basic level, posting regularly on the social media platforms where your customers are, is a hygiene factor. You want people to see you’re alive and well when they decide to look you up and have a look at your profile.

Thought leadership:
At a higher level, in our digital lifetime organic social media is a great way to load your brand, and if you’re in b2b, your thought leadership.

Increasing inbound leads & conversion:

Loading your brand and thought leadership finally, in the long term, can help you build up the brand awareness and trust that helps you get more direct traffic with buying intent, ‘hand raisers’, so to speak – and will increase your conversion rates across the customer journey.

Customer-facing employees who are personally active on say LinkedIn, within a b2b space will find that it can be an easy way to find and organically connect to prospects and to gain personal inbound leads.

Realize that it’s usually not a factor of increasing high-converting traffic straight from social media platforms to your website. Usually, metrics like reach, engagement, and direct traffic (this should rise if you’re doing organic social right), are KPIs you might want to use to measure the effectiveness of your organic social media efforts.

Common Social Media Marketing Goals

By doing a quick search on the internet, we found that we found that social media managers often set the following social media marketing goals for themselves and team.

• Increase brand awareness by x %;
• Increase community engagement by x %;
• Create x number of social posts per month;
• Create x number of video content per month;
• Get x number of leads from Social Media per month;
• Get x number of traffic to the website per month;
• Grow social media following by x %;
• Leave x number of comments on LinkedIn a month;
• Improve social media ads ROI by x %;

Get our free resources to get started with documenting your goals and KPIs.

How to set the right goals for your Social Media Marketing Strategy?

To set the right goals for your strategy, think about the following:

1. Look back, what can you learn from previous month / years?
2. What is realistic to achieve this year?
3. Will these new goals actually help my business or are they just vanity metrics?
4. Have you communicated your new goals with colleagues and management? Do you have buy-in?
5. Do you have a process in place to easily track your progress?

2. Think of your organic social messaging as a cyclic customer journey

As marketers, we have this wonderful false sense that the journey a customer takes to come to a decision to buy, follows some kind of more or less linear path that we can map out. We also know that the customer journey is just a model. As such, it can help.

1. Map out what your customer is thinking, wondering, experiencing, and what she wants or needs through the phases we call Awareness, Acquisition, and Activation (or See, Think, Do). You do this by talking to your customer.
2. Translate your brand message into (5) categories, pillars, or themes for your content that answers the questions your prospective buyers might have along these phases. Read more about this below.
3. Create a cyclic customer journey with your content on social media and the order in which you push it out, for instance, weekly. Understand that you don’t know when which person who comes across your message on their social feed, is in what phase.

3. Define 5 content themes so you have guidelines on what to post and how it should look and sound.

Based on the needs you identified your prospective customer has along the See, Think, Do phases, consider splitting up your messaging aling the following five lines:

Problem and brand awareness
Talk about the problem your product or service solves, in the way that your ideal customer experiences it. Talk about your view on why it’s so important and urgent that it’s solved, and your view on how it should be approached.

Vision, sub-topics, how-to
Talk about (and curate) trends in your market, and talk about your vision for problems your customers are facing in three or so areas related to your overarching niche. For instance; if I’m offering content marketing services, one sub-topic I might want to talk about is content strategy; what problems people have with it, and how to solve it. See what I did, there?

Personality and trust
Show yourself; the personality and values of your brand and specifically the people involved in it. Show the people on your team and celebrate then for their expertise and personality. Do the same with your business partners and best customers: share the love.

 Brand & product positioning, USPs, and proof:
Only in 1/5 posts, talk about your brand mission, your specific solutions or overarching offering, and your USPs. Add proof, by way of customer quotes and/or actual numbers and percentages of proven improvement in metrics that matter to your prospects.

Responsibility, ethics, and miscellaneous:
If you have a purpose for your business, show it. By showing how you think about how your work or your market can add to actually leaving the world better than you found it, and about what you do to put it into practice. This is the space for your CSR vision and initiatives, alternated by miscellaneous news about your company or industry.

4. Decide what content types you want to connect to your content themes, what channels you want to post on and what you want to emphasize on which channel.

Ideally, post about three times per week on LinkedIn and daily on Twitter.

After you’ve done your groundwork with the exercises presented in this article, the following two tools should help you scale content creation quite easily.

Create great Social Media Captions with StoryLab.ai’s Social Caption Generator

We’ve created our AI-Powered Social Media Caption Generator to help content creators to have a 24/7 buddy to spar with for gathering new social media post ideas and even complete social media post captions.

Simply describe our AI Buddy what your would like to post about and the AI will do the heavy lifting.

After you’ve created a list of potential captions, add your unique human touch and perfect them.

Here’s what it looks like:

AI Tool for the Pros

If you really want to take it up a notch, check out the AI-Powered Blog to Social Media Post Generator. Simply copy/paste a piece of text from a blog post and get up to 25 different social media captions. This way, you can promote your content from different angles and really get people excited about your topic / content over a longer period of time.

Check out this short video to learn more:

Make sure 1 out of every 2 posts to have some kind of moving image like an animated element (you can get this easily and cheaply in tools like Canva).

Don’t forget to think about how to supplement and integrate your social media strategy with other channels such as SEO, SEA, email, and so forth.

Don’t forget to set up at least a basic structure for inviting your team members to boost your social media footprint by

1. Liking and commenting on your posts and
2. Much more importantly – sharing their own updates around your strategic content themes on their own platforms.

If you follow these steps, it becomes much easier to know what to post about, when and where to post and in what format – in order to help solidify your brand and boost commercial results across the board.

Hope this has been helpful in creating your Social Media Marketing Strategy.

Here’s a summary of what we’ve discussed in a short video format.

Now let’s have look at a couple of more tactical aspects of getting more out of your Social Media Marketing efforts.

Setting up your Social Media Distribution Strategy

After you’ve set up your overall Social Media Marketing strategy, it’s time to have a look at how you distribute content on social media. It often comes down to the following:

• Which social media channels do you want to be active on?
• How often do you want to post on each channel?
• Which content format do you want to post per channel?

It can look something like this:

Here you can see that you want to take your ‘long-form content’ and create social posts for:

• Twitter;
• LinkedIn;
• Pinterest.

You also see that you want to create fewer posts for LinkedIn because you find that posting on Twitter and Pinterest a couple of times a day is fine, but maybe you don’t want to do that on LinkedIn.

You also see that you want to take that long-form content and create short-form content like:

This is a simple illustration of channel and format choices you can make for your social media distribution strategy. Head over to our free Content Distribution Sheet (no email signup is required) and fill in:

• On the Y-axis your long-form content (starting with your most important content)
• On the X-axis your social media channels (starting with your most important channels)

Here’s how it will look like:

Then, start to work on the sheet.

Start creating Social Media content for promoting your content and keep track of which posts your created for which content on which channels. By starting with your most important content and channels, you’ll see that the top left part of the sheet should be your priority and you should work your way down and to the right.

Here’s how that looks like:

How to select the right Social Media Channels

So how do you select the social media channels that will help you to be most effective?

The most important thing is to understand the reason people are on a social media platform and if your audience is actually on that platform.

People go to:

• Pinterest to be inspired;
• YouTube to learn;
• TikTok to be entertained;
• Facebook to stay in touch with family and friends;
• LinkedIn to learn and connect;
• etc.

It will of course not hold true for everyone but in general, that’s how most people see social media platforms.

After you’ve found out if your audience is on a platform and you can create content that matches that platform, it’s time to see if it’s worth your time. You can decide if a social platform is worth your time investment by looking at historical data.

Have you been on Twitter for years, creating a ton of quality content but are you stuck in terms of impressions, followers, clicks to your website, etc.?

If so, check if you can create new content formats that the platform is pushing or maybe decide to increase your efforts on other platforms.

For instance. Your growth can be stale on Pinterest, Google, Instagram, and YouTube because you’ve been creating legacy content formats. If so, try creating:

• Pinterest Idea pins;
• Google Web Stories;
• Instagram Reels;
• YouTube Shorts.

Social Media Platforms often add new content formats to keep up with other platforms. While doing so, they need a lot of content in that format. If you’re a creator that can help out, you’re content will most likely be pushed to a larger audience than you’ve ever reached before.

So before giving up on a social platform, check if you’ve tried out all (especially new) formats. If you’re still not getting the results you expect (compared to other channels) then it might be time to invest less time.

Being active on Mainstream vs New Social Media Platforms

The next question is, how often / quickly should you jump on new social media platforms coming out and how much time should you keep investing in mainstream / traditional social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, etc.?

Social media platforms come and go. Some faster than others and some stay but organic reach is decreasing year over year (Facebook for instance).

As we saw in our social media distribution section, there is a lot we can do but prioritizing is key.

There is no one answer I can give you. Like everything in marketing, it depends. Here are a couple of things to consider though:

Just getting started with fresh Social Media accounts: 

• Create 3 mainstream social media accounts where your audience is active;
• Create content in new formats;
• Create 3 social media accounts on new up-and-coming platforms;
• You have your work cut out for you, don’t start with social platforms that are just getting off the ground.

Already have a strong presence on mainstream Social Media platforms: 

• Keep going strong;
• Create content in new formats;
• Create 2 social media accounts on new up-and-coming platforms;
• Create 1 social media account on a platform you believe in but is just going mainstream.

I would always opt in for trying new social media channels. The question is of course how much time you invest in them.

Creating short-form content for Social Media

As you’ve seen earlier in the article, social media platforms are pushing hard for new short-form content formats. Not just video.

Google Web Stories and Pinterest Idea Pins do not need to be video.

Instagram Reels, YouTube Shorts, TikToks do need to be video.

People seem to love consuming short-form content. That’s the data these platforms are receiving and they want to provide. Because if YouTube does not provide, then TikTok will!

The question is, are you a social media manager that also wants to provide short-form content to your audience? If not, someone else will.

We use Canva Pro to create our YouTube shorts, Instagram Reels, and TikTok videos and Pinterest provides a simple way to create Idea Pins while Google offers an easy way to create Google Web Stories if you’re using WordPress.

The challenge is to tell your story in a short and catchy way but also to make your short-form content fit your overall social media marketing strategy.

Long-form content will not disappear. But short-form is where the attention is at the moment and where you can get the most impressions.

Be sure to implement it into your strategy.

FAQs

Should I create a Persona for my Social Media Strategy?

You can create a Persona for your social media strategy but be mindful that on social, you might want to interact with a larger community. It is always good to know who your Persona / Target Audience is to determine where they might hang out. On which social platforms you might be able to reach them best. Don’t only engage with your Persona. Especially not when someone outside of your Persona engages with you. Don’t think it’s not worth your time engaging because they’re not in your target audience.

Should I create an Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) for my Social Media Strategy?

We do not advise creating an  Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) for your social media strategy. This might narrow your activities too much and deter you from engaging with a larger audience. An Ideal Customer Profile has its own place in an organization, but we would not advise spending time setting that up if you don’t already have it set up to improve your Social Media Marketing Strategy.

Should I do a Competitive Analysis for my Social Media Strategy?

It is always good to learn more about what works and what does not. For your Social Media Strategy, you can have a closer look at your competitors and see what you can learn from them. What types of posts are they creating, who is following them, who is engaging with them, etc? Don’t just look at your competitors. Take it one or several levels higher and look at what is working (and not working) in your niche / industry beyond your competitors.

What is Social Media Listening?

Social Media Listening is setting alerts to get notifications when someone mentions you, a competitor, or topic. You often get notified when someone tags you, but sometimes, people accidentally don’t tag you properly. It’s always good to set up Social Media Listening for variations of your Social Media Handle Name. You can also set up Social Media listening to get notified when someone talks about a competitor or topic you’re interested in. Usually, you need additional Social Media Tools to set up Social Listening.

How often do I need to do a Social Media Audit?

It’s good to do a Social Media Audit every quarter. At the end of the year, you can do a more in-depth social media audit to prepare for the year to come.

How to do a Social Media Audit?

When doing a Social Media Audit, you can look at the following aspects:

• What is and is not working for you (check the goals you’ve set)?
• Are you posting at the frequency you’ve set for yourself?
• What types of posts are doing well / not so well?
• Which social platforms are doing well / not so well at the moment?
• Who is engaging with you on which platforms?
• Which of your relationships are the most valuable can you invite them to collaborate on a different platform?
• How does the competition’s social media presence compare to yours?

What is a social media marketing strategy?
A social media marketing strategy is a plan of action to build a brand and increase its visibility through different social media platforms, focusing on content creation, audience engagement, and marketing goals.

Why is a social media marketing strategy important?
It’s essential for targeting the right audience, engaging with followers effectively, maximizing ROI from social platforms, and ensuring a consistent and effective brand message across different channels.

What are the key components of a successful social media marketing strategy?
Key components include understanding your target audience, setting clear objectives, choosing the right platforms, creating engaging content, regular posting, and analyzing performance metrics.

How do you measure the success of a social media marketing strategy?
Success can be measured using metrics such as engagement rates, follower growth, website traffic referred from social media, conversions, and overall ROI.

What role does content play in a social media marketing strategy?
Content is crucial as it attracts and engages the target audience, reflects the brand’s identity, and drives social interactions and conversions.

How often should a social media marketing strategy be updated?
It should be reviewed and updated regularly, ideally quarterly or bi-annually, to adapt to changing social media trends, audience preferences, and the brand’s evolving goals.

Can a social media marketing strategy improve customer service?
Yes, it can significantly improve customer service by providing platforms for quick responses, engaging with customers, and addressing their concerns publicly and efficiently.

What’s the importance of choosing the right social media platforms?
Different platforms cater to different demographics and content types. Choosing the right platform ensures you’re reaching your target audience effectively.

How can small businesses develop an effective social media marketing strategy?
Small businesses should focus on platforms where their audience is most active, use cost-effective content strategies like user-generated content, and leverage analytics to understand what works.

What is the role of influencers in a social media marketing strategy?
Influencers can extend the reach of your brand to their followers, provide authentic endorsements, and create content that resonates with a broader audience.

How does audience targeting impact a social media marketing strategy?
Effective audience targeting ensures that your marketing efforts reach the most relevant and interested users, increasing engagement and the likelihood of conversions.

What is the significance of a content calendar in social media marketing?
A content calendar helps in planning and organizing posts in advance, ensuring a consistent posting schedule and a balanced mix of content types aligned with strategic goals.

How do you integrate branding into a social media marketing strategy?
Branding can be integrated by consistently using brand colors, logos, and voice across all posts and interactions, reinforcing brand identity and recognition.

Can social listening tools enhance a social media marketing strategy?
Social listening tools track mentions, keywords, and sentiments about your brand, providing insights that can refine and improve your marketing strategy.

What role does video content play in social media marketing?
Video content is highly engaging and can significantly increase reach and engagement, making it a crucial component of contemporary social media strategies.

How important is engagement in a social media marketing strategy?
Engagement is critical as it builds relationships with the audience, fosters community, and increases the organic reach of your content through likes, comments, and shares.

Can user-generated content be part of a social media marketing strategy?
User-generated content is powerful for building community and trust, as it showcases real customers and their experiences, adding authenticity to your brand.

What is the impact of hashtags on a social media marketing strategy?
Hashtags increase the discoverability of your content on platforms like Twitter and Instagram, helping to target niche audiences and participate in relevant conversations.

How does a social media marketing strategy drive website traffic?
By sharing links to your website in your posts and bio, and creating compelling content that invites clicks, social media can be a significant driver of traffic to your site.

What is the importance of analytics in refining a social media marketing strategy?
Analytics provide data on what’s working and what’s not, allowing for data-driven adjustments to the strategy to improve engagement, reach, and effectiveness.

How does personalization enhance a social media marketing strategy?
Personalization, such as using audience data to tailor content, can significantly increase engagement and relevance, making the strategy more effective in attracting and retaining followers.

What role does community management play in social media marketing?
Community management involves interacting with followers, responding to comments, and fostering a community around your brand, which is vital for building loyal customer relationships.

How can collaborations with other brands or influencers benefit a social media strategy?
Collaborations can expand your reach to new audiences, bring fresh content to your platforms, and increase credibility through association with respected figures or brands.

What is the importance of consistency in social media marketing?
Consistency in posting frequency, content quality, and brand voice helps in building a reliable brand image, which is key to maintaining and growing a social media presence.

Can a social media marketing strategy drive offline engagement?
Yes, social media can be used to promote offline events or engagements, creating a seamless experience that encourages online followers to engage in real-world activities.

What’s the role of storytelling in a social media marketing strategy?
Effective storytelling can captivate audiences, evoke emotions, and build a stronger personal connection with the brand, enhancing the overall impact of the strategy.

How do promotional contests and giveaways fit into a social media strategy?
Contests and giveaways can quickly increase engagement and reach, encouraging user participation and spreading brand awareness through user shares and mentions.

How critical is the visual aesthetic of content in social media marketing?
A consistent and appealing visual aesthetic is crucial as it helps in establishing brand identity, making content instantly recognizable, and enhancing the visual appeal for the audience.

What is the impact of social media algorithms on marketing strategies?
Understanding social media algorithms is essential for optimizing content for better visibility and engagement, as these algorithms determine how and to whom the content is shown.

How can a social media strategy adapt to changing platform trends?
Staying informed about platform updates and changing user behaviors is key, allowing marketers to adjust their strategies to leverage new features and trends effectively.

Jump back to a section

Author bio:

Erwin Lima: What inspires Erwin is helping people, teams and brands to become the best version of themselves. Guiding them with curiosity, empathy, and Growth Storytelling.

Over the past 10+ years as a copywriter, author, consultant, and coach, he’s helped dozens of Brands, Teams, and individual human beings to grow their sense of motivation and focus, but also their reach, engagement, and revenue— through the power of their own story. You can find Erwin on LinkedIn and on his website.

Author bio:

Raul Tiru: Raul loves to build companies and help startups and scale-ups grow. Raul started his first website when he was 17 years old, has held several growth marketing positions in fast-growing companies, and has helped companies via his Freelance Marketing services. You can find Raul on his community GlobalOwls where he helps Nonprofits and Startups to do better marketing.

Top AI Marketing Generators