SESSION SEVEN
Why Scroll-Stopping Matters
- Social feeds are oversaturated, and you have less than 3 seconds to grab attention
- On Facebook, 30% of feed content is suggested; on Instagram, it’s even higher
- People spend 1.7 to 2.5 seconds on a post before deciding to scroll or engage
Know Your Audience
- Analyze audience behavior and adapt your content accordingly
- Audience motives: Entertainment? Validation? Information?
- What works today might not work tomorrow, so experiment and adapt
Followers ≠ Account Health
- Follower count is not a reliable metric for account health
- Better metrics include engagement rate, reach, and impressions
Tools Over Trends
- Focus on using new features wisely, not just chasing trends
- Utilize industry resources and maintain brand voice and style
Leveraging the 5 Fs for Emotional Engagement
- Fears: Appeal to fear of missing out or failure
- Future Me: Help the audience visualize their ideal self
- Fables: Build trust through storytelling
- Foreign: Stand out by being unique
- Faces: Use human faces to connect emotionally
Leverage User-Generated Content (UGC)
- Encourage UGC to boost engagement and build community
- Create content based on audience questions and interests
Optimize for Each Platform
- Tailor tone, format, and style for each platform (Instagram, X, Facebook, etc.)
Consistency Wins
- Success comes from a combination of emotional connection, platform optimization, and brand consistency
Questions
- How do you measure health on your channels?
- Is your audience drawn to specific content formats?
- How do you maintain authenticity while using tools like automation?
Overview of the Session
Allison, Riah, and Ruben led a discussion on best practices for creating scroll-stopping content for organic social media. The session focused on strategies to engage users in a social media environment that is increasingly oversaturated, as well as tips for leveraging emotional engagement and user-generated content to enhance brand loyalty.
Why Scroll-Stopping Matters
Allison introduced the topic by highlighting how oversaturated social media platforms have become, with millions of posts, comments, and tweets being shared every minute. Because of this, users spend only 1.7 to 2.5 seconds looking at a post before deciding whether to engage or scroll past it. The challenge for content creators is to capture attention in this brief window.
Understanding Your Audience
Riah emphasized the importance of understanding why your audience is on social media. Whether they are there to be entertained, informed, or validated, knowing their motivations is key to creating content that resonates. Allison added that keeping up with broader conversations happening outside of your own account is also crucial, as these discussions may influence your audience’s interests and behaviors.
Adapting and Experimenting with Content
The team stressed the importance of experimenting with content formats and staying adaptable. What works today might not work tomorrow, so it’s essential to continually test different approaches. For example, Riah shared an experiment in which she compared the performance of 4-minute videos with 1-minute versions of the same content, discovering that audience preferences shifted over time.
Follower Count vs. Engagement Metrics
Allison pointed out that follower count is not always an indicator of account health. More important metrics include engagement rate, reach, and impressions. Even accounts with millions of followers can have low engagement, indicating that large numbers alone do not guarantee success. The team encouraged focusing on engagement and ensuring that the content is prompting the desired actions, such as likes, comments, or shares.
Tools vs. Trends
Ruben and Allison discussed the importance of leveraging new tools and features introduced by social platforms, rather than simply chasing trends. Using tools in a way that aligns with your brand’s voice and mission can help push content further, especially when platforms favor the use of their newest features.
Emotional Engagement and the 5 F’s
Allison and Ruben introduced the “5 F’s” framework for creating emotionally engaging content:
- Fears: Use scarcity or urgency to drive action.
- Future Me: Help users visualize themselves achieving their ideal future.
- Fables: Incorporate storytelling to build trust and connect emotionally.
- Foreign: Stand out by being unique and different from others.
- Faces: Use human elements, such as faces or hands, to create a personal connection.
They emphasized the role of visual elements like colors, fonts, and imagery in evoking emotion. Ruben highlighted how even small details like a smiling face or the right color palette can influence how the audience feels and reacts to the content.
Leveraging User-Generated Content (UGC)
The team discussed how encouraging UGC fosters engagement and builds community. By inviting users to contribute content, such as reviews or comments, brands can strengthen their relationship with the audience. Allison shared that 32% of people decide to make a purchase or donation after discovering an organization on social media. UGC can also help extend a brand’s reach by sharing audiences through collaborative posts.
Optimizing Content for Each Platform
Riah explained that audiences can differ significantly across platforms. For example, a client might have a younger, female audience on Instagram, but an older, male audience on YouTube. This requires adjusting content and tone for each platform to resonate with the specific audience.
Consistency and Creativity
Ruben spoke about the balance between consistency and creativity. While it’s important to maintain a consistent brand voice, being dynamic and experimenting with styles can help prevent content from becoming stale. He used Starbucks as an example, where the branding is simple and minimal in-store, but more expressive and dynamic on social media.
Automation and Tools
Allison, Riah, and Ruben discussed the importance of using automation tools like Sprout Social and Mini Chat to manage engagement and respond to users efficiently. These tools can help track comments, automate responses, and ensure that no engagement opportunities are missed. Riah highlighted how Mini Chat allows users to comment specific keywords and automatically receive resources or replies, helping manage high volumes of interaction.
Audience Questions and Insights
The session concluded with a discussion on how to maintain authenticity while using automation tools. The team encouraged using personalized messages and responses to ensure that users still feel a human connection, even when automating certain processes.