Many of you work for organizations that are working with or close to the coronavirus front lines. Others of you work for businesses that are looking for ways to serve your customers and even care for current or future employees. One thing is for sure, creating brand content during a global pandemic isn’t something we were all planning for in 2020.

However it can be viewed as a blessing in disguise, this time allowed content creators to adjust content calendars and rethink their customers’ priorities to help determine what is worth communicating or even the frequency of those communications.

As we all begin to switch gears into creating our content and communication goals for 2021, here are five best practices to keep in mind when planning.

Audit communication channels

Now is the best time to assess your communication channels to figure out what is and isn’t working. An audit will only strengthen your communication and content strategy by showing how and when your channels should be used. Use this information to truly dive into what content is being consumed by your target audience. Did interest go down on a popular topic in 2020? Use the audit to help shift topics of importance.

Reward your audience with fresh content

The social media management tools that allow us to schedule posts are such a blessing, but they can also be a curse. It’s very easy to blast the same message across multiple channels at the same time when you can do so in one place. But what about those people that follow you on all of those platforms? They may disengage due to repetitive content.

Keep the posting of the same content on multiple platforms at the same time limited to product announcements or crisis communications.

Repurpose content

In the previous section I talked about keeping your content fresh. Let me start this section by saying, it is okay to use the same content on multiple platforms, but be smart about the ways this is done.

Most content creators are often strapped on time or even run out of ideas. One way to buy more time is reusing content. Have you ever worked on content that took a lot of time and effort but it didn’t perform the way you wanted? Was the content too long? If you edited a five minute long video that was posted to YouTube, think about pulling 15 or 30 second clips to share on other social media platforms. Think about how this could be included in a blog post or email communication as well.

One of your platforms may have higher engagement on link posts and on another platform images may perform better. Differentiate the content you post on those channels according to how well it performs.

Tap into coworkers

Are you in charge of your organization’s content? Tap into your coworkers, I have three ways of doing that below.

Employees of any organization are closest to the customers and target audiences. They may be privy to issues and needs of those that matter most. If there is a trend, find ways to disseminate the relevant information; it could lead to a new video series or white paper.

Having different strengths is what makes a team strong. Your coworkers have expertise that you may not necessarily have. How can those strengths be used for content? Find the common ground between those strengths, your organization’s mission and the target audiences wants and needs.

Or you can keep it sample and make your coworkers be the content. Do employee spotlights via Instagram posts, videos or even a fun animation. It’s always personable to see the human side of an organization.

Visuals are key

The saying goes “a picture is worth a thousand words” and in a crowded social media space imagery will get your audience’s attention faster. Visual content also leads to higher engagement. Content visuals can span from a nice photograph, an infographic, a GIF or animation and even a video. Visuals are not only eye-catching but they can be fun and add more interest to your posts.

What did you take away from switching gears in 2020? What are some of the goals you have for a content strategy in 2021? Do you have any other tips for our tech ecosystem? Share them with us on social media @TechPointIND.