Getting Creative with Content: A #Bufferchat Recap

There’s so much content in the social media space, so how we can get more creative with the content we share? That was the topic of this week’s #bufferchat and, boy, did our community come through with awesome ideas for content creation! We discussed ways to make social media posts more interactive, how we can think outside the box with visual content, how to repurpose content on different social platforms, and much more.

Read on to discover all of the awesome ideas and suggestions that were shared during the chat!

Catch our weekly Twitter chat, #bufferchat, at TWO times every Wednesday for valuable industry insights and networking with nearly 400 other smart marketers and community managers. Same topic, same place, just at different times – feel free to join in to whichever chat time works best for you!

For our community in Asia and Australia (or anyone in other timezones that like this time the best!): 4 pm AEDT (Sydney time)

For our community in North/South America, Europe and Africa (or others!): 9 am PT (San Francisco time)

This week’s stats:
1st Bufferchat: 111 participants; 392 tweets; reach of 1,102,290
2nd Bufferchat: 284 participants; 1,992 tweets; reach of 1,557,360

Q1: What kinds of social media content draw your attention, and why?

From the community:

• “Content with visuals will perform better (and be shared more easily) than that without!” @MSLJim
• “I gotta agree with all the GIF lovers out there. They’re fun, relatable, & break up the boring.” @erica_hayton
• “Video, LiveSteaming, LiveChats… all good, engaging content & with potential for REAL authenticity.” @_nicolemich
• “The best is witty, fun, and visual. Even better: creative use of line breaks (on Twitter).” @DerekReimherr
• “I like content I can connect with because it’s meaningful & empowering. Also content that fuses personality & storytelling.” @KymWrites

See all the great answers to question 1 here!

Q2: What’s your (or your brand’s) purpose for creating any kind of content on social media?

From the community:

• “A company’s content should resonate with their audience – don’t share a story about apples if your audience likes oranges!” @Uniform_Nations
• “To make content that seems dry on the surface (incorporating and forming an LLC) easy to break down and understand.” @MyCorporation
• “Creating content that inspires + helps people live better lives, is what gets me out of bed each morning!” @Aboundlessworld
• “Content is a 2 way street – you want to achieve your goals but you need an audience to be receptive of it for it to succeed.” @danielleirogers
• “Build trust. tell a story. move prospect to the next stage of the experience. strengthen relationship. educate. entertain.” @YesSharleen

See all the great answers to question 2 here!

Q3: What are some examples of interactive posts and great conversation starters on social media?.

From the community:

• “Conversation-starter? Can be as simple as sharing and asking: Do you agree with this post? Ask Qs.” @martinlieberman
• “Polls are great, but you have to make sure the question is stated in a way to drive conversation beyond votes.” @DomGarrett
• “Posing a question and letting people voice their opinions. People just want to be heard.” @loritsema
• “Quizzes, questions, trivia, regular-scheduled post topics (like a tip of the day)…” @globalHMA
• “Something smart with the CTA: “Tag a friend” – Reaction posts, relatable situations, even memes. It works!” @romikid

See all the great answers to question 3 here!

Q4: There are so many blog posts about similar topics out there. How can you make yours stand out from the rest?

From the community:

• “Your voice. Your readers read you because of what you bring to the post and that’s your unique voice. Never let that go.” @shyvish
• “Learn more, research more, understand deeper. Most online content is empty words, you’ll stand out in the long run.” @markusmartelius
• “Write what you believe in. Tie your core values to content & expertise. Values can’t be copied easily #StartWithWHY.” @Tejazz89
• “We support our blog content with personal insights from projects / experiments we’ve done.” @247studiosME
• “Become an expert on a niche topic and offer a take not already being blogged about! Works for every industry/sector.” @Gabby_Hoffman

See all the great answers to question 4 here!

Q5: Visual content often gets the best engagement — what are different kinds of visual content you could share? Be creative!

From the community:

• “Handwrite a quote or question, then snap a picture and post that! It proves there’s a person behind the screen.” @caseyd2
• “Gif responses are the best – so much fun and proven by linguists to prove value. Quotes are over-used IMHO (or poorly timed).” @WhyISocial
• “Boomerang and Hyperlapse on Instagram; multiple visual GIFs on FB; Twitter videos.” @lipi_meh
• “The random/authentic moments with your team behind the scenes! At the end, the ppl is what brings your brand to life.” @Typ0Queen
• “Mind maps, charts, heat maps, paintings/artwork, sketches, screenshots, so much more than photo or video!” @carolhagen

See all the great answers to question 5 here!

Q6: How can you repurpose your social media content?

From the community:

• “1. Update (add new info) 2. Take diff angle 3. Ask new Qs 4. Use a different format 5. Link it w/ current events.” @CardozaGab
• “1 blog idea = blog, audio recording, image for Pinterest, live video on FB, upload to Youtube BAM! 1 for 5.” @WPBarista
• “Re-purpose it in different mediums. If you wrote an article, promote it again with a quote, or promote on IG with a photo.” @FatherFoodFun
• “Storify is a great way to recap interactive conversations, write a blog highlighting best responses or tweets.” @robyn_ravenclaw
• “Take something like an infographic & create slideshares, interactives, break it out into smaller graphics. It’s endless.” @Kelly_Farley

See all the great answers to question 6 here!

Q7: What’s one new kind of content you’ll experiment with after this chat?

From the community:

• “#TwitterMoments. It’s yet another fascinating way to get creative and use social media content.” @mr0ach
• “Excited to make an instructional GIF now! Apparently, they don’t HAVE to be silly :)” @dmboutin
• “Definitely 360 and live video… once I have the money to buy the equipment.” @kookypixel
• “Start breaking down larger content into small graphics and sizable bites!” @UnionSquareAdv
• “Would love to expand and make better use of conversation-as-content, and not just limit them to Twitter chats!” @ideabloke

See all the great answers to question 7 here!

Thank you so much to everyone who participated in this chat!

Catch #bufferchat each Wednesday at 9 am PT (San Francisco time) OR at 4 pm AEDT (Sydney time). Join our Slack community with over 2,000 members to continue these awesome conversations all week long!

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