New year or not, I’ve resolved to figure out the hidden secrets of social media countless times over the past years. The formulae seem easy, yet my calculations are always off. Knowing that social media is a huge part of a writer’s marketing strategy, I decided to get some help from the experts (i.e., Google) on how to focus my efforts in 2021.
Unsurprisingly, consistency is key. I am not very good with this and get bored after about a month or so. One way around this is to schedule posts in advance and let computer programs do all the work for you. Maybe I’ll look more into that, but probably not. Either way, I need to force consistency. Check.
The other important item necessary is content, but random posts or pictures of dinner no longer cut it. As social media evolves, so do its users and what those users want. Snackable content and videos are the rage now, and this will continue throughout 2021. We’ll chat about videos some other time, but if you want to garner attention on social media, you’ll definitely need to start producing snackable content.
Snackable content is pretty much exactly as it sounds. It’s small and easy to digest. It’s viewed and shared quickly. The key to getting all those “shares” and “likes”, however, is the tricky part — the content has to be visually engaging.
There are four types of snackable content writers can use to promote themselves, whether you write fiction or nonfiction. Chances are, you’ve already seen examples of all of these before. They all require a little creativity or wit and some basic photo-manipulating capabilities, something that can be learned surprisingly easily and quickly.
Quote Graphics
A quote graphic is a photo with a quote written on it, and it is probably the easiest type of snackable content to create. Use your book cover or snap a picture outside somewhere. Take a quote from your book and plaster it on the picture. Finally, you’ll want to add a discreet, subliminal “call to action”. Often, this may merely be a company logo for brand recognition, but for writers it’s probably best just to put their website address in one of the picture’s corners.
Memes
Everyone loves a good meme. Probably half of the pictures on my phone consists of saved memes. To be over simplistic, if you turn a quote graphic into a joke, you have a meme. Many memes use copyrighted pictures or characters, and while this is usually legal, the law there can be tricky. I recommend using your own photography or art to avoid the mess altogether. Remember to put your call to action on there (last reminder, as this should go on all snackable content).
Infographics
This type of content may be more suited for nonfiction writers, but with a bit of creativity, fiction writers can certainly take advantage here as well. Infographics are a collection of imagery or graphics displaying data in order to give a brief and visually-appealing summary of a topic. These can be a bit trickier to make, but fortunately there are a lot of templates online to help you get started.
GIFs
Whether you pronounce it with a hard or a soft “G”, GIFs in terms of snackable content are those little animated clips that often play on a loop. They’re more than a static photo, but not quite a video either. Of all the content mentioned, these require the highest learning curve. They aren’t too difficult to make, but you may need some help from Mr. Google.
If you hope to increase your social media influence this year, be sure to incorporate snackable content on a regular basis to provide a fresh and updated feel to your online posts. Happy writing!
