Taking part in what's trendy on social media is an effective way to achieve short-term success and increase your engagement. However, you'll need to start creating more timeless content at some point in your career to ensure its longevity and security.
Social media content is a product. People might not pay for it with money but they do pay for it in views, likes, comments and shares.
Similarly to physical products, social media content has varying lifespans depending on its quality, purpose and even packaging.
media update's Joreke Kleynhans guides you toward creating long-lasting content people care about.
Use the Correct Platforms
Each social media platform has its pros and cons, which also relates to the lifespan of content posted on each one. Social media platforms can be ranked as follows based on how long content stays relevant once posted:
- Pinterest
- YouTube
- Instagram
- LinkedIn
- Facebook
- X
- TikTok
Although Pinterest has the longest post lifetime, it is difficult to post informative content on the platform. YouTube, on the other hand, is perfect for long-form content, which is necessary for in-depth and informative content.
This doesn't mean that the other platforms can be kicked to the curb, though! For example, TikTok and X are highly effective at reaching large audiences in a short time period. This makes them perfect for cross-promoting the content you create for platforms like YouTube or Instagram.
Meet a Demand
Every content creator needs to offer something of value in order to convince audiences to spend their engagement on it.
It's easy to determine if something is valuable: ask yourself whether people want it. But keep in mind that wanting something is not the same as wanting to watch or read something.
For example, people might want to watch your daily GRWM but what they really want is your fashion advice!
To determine whether people want something rather than just wanting to watch or see it, you need to evaluate what the purpose of your content is beyond the surface level. For example, your content could be:
- sharing knowledge
- solving a problem, or
- providing entertainment.
On top of having to offer something that is in demand, it has to stay in demand for a long time after it is posted. Of course, there is no crystal ball to tell you how long something will be needed by Internet users, and creators cannot entirely future-proof their content.
They can, however, avoid a few things that can reduce the lifespan of their content, like:
- including dates in their video titles or post graphics
- tying their content to seasons or events, e.g. autumn or Christmas
- giving their content trendy themes, and
- relating their content to news and current events.
Get Specific and Dig Deeper
As the years go by, access to information increases along with people's general knowledge. This means that fewer people are interested in generalised, surface-level content.
So, in order to extend the lifespan of your social media content, you need to share content on more specific or niche topics. If your content is not specific enough, there likely won't be a sustainable demand for what you have to share.
Even if there is a high demand for content surrounding a more generalised topic, it will face high competition and produce a low ROI — especially if you are a new creator or have a smaller following.
So, get specific when planning and producing your content. If you don't know where to start, take a topic you have lots of knowledge of or inspiration for and break it down into smaller sections to each have their own post that covers a smaller part of the subject.
Once you have specific content topics and talking points to create content about, it's time to dig deeper.
This means sharing extensive content that gives a lot of insight or perspective on each topic. When you dig deeper into topics people care about, chances are that you will have more unique and valuable content than your competitors.
Optimise Content for Your Audience
Search Engine Optimisation is probably the biggest buzzword surrounding digital content. Everyone wants to please the Internet powers that be, and in the process, creators lose sight of who they really create content for: people.
Every post you create for your social media platforms needs to be approached in a way that prioritises audiences over algorithms. That is not to say that technical best practices do not matter, but simply that they should come after creating a person-oriented post.
This means:
- using understandable terminology
- creating organised content with logical flow, and
- ensuring that your content is accessible to a diverse group of people.
People do not exit a post or stop watching a video because it is too understandable, too easy to follow, or too accessible to their unique needs!
When users find your content valuable or easy to use and understand, they will likely share it with their peers or return to it multiple times, which also extends the lifespan of your post.
Did you enjoy this article? Let us know your thoughts on the topic in the comment section below.
To learn more about social media best practices, check out our infographic, What to Do After a Post Goes Viral.
*Image courtesy of Canva