Social Media Marketing Is Like Baking Cookies

We’ve all experienced the social media scroll—our thumbs scrolling and scrolling for miles at a time until suddenly a post catches our eye. We skid to a stop to engage with the post we deemed worth pausing for, among hundreds of others, and we double tap. This content likely took hours to put together, and it succeeded: it stopped you long enough to do a double take. So, what caused you to stop?

The recipe for a good Instagram post

While some posts may look effortless, in reality a dedicated team has likely invested dozens of hours of thought and planning to create a good Instagram post. Someone pulled out their camera, possibly traveled, staged a room, maybe posed someone, took the time to edit, wrote a caption, then hit publish. This invisible world behind social media management feels a lot like the unseen but bustling Keebler Elves making their cookies inside a tree. Their time and effort is well spent. Everyone enjoys their finished product—a delicious cookie—just like everyone enjoys finding a gem on Instagram. My job as a social content curator is to get you to stop and eat the cookie. But bear in mind not all cookies are created exactly the same.

I want to create the post that gets your thumb to stop. Cookies aside, the one thing that always works is puppies, but that almost feels like cheating. Of course you’re going to stop and double tap (or boop) that adorable face. Other content isn’t so easy. Lighting, color, image quality, who shot it, where it’s shot—these are all factors that go into creating a quality, thumb-stopping post. We’ll call these the cookie ingredients. If you have too much butter, your cookies are pancakes. Too much flour and you get a dry rock. You need the perfect appetizing blend of ingredients to earn your viewers’ likes.

How lifestyle content works for real estate

One of my favorite projects is curating content for a conventional apartment community in Wilmington, North Carolina. My strategy is ambition and honesty—to curate a feed that tells the story of the audience’s future lifestyle. This lifestyle includes the perfect balance of work and vacation, evenings on the beach, dinners with friends at amazing restaurants, and drinks at world-class breweries. The goal is for a prospective resident in Wilmington to see my posts and be drawn into the story of their potential lifestyle. With the perfect mix of post ingredients and a sprinkle of targeted hashtags, the thumb doesn’t just double tap. It goes a step further: to the top corner of that screen to learn more about this lifestyle and property.

While I can’t fill an entire feed with puppies or cookies, I can make an eye-catching feed of cohesive colors that tells a story and draws in the audience. Though an image of a local coffee shop or a relaxing photo of the beach might not feature the actual property, it helps to tell the story of life at this property, and it entices people to visit the property page to learn more and potentially turn into leads.

Looking for cookies?

Next time you’re scrolling for miles and your thumb screeches to a halt, take one second to think about everything that went into that post. While you’re stopped, you might even treat yourself to a cookie, because I’m sure they’re on your mind now.

If you want help curating your social media feed, our team of experts is always looking for a new challenge. You can learn more about us here.