Creating content that resonates with the audience requires understanding the strengths and limitations of each type of content. In this lesson, we'll explore text posts, images, videos, and podcasts and explain how to adapt them to maximize their potential. You'll learn when and where each format performs so you can align it with your industry and audience preferences.
Text posts
Fifteen years ago, text posts were synonymous with blog posts. Since then, social networks like LinkedIn and X/Twitter have started to replace blogs as primary channels for text posts. The reason is simple: blogs don't have a natural distribution - when you write one, nobody knows about it. Blog posts shared on social media rank among the content with the worst engagement rates, so the most logical question - "Why not simply share blog posts on socials?" is very quickly rebutted.
The way forward is to post text posts directly on social media. Suppose you have a blog with a lot of posts. In that case, the best way to utilize it is to take these posts, adapt them to social media-attractive form (split or shorten them and add an intro that sets the stage or poses a question), and post them on social media.
If you don't already have a blog, consider whether you even need it if your profession isn't one of the very few where they are still popular or necessary or if you aren't from a small country where your blog posts can rank well in Google search results. A good reason to have a blog, even without considering SEO, is to demonstrate your knowledge to your website visitors.
Posts on LinkedIn and X don't have to be as long and as time-consuming to write as blog posts.
The main advantage of posting text posts on social media is the distribution - apart from your network, the reach of your posts can be amplified by likes, comments, and reposts that get your content in front of a wider audience.
Images
Images will only work for you if your profession is heavily visually based and you can make attractive images to convey what you created. Other than that, the potential of images is very limited - they simply can't compete with video. We'd also like to caution you against a concept that's popular with lazier content creators but is very uninteresting and has low engagement rates - text shared as an image, often complemented by either a picture of the subject in question or the content creator himself. Some A-list influencers can successfully pull this off because their face is an attention magnet, but that's not your case.
If you already have a significant audience on Instagram, you can take a picture of yourself and put anything you post on LinkedIn in the image description. This won’t help if you’re just starting out, but it can work nicely if you already have an audience. These images with super-long text descriptions are becoming increasingly popular. It has to be said, though, that this approach mostly works for good-looking people. The rest of us will have it more difficult.
We're certainly not telling you not to share images. Statistically, posts with images have better engagement rates than posts without them, but they usually play only a complementary role - they're not the main reason people engage with the post. The main reason is the text post itself. Images can also be well utilized as YouTube community posts or in featured Instagram stories - but we'll get to that later.
Videos
The younger your audience is, the more inclined it will be to watch videos. It's no coincidence that TikTok, the latest social network phenomenon, is purely video-based. Another essential attribute of TikTok videos (or their equivalents on other social networks) is their short-form format. But don't fall into this short-form frenzy - longer-form videos are doing incredibly, too, especially if they are about more complex topics that can't be properly examined in 60 seconds. In fact, you can easily do both - we'll get into that in detail later.
Videos can be divided into two main categories: videos with your face and voice and videos with your voice only. Videos with your face and voice don't need much introduction, but voice-only maybe do. Explainer videos, where you show the clips or images of what you are talking about, are pretty popular, but they take a lot of time to create if you want to make them engaging. Still, it would be a pity if the creator didn't take this chance for the audience to see him - after all, his main objective is to build his brand.
💡 Keep in mind
Video is the closest thing to meeting a person in real life. The farther you get from this, the more difficult it will be for your audience to build a relationship with you. If you want to go big on content creation but don't like being on camera, you'll be at a big disadvantage. A solution can be getting someone you can talk to on the video with you, so you're not forced to talk to the camera but to a real person.
Podcasts
Old-timers joke that everyone has a podcast these days. The entry barrier is indeed very low, and it's a popular option for those who don't like cameras or want to avoid dealing with video production. You can do a podcast either on your own (monologue), with your others (roundtable), or with a guest (interview). The bad news is that launching a successful podcast isn't easy - 90% of new podcasts will not make it to episode 10, and only 2% of the remaining 10% will make it to episode 50. A common denominator of unsuccessful podcasts is no video, low production quality, and being too long with no good reason.
Podcasts can be recorded in person or online. We recommend the in-person option, which also enables you to create an engaging video that will allow you to clip and share the most engaging parts of the podcast. Sure, you can record the video of your online podcast, too, but the difference in quality is substantial. Strangely, the main listener acquisition channel for podcasts is video. Podcasts without video have a very hard time breaking through - most people find podcasts on YouTube or through video clips on other social networks, not on podcasting apps. Yes, many people listen to audio versions of podcasts, but usually it's after they find out about it through its video clip.
💡 Keep in mind
Recording a video of your podcast will exponentially increase its potential and reach. Even webcams and phone cameras offer very good quality these days, so there's no excuse for not having video. We can't recommend it enough.
Remember
👉 Text posts perform better on social media than links to blog posts.
👉 On LinkedIn and X, images are usually used to complement the text.
👉 Short-form videos suit younger audiences, longer videos address complex topics.
👉 Videos build stronger connections, especially when you appear on camera.
👉 Podcasts need video for wider reach and listener acquisition.
👉 Quality and strategic use of content type are key to effective engagement.
Homework
1️⃣ Go to LinkedIn and study what successful text posts have in common.
2️⃣ Select a blog post you've written and adapt it into a social media-friendly text post. Focus on shortening it, adding an engaging intro, and tailoring it to your platform of choice.
3️⃣ Go to Instagram and see how successful creators do images and notice the long descriptions.
4️⃣ If you want to start making videos, you'll have to practice a lot. Don't even expect to get it right the first time. The more you talk to the camera, the more comfortable you feel. Save your first attempt and then compare it with your 20th few days later. It will be night and day.
5️⃣ Try podcasting with whatever tech you have first. If you're good at it, it will be apparent even in the low quality production. Then consider whether you have $400 - $1500 to spare for better mics and camera equipment.
👏 Cheers to you!
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Content production →
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