How Do I Create Engaging Content?

Creating engaging content is key to running a successful business. People will not want to buy your product or service if you don’t produce engaging content that draws potential customers into your business. 

In this article, you will learn all about engaging content, including creating engaging content specific to Instagram and Facebook. 

Tips for Creating Engaging Content

Be Unique

This tip might seem cliché but it is actually true! People are looking for the “wow factor” when looking at social media posts, websites, blogs, or any other platform with content. People don’t want to see the same kind of content over and over again. If you produce original content, you will be sure to stand out above your competition. It’s okay if you write a blog post with the same or similar topic to other posts; however, put your own spin on it. Add your own style and personality to your content to make people want to know more about your business. Many companies choose to outsource their content by having various people create content. Doing so ensures that the content is unique because everyone has their own ways of doing things. 

Use Strategic Keywords

Keywords are crucial to ranking high on search engine results. People are looking at your article or website for a reason: they want to know more information on that particular topic. To keep users engaged and coming back for more, you need to know how to effectively use keywords in your content.  

Create Interesting Titles

Did you know that 80% of people never make it past a headline? In other words, 8 out of 10 people read a headline, while only 2 out of 10 people read the entire article. This statistic shows just how important it is to create interesting titles. If your title is boring, people will not click on your article or blog. As a result, people will not learn all the great information you planned on telling them. You’ve heard the saying, “Don’t judge a book by its cover.” Unfortunately, that is not quite true because people will decide whether or not they want to look deeper into your content based on your headline. 

 

Allow Users to Share Content

Making your content easily shareable is a great way to attract new customers and increase website and social media traffic. You can make your content shareable by adding social media widgets and icons which makes it easy for people to share your content on their own social media accounts. 

Include a Call to Action

A call to action is a very powerful, effective way to increase audience engagement. Essentially it answers the question of “Now that I’ve read this article or seen this image or video, what do I do now?” Creating a call to action tells your audience what they can do now that they have this new information. 

Have Accurate Information

This point might seem obvious but having accurate information is vital to great content. Make sure to fact check your content. Even if you pass along false information by accident, the outcome is still the same: you published inaccurate information to your valued followers. Anyone can publish anything on the internet today, so make sure you confirm with multiple sources that your information is accurate before publishing content.

Tell a Story

People find it easier to relate to stories than hard facts and statistics. Telling a story through your content will draw more people into your business, making them want to connect with you and learn more about what you stand for. Storytelling will set you apart from your competition by appealing to your audience’s emotions. There’s nothing wrong with using solid data. Just make sure to output your data in an interesting and creative way. 

Use Visuals

The human brain can process images up to 60,000 times faster than it processes words. Text is great; however, people are more likely to remember what they read if it is accompanied with a showstopping visual, whether it’s an infographic, photo, or video. Using various visuals in your content will take your content to the next level, making it impossible to ignore. 

How to Create Engaging Content on Instagram

Combine User-Generated Content with Original Content

A simple way to reach a large amount of people on Instagram is by creating content that gets your users involved. If you encourage your followers to create their own posts that connect back to your account, you will reach a wider range of people. For example, Frank Body, a beauty brand based in Australia, created an Instagram campaign to promote one of its body scrubs. They hired a group of influencers with many followers to showcase the body scrub. Each post had the hashtag #Let’sBeFrank and #TheFrankEffect. Using these hashtags makes it easier for people to find your posts on Instagram. These posts encouraged users to post their own photos of themselves using the body scrub. The main goal of user-generated content is to get your followers involved with your company, in addition to promoting your business. 

Host Giveaways and Contests

Hosting a giveaway or contest is an effective advertising strategy. This tip is similar to the last one, where both have to do with your followers. Through a giveaway, more people will learn about your business. The trick to increasing brand awareness is all in the rules. For example, to enter the giveaway you might require contestants to repost the giveaway post or tag some friends in the comments. Essentially, you want the rules to require followers to spread the word about your account. With so many different people tagging friends and reposting content, you will reach a wider audience on Instagram. Yes, you will have to give away a few free products or services; however, that “loss” will amount to nothing when compared to all the marketing and advertising you receive through the contest. 

Use High-Quality Images

Because Instagram requires a photo or video when you post content, you need to ensure that you are using high-quality images. It’s fine to use whatever images or videos you want on your personal social media account; however, for your business account, you want to come across to followers as a professional. You don’t have to be a master photographer to have high quality images. If you are struggling to find good photos, you can always turn to stock photos. For example, Pexels is a great resource where you can download free stock photos.

Collaborate with Influencers

Building relationships through social media will enable you to create new connections in the professional industry. Collaborating with Instagram influencers will practically guarantee you new followers. Working with an influencer who already has a large following on social media will act as a symbiotic relationship. They will support your business and Instagram account by reposting or shouting out your company, while you do the same for them. Therefore, both of you benefit from your Instagram relationship.

Write Creative Captions

Coming up with unique and interesting Instagram captions is just as important as the photo or video itself. Sometimes people won’t fully understand what the photo or video is trying to tell them; therefore, you must have a good caption to get your message across to followers. Your captions are the perfect way to give additional information and context to your post. Creating an informative, creative caption is just one of the many tips for social media success. 

How to Create Engaging Content on Facebook

Look at Your Page Insights

Your Page Insights will tell you what’s working and what’s not working on your Facebook account. It will tell you helpful things like what types of posts are receiving the most likes, comments, and reactions from your followers. Knowing the areas that you need to improve on will allow you to fix them. Knowing the areas that you are excelling at will allow you to create new content based on that information. 

Post a Variety of Content

You don’t want your followers to get bored of your content. To keep people engaged with your account, post a variety of content. You can post blog posts, photos, press releases, videos, or any other type of content that your followers are interested in. No matter what Facebook content you choose to create, make sure that it appeals to your target audience. 

End Each Post with a Question

If you end each post with a question, it will make your followers think about what they just read or saw. Essentially, this question is a call to action. You want your followers to answer this question to increase user engagement. For example, if you own a bakery, your question might be “What’s your favorite bakery item on the menu?” 

Create an Upload Schedule

Creating an upload schedule will make your posts reach the most amount of people. Your posts will do you no good if no one sees them. An effective strategy is to check your Facebook Insights to see when your followers are most active on Facebook. With that information, you can create a schedule to post content based on when most of your followers are active on social media. 

Now that you know how to create engaging content on Instagram and Facebook, apply those strategies to your own business account. If you follow these helpful tips and tricks, you will see an increase in followers, website traffic, business, and brand awareness. 

Frequently Asked Questions About Creating Engaging Content

How do I determine what type of content will engage my specific audience?

Understanding your specific audience is the foundation of creating truly engaging content. Start by developing detailed audience personas based on demographics, interests, pain points, and online behavior patterns. Analyze your existing content performance data to identify which topics, formats, and tones have resonated most strongly with your audience in the past. Directly solicit feedback through surveys, comments, or social media polls asking what content they find most valuable. Study your competitors’ most successful content to identify gaps and opportunities in your industry.

Most importantly, monitor engagement metrics like time on page, comments, shares, and conversion rates to continuously refine your understanding of what resonates. Remember that audience preferences evolve over time, so regularly revisit your assumptions and adjust your content strategy accordingly. At SEO Design Chicago, we help businesses conduct comprehensive audience analysis that goes beyond basic demographics to understand the psychological drivers behind engagement for their specific target markets.

How often should I publish new content to maintain audience engagement?

The ideal content publishing frequency depends on your specific audience, platform, resources, and business goals rather than following a one-size-fits-all approach. Quality consistently outperforms quantity—it’s better to publish one exceptional piece weekly than five mediocre posts. For blogs, 1-4 high-quality posts per month is sufficient for most businesses, while social media typically requires more frequent posting (3-5 times weekly for Facebook, daily for Twitter, 4-7 times weekly for Instagram).

The key is consistency rather than sporadic bursts of activity. Start with a manageable frequency that allows you to maintain quality, then monitor engagement metrics to find your optimal cadence. Your audience’s consumption habits matter too—B2B audiences might engage with fewer, more in-depth pieces, while B2C audiences often prefer more frequent, lighter content. Create a content calendar to plan ahead and ensure consistent publication even during busy periods. Remember that content promotion and distribution are equally important—repurposing existing content across multiple channels often yields better results than constantly creating new material.

What makes a headline truly engaging without being clickbait?

Creating compelling headlines that drive clicks without resorting to clickbait requires balancing intrigue with honesty. Effective headlines create a “curiosity gap”—revealing enough to establish relevance but leaving questions that can only be answered by reading further. Include specific numbers or data points when appropriate (e.g., “7 Proven Strategies” rather than “Several Strategies”), as specificity signals valuable, concrete information.

Use powerful emotional trigger words that evoke curiosity, surprise, or urgency, but ensure they accurately reflect the content. Consider using the “how-to” format for instructional content, as it clearly communicates practical value. Test different headline formulations (questions vs. statements, positive vs. negative framing) to see what resonates with your audience. Above all, your headline must deliver on its promise—the content should fully satisfy the expectation set by the headline. At SEO Design Chicago, we’ve found that headlines that combine specific benefits with emotional appeal typically generate the highest engagement rates without crossing into clickbait territory.

How can I measure if my content is truly engaging my audience?

Measuring content engagement requires tracking multiple metrics that collectively reveal how audiences interact with your material. Beyond basic vanity metrics like page views, monitor average time on page and scroll depth to understand if people are actually consuming your content. Engagement actions such as comments, shares, and backlinks indicate that content resonated enough to prompt interaction. For conversion-focused content, track click-through rates on calls to action and ultimate conversion rates.

Heat mapping tools can reveal exactly which parts of your content receive the most attention and interaction. Analyze your return visitor rate to determine if your content is building loyalty. For social media, measure engagement rate (interactions divided by reach) rather than raw numbers of likes or comments. Qualitative feedback through comments and direct messages provides valuable context beyond numbers. Set up goal tracking in Google Analytics to align content performance with business objectives. Remember that different content types and channels require different engagement benchmarks—a 3-minute average read time might be excellent for a blog post but concerning for a video.

How do I create engaging visual content when I’m not a designer?

Creating professional visual content without design skills has become increasingly accessible thanks to user-friendly tools and resources. Start with template-based design platforms like Canva, Adobe Express, or Piktochart that offer pre-designed templates for various content types, from social media graphics to infographics. These tools include drag-and-drop interfaces and properly-sized templates for different platforms. For photography, consider using high-quality stock photo sites like Pexels, Unsplash, or Adobe Stock rather than taking poor-quality photos yourself. When creating charts or data visualizations, tools like Visme or even Excel and Google Sheets can generate clean, professional-looking graphics.

For videos, apps like Kapwing or InShot allow simple editing with text overlays and transitions. Establish consistent visual branding by creating a simple style guide with your color palette, fonts, and logo variations, then apply these consistently across all visuals. Focus on simplicity—clean, uncluttered designs with ample white space typically look more professional than complex layouts. For more sophisticated projects or when establishing your visual identity, consider hiring a professional designer initially to create templates you can modify yourself later.

How do I effectively repurpose content across different platforms?

Strategic content repurposing multiplies your return on investment while reaching audiences across different platforms and learning preferences.

Start by identifying your “cornerstone” content—comprehensive, high-value pieces that can be broken down into multiple formats. For example, a detailed blog post can be transformed into an infographic highlighting key statistics, a slideshow for LinkedIn, a series of quote graphics for Instagram, short video clips for TikTok or Instagram Reels, or an expanded whitepaper for lead generation. When repurposing, always optimize for each platform’s unique characteristics rather than simply cross-posting identical content—Twitter requires brevity, Instagram emphasizes visuals, LinkedIn favors professional insights, and Facebook facilitates discussion.

Consider audience differences across platforms as well; your LinkedIn audience may appreciate more technical, detailed content compared to your Instagram followers. Update older successful content with new information, examples, or perspectives to give it fresh relevance. Track performance across different formats to identify which content types resonate best on each platform. At SEO Design Chicago, we help businesses develop comprehensive repurposing strategies that maintain consistent messaging while optimizing for platform-specific engagement.

How can I create engaging content with limited time and resources?

Creating engaging content with limited resources requires strategic planning and focusing efforts where they’ll have maximum impact. First, implement a content calendar to plan ahead, preventing last-minute rushes that compromise quality. Prioritize quality over quantity—one exceptional monthly piece will outperform four mediocre weekly posts. Leverage user-generated content by encouraging customers to share experiences with your products or services, then feature this authentic material (with permission).

Repurpose existing content into multiple formats to extend its lifespan; for example, transform a successful blog post into an infographic, video, or email series. Consider a content curation strategy—sharing valuable industry content with your added perspective requires less time than creating everything from scratch while still providing value.

Use templates for recurring content types to maintain consistent branding while reducing design time. Focus on your unique expertise or perspective—content based on personal experience requires less research time while offering distinctive value. Batch similar tasks (writing, designing, scheduling) to improve efficiency through focused work sessions. Finally, consider outsourcing specific components of content creation to freelancers or agencies like SEO Design Chicago, allowing you to maintain a consistent publishing schedule without overtaxing internal resources.

How do I create content that encourages sharing and virality?

While true virality can’t be guaranteed, certain content characteristics consistently improve sharing potential. Create content that evokes strong emotions—whether awe, surprise, amusement, or even controlled controversy—as emotional resonance drives sharing more than rational appeals.

Provide practical utility that solves specific problems for your audience; people share content that makes them look helpful and knowledgeable. Incorporate visual elements like infographics, videos, or striking images, as visual content is shared 40% more often than text-only posts. Craft content that reinforces or validates your audience’s existing beliefs and identity—people share content that helps them express who they are to their networks.

Timing matters: monitor industry news to create timely content that connects to trending topics relevant to your audience. Format content for easy consumption with scannable layouts, clear headings, and digestible chunks. Make sharing frictionless by including prominent social sharing buttons, click-to-tweet options for key quotes, and optimizing for mobile viewing. Finally, directly ask for shares when appropriate, particularly when your content supports causes your audience cares about. Remember that consistently creating valuable, audience-focused content builds the trust necessary for your audience to become willing ambassadors for your brand.