This week on #bufferchat our community chatted all about the how and why of creating quality content. Read on to discover all of the awesome insights shared during the chat!
Catch our weekly Twitter chat, #bufferchat, at TWO times every Wednesday for valuable industry insights and to meet hundreds of other smart marketers and social media enthusiasts. Same topic, same place, just at different times – feel free to join whichever chat time works best for you!
4 pm AEDT (Sydney time)
9 am PT (San Francisco time)

This week’s stats:
Bufferchat #1 (4 pm AEDT): 10 participants; reach of 953,947
Bufferchat #2 (9 am PT): 97 participants; reach of 1,826,588
Q1: What does quality content mean to you? Why is it important?
From the community:
A1: Quality content should ultimately have three things:
1) Authority
2) Value
3) Purpose
Start there and you’ll be on your way to crafting content that delivers! #bufferchat
— Ashley Cardwell (@TheAshleyDale) January 24, 2018
A1: Quality content is content that provides a value to a specific audience. Quality content doesn’t necessarily mean a 1,500+ word blog or professional video. If it provides your target audience with information, entertainment, and ultimately, value, it’s quality! #bufferchat pic.twitter.com/yScQT0CIlY
— Anne Mercer (@Anne_E_Mercer) January 24, 2018
A1: It’s means sincerity, authenticity and vulnerability. I enjoy seeing triumph paired with failure. We all know what real life looks like. It’s obvious when a brand ignores their audiences’ daily struggles. #bufferchat
— Joanna Easley (@jo_easley) January 24, 2018
A1: Quality content entertains, educates or inspires. It’s clear, concise, compelling, and ideally unique to your voice. Most importantly, over time, it leads people to take an action and ladders up to some goal. #BufferChat
— Brent G. Trotter (@bgtrotter) January 24, 2018
See all the great answers to question 1 here!
Q2: Do you follow any rules for creating content that is valuable? Or is it more of a gut feeling
From the community:
A2: The #1 rule is: will our audience find it valuable? Valuable enough to take action? Something they haven’t seen before? Something we haven’t shared before? #bufferchat
— Katie Bromley (@KatieRBromley) January 24, 2018
A2: we don’t have rules, we have principles. It is important to stay focused without becoming repetitive and boring. It is also important to try new things and be willing to follow a trend and able to let one go. #bufferchat
— Dark Mark Media (@darkmarkmedia) January 24, 2018
A2 Goals influence the content creation process.
Personal content may be influenced by gut, personality or preference; corporate content may be influenced by established tools, workflows, skills, style and brand guides, training, and expectations for delivery.#bufferchat
— comfortwriter ??? (@ComfortWriter) January 24, 2018
A2: My rule is I have to be proud of the content. If I’m not proud to have my name on it I’ve missed the mark. #bufferchat pic.twitter.com/LnuECB9eD4
— Cassandra Schwartz ⭐ (@cssndrlnn) January 24, 2018
See all the great answers to question 2 here!
Q3: Where do you get inspiration for your content?
From the community:
A3: So many places! Conversations with people interested in social media or those running a business, natural progressions you see from articles you read online, current industry trends, Facebook groups, random ideas that pop into your head…..and I’m out of space☺️#bufferchat https://t.co/E5rJQvbzuq
— Positive Social (@positivesocial_) January 24, 2018
A3: Inspiration comes from many places: our customers, interesting social campaigns, following brands that we aspire to be like, and the pains we here from others. #bufferchat
— Rival IQ (@RivalIQ) January 24, 2018
A3: I find inspiration comes when I least expect it so I always carry a notebook to write down ideas that pop into my head.
50% of them are terrible, but I write down every single idea without judgement and come back later to see what could work well.#bufferchat pic.twitter.com/uRUxlns52Q
— Felicity Wild (@flickwild) January 24, 2018
A3: inspiration comes from listening to your audience. What type of questions are they asking the community? See a trend? that’s the piece you write about. #bufferchat
— Cindy (@CindyMedran0) January 24, 2018
See all the great answers to question 3 here!
Q4: How can you involve your audience/customers in creating content?
From the community:
A4: Ask them to show you their results! If you offer services, have them post a before/after. If you publish recipes or how-tos, have them tag you in the final result.#bufferchat
— Jennifer Wright (@jenfwright) January 24, 2018
A4: Whenever someone sends me a connection request on #LinkedIn, I send them a message asking them what their biggest challenge is now. I also ask my email list the same question. Have had some great ideas. I plan on taking it further with #facebooklive #bufferchat
— Warwick Brown (@warwickabrown) January 24, 2018
A4. User generated content boosts your marketing efforts so much. We usually do it through photo contests, the last one we did was on winter carnival and it got massive really quickly. #bufferchat
— Ankitaa G Dalmia (@Anki_Live) January 24, 2018
A4: Start conversations, engage with your community, invite them to share their insight. Some of our best performing posts are when we feature small business owners on our blog and social because they’re relatable! #BufferChat pic.twitter.com/Trz0bXyPXD
— Lendio (@Lendio) January 24, 2018
See all the great answers to question 4 here!
Q5: Would you recommend any tools for content creation?
From the community:
A5: These might be more specific to what you are creating – but I cannot live without @canva to create gorgeous images for all kinds of content. For video – @vidIQ on YouTube helps me evaluate what works and doesn’t work in that space. #bufferchat
— Ben Campbell ❄️ ☃️ (@Ben_Soup) January 24, 2018
A5: Sure! I use @getstencil @anchor @magisto @LumenFive @canva @answerthepublic @HubSpot‘s Blog idea generator, @CoSchedule‘s Better Headline Analyzer…Good old fashion Garage Band on my Mac. #bufferchat
— Kelly Noble Mirabella ☄ #SMMW18 (@Stellar247) January 24, 2018
A5: For starters, @creativecloud. A @gopro, iPhone, & a @jobyinc GorillaPod will go a LONG way! Advance w/ a couple @lumecube, a dSLR, & a @rodemics that works w/ your kit. Cost-effective, portable, robust quality. #bufferchat
— Andrew Roberts (@ARoberts021) January 24, 2018
A5: I think the most useful tool for collaborating on content is Google Docs. You can share a link, collaborate, and do all the research you need in one window. I also like being able to access all my work from anywhere and on any device, should the need arise. #BufferChat pic.twitter.com/5BLo6y5nB5
— Forrester Hinds (@ForresterHinds) January 24, 2018
See all the great answers to question 5 here!
Q6: Are there any individuals or brands who consistently produce quality content?
From the community:
A6. @jcrew, @onabags, @WeddingtonWay, and @fentybeauty produce some of my favorite content on @instagram.
Totally different industries but I’m inspired by each one. #bufferchat pic.twitter.com/IuVT69VZcm
— Danielle (@AboutDanielle_) January 24, 2018
A6. There are a lot. My lists are @larrykim, @neilpatel, @JuliaEMcCoy, @MarketingProfs, @jeffbullas, @kimgarst, @johnrampton, @rustybrick, @sengineland, @semrush, etc.. #bufferchat https://t.co/8u6oiGzCzk
— 《 Sabjan 》 (@sabjanseo) January 24, 2018
A6: @qz @RealSimple @socialmedia2day @mashable @MerriamWebster @CNTraveler @TravelLeisure & @lonelyplanet — I feel like I always click through for their content & graphics! #bufferchat
— juliestuckey (@JulieStuckey) January 24, 2018
A6: @nikebasketball always crushes it, especially w/ their new NBA jerseys. @adidas is having a huge 2 years, w/ Content + products that are truly next level. #BufferChat
— Jack Appleby (@JuiceboxCA) January 24, 2018
See all the great answers to question 6 here!
Thank you so much to our awesome community for sharing such great insights in this chat!
Do you have any comments or answers to these questions? Leave your thoughts in the comments! We’d love to hear from you!
Image sources: UnSplash