What separates good content from bad or mediocre content?

The more useful, informative, and entertaining your content is, the less it will feel like spam and the more likely it is to be appreciated and shared. Creating content that doesn't feel like spam requires a thoughtful approach focused on providing value and building genuine connections with your audience.

Your goal should be to inspire customers to interact via likes, comments, shares, or content submissions of their own.

Your customer groups will determine what that value is. Maybe one of your customer groups is comprised of football enthusiasts wanting to know where the best place to catch the games are. That’s your way of providing value to them -- share your Sunday specials!

Other customers want escapism and fun content without actually being “sold” to. This is where you can get creative with different content. Post a video showing how to make a quick version of your in-house chipotle aioli or a Q&A session where customers can ask your chef basic cooking questions. Maybe you own a convenience or liquor store. Provide your customers with drink recipes or pair drinks with packaged foods. This not only is a fun video or photo, but it might drive sales when customers come in looking to try your pairings.

And if you’re too busy or need a break from creating content, let someone more social media-savvy in your business do a “take-over.” You’d be surprised how many people in your wheelhouse are sitting on great ideas for content.

Lastly, keep in mind that if there’s anyone in your organization who precisely matches your customer demographic, who better to ask than them? What kind of content do they interact with or prefer interacting with? What content do they look forward to or share with their friends?

The resources are always there for ideas. It’s up to you to find them.

Examples of Good Content - keep it simple!

This post checks all of the boxes for us. Good lighting, nice presentation, and a fun caption that doesn’t feel like spam. The customers seem to agree with us, as the comment section is filled with friends tagging each other and complimenting the food.

Examples of Good Content - customers love free!

Customers love, love, love free

People love free stuff -- and recipes are no exception! Don’t feel the need to give away free appetizers, coupons, or gift cards. Free recipes, especially around the holiday seasons, are great ways to provide value to your customers. Ben & Jerry’s did a great job with this engaging and short video showing 3 quick shake recipes with their products. The post is fun and received plenty of likes and comments.

Our only gripe is that Ben & Jerry’s didn’t respond to a single comment. Any time someone takes time out of their day to comment on a post of yours, you should make an effort to respond back. That tiny effort speaks volumes!

Examples of Mediocre Content - not including a photo

We actually love this recent example of creativity during holidays and major events. This bar is taking advantage of the New Year by having an early celebration during what might have been a slower business hour for them. We would recommend including a photo on a post like this.

There’s a chance a text-only post gets lost in the shuffle as your customers are swiping through their feed. Including an image of champagne and glassware on a tray, possibly held by an employee with a welcoming smile, while your bar or restaurant’s decor provides a background, becomes a much more powerful and engaging piece of content.

Example of Mediocre Content - No clear call-to-action

This photo provides a great behind-the-scenes view into the restaurant and gets the customer genuinely excited about what could be happening on Sunday. Is there a new menu item? Or maybe this is a seasonal dish that the restaurant is known for? Unfortunately, the caption provides zero context about the actual photo. Do enough digging and customers eventually find that there is a multi-course tasting provided with purchase of a ticket beforehand.

Now get to posting!

Good content possesses several key qualities that make it engaging, valuable, and shareable.

1. Relevance: Good content is relevant to the target audience. It aligns with their interests, needs, and preferences. Understanding your audience's demographics, behaviors, and preferences can help you create content that resonates with them.

2. Value: Valuable content provides something useful, informative, or entertaining to the audience. It can be educational articles, how-to guides, industry insights, tips and tricks, or entertaining videos.

3. Engagement: Good Facebook content encourages audience engagement. It prompts users to like, comment, share, or tag others. Ask questions, invite opinions, run polls or contests, and respond to comments to foster conversations and build a sense of community around your brand.

4. Call to Action: Including clear and compelling calls to action (CTAs) in your content can drive desired actions from your audience. Whether it's encouraging them to visit your website, sign up for a newsletter, make a purchase, or share your content, CTAs guide users towards the next step you want them to take.

Remember, it's important to continually monitor the performance of your content, analyze audience engagement, and adapt your strategy accordingly. Experimentation, learning from data, and listening to your audience's feedback are key to creating consistently good content!