Creating engaging social media content

TELL YOUR STORY ONLINE

Jump to Chapter

Introduction 1. How to use social media 2. Engaging your audience 3. Managing your posts

Introduction to 'Creating engaging social media content'

Social media is a powerful ‘shop front’ tool. You can use it to grow your audience, bring your brand alive and show off your products and services.

Just look at these numbers:

57.6 million

Social media users in the UK.

1 in 4

Mainly use it to find things to buy.

Over half

Of all Facebook users use the site to follow or research brands or products.

This lesson is full of tips to make your social media content really stand out!

What you'll learn

  • The social media features and tools that can help grow your site.
  • What you can do to make your posts more engaging.
  • How to turn your visitors into promoters.

How long it takes

8 minutes

Chapter 1 - How to use social media

How to use social media

Chapter 1

How long it takes

4 minutes

Why we use social media

Where do you look for gift ideas, check trending holiday destinations, or find out about upcoming events near you?

Many people turn to social media for all of these. 

We use social media for so many reasons. It's quick and easy to use.

 

As a business, you may use it to:

Improve brand awareness

Social media marketing can be a low-cost way to promote your brand.

Guide people to your website

Adding links to your site from your social media posts can help to turn visitors into customers.

Add a human element to your brand

Connect with new customers and grow your relationships with existing ones.

Generate leads

Built-in tools can help people to make appointments and buy from you.

This chapter shows you how you can use the appeal and ease of social media to encourage guide more people to your site.

Let's explore the following ideas ...

 

  • An influencer is someone who promotes products, services or events to their followers. When you connect with key influencers and talk to them, you can build your reputation. This may help you reach a larger, more engaged audience.

    Idea

    Want to find key influencers? Use a search engine or the search function in the social platform. Look for trending posts, groups or people that relate to your topic.

  • Keep up to date with the hashtags that are trending in your field. Use them in your posts. You can also track these tags to see what people are saying and the type of audience they’re attracting.

  • Don't just rely on text posts. Aim to add good quality photos, videos and other visual content. Think about what could grab the attention of your audience.

    Idea

    Trending sounds work a bit like hashtags.

    Why not check out tunes that are trending on TikTok and Instagram. Just search for ‘viral sounds’ or ‘trending sounds’.

    If they resonate with your followers, think about adding them to your reels.

  • When people reach out to you on your social site, make sure you respond. They might have a question, a compliment or a complaint. No matter what it is, take time to have a chat with them. This is a great chance to turn their good or bad experience into an even better one.

  • You know that regular posts are important. But sharing high-quality content is even more so. Don’t just post any old photo or rush a post that isn’t your best work. Your posts reflect what people can expect when they talk to you. So, always aim to give top-quality content, even if this means fewer posts.

  • Sharing useful advice and insight can help you to grow your audience. You’ll be adding your voice as an authority in the field. This helps build trust in you as a source of knowledge. As people grow to trust your voice, they may return to you for future support.

  • Don't just focus on your own content. Be social! Seek out, share and comment on posts from those you follow, key influencers and other important users on the platform. This builds engagement far more than just putting out your own posts.

  • When you post and comment, use key words and phrases that relate to your organisation and industry. This way, when people search online and use relevant terms, they’ll see your content first.

  • Think about a brand you find engaging online. What is it about their content, messaging, tone and approach that appeals to you? Often, it's because you can relate to their content.

    Think about your audience when you create your posts. Find out their preferences. This can help to make your posts approachable and relatable.

    Remember

    Aim to keep your audience involved in your brand. They’ll only do this if they trust and connect on a real level.

  • It's tempting to create posts just to stay engaged. But your content should always inspire people to take action. You might find this hard at first, but there's always something you can prompt your audience to do. Just keep your calls to action simple and realistic. If they seem too time-consuming or complex, your audience might lose interest.

     

    You could ask people to:

    Sign up to an e-newsletter.

    Download an e-book.

    Buy from you.

Introduction - Creating engaging social media content
Chapter 2 - Engaging your audience

Engaging your audience

Chapter 2

How long it takes

2 minutes

Welcome your audience

From the moment someone visits your social site, you’ll want to turn them from a visitor into a promoter. Your aim: to give them engaging content and create a community. This can help to bridge the gap between you and your audience.

Idea

Why not add an intro video to your social page? You can pin this to the top of your profile or feed, so it’s the first thing people will see.

Creating an engaged online community can help you:

  • Build relationships.
  • Encourage referrals.
  • Create awareness.
  • Grow your online identity.
  • Value your customers for their investment in your brand.

 

This is all about making sure people don’t just move on. You want them to stay, engage, respond to your calls to action and go on to promote you to others.

Top Tips

Let’s look at some ideas to boost online support …

Create unique content

So you share your content regularly. That's great, but it needs to be useful and interesting for your audience. This way, they'll want to get involved. Why should they respond to your posts more than others? Why should they talk to you? What's your unique selling point?

Make your content shareable

Would someone share your content? Before you post your video, image or blog post, think about how people could use it. Does this content prompt others to respond, comment, share ideas or mention on their own sites? When you create content, think about how useable it is. Now you can start to write posts that will really engage the community and spark conversations.

Be social

Social media’s a great tool to track conversations and give a focus point for your community.

But don’t just watch these conversations. Be active. Share, ask questions and chat with your followers, so you can create your community.

Develop your brand's personality

Giving your brand a personality can prompt conversation by having a real community vibe on your site. Why not add ‘day in the life of …’ pieces for people in your team? You could include group photos or regular team takeovers of the social pages.

Remember the saying 'people buy from people'. It's important that everyone knows you're not just a logo. You’re a great team of people, too.

Show you value your community

If people are taking time to talk about and get involved with your brand, show you respect and appreciate their efforts. Respond, interact and start to grow relationships with them.

Why not use competitions, coupons or free giveaways to make your followers feel valued? They're much more likely to be loyal and become a promoter too!  

Chapter 1 - How to use social media
Chapter 3 - Managing your posts

Managing your posts

Chapter 3

How long it takes

2 minutes

Tools to help

It’s easy to spend a lot of time posting every day. This is especially true if you have many different accounts. Why not use a scheduling tool to help? These tools help you schedule, manage and analyse your social posts. Many are low-cost or free. They can also help with social listening. This means helping you find out what people are saying about your brand.

 

You may want to consider:

A set day or time each week when you sit and schedule posts

How many posts you want to schedule for each week

The type of content you want to share

The content mix of product vs pure engagement

Remember

Keep your content short and impactful. Use blogs, offers, top tips, videos and other interesting information to keep your profile active and engage users.

Don't fill your profile with anything and everything. Remember the earlier points: calls to action, be visual and - most of all - be relatable.

Related learning links

Making the most of social media

View lesson

Making the most of video

Go to Making the most of video Opens in a new tab

Getting started with content

Go to Get started with content Opens in a new tab

Social media content

Go to Social media content Opens in a new tab
Chapter 2 - Engaging your audience

Want to learn more?

There are many more lessons to help grow your business.

Go to Tell your story online

 

Lloyds Bank Academy is committed to providing information in a way that is accessible and useful for our users. This information, however, is not in any way intended to amount to authority or advice on which reliance should be placed. You should seek professional advice as appropriate and required. Any sites, products or services named in this module are just examples of what's available. Lloyds Bank does not endorse the services they provide. The information in this module was last updated on 9th July 2025.

Back to top Click to jump to top of page