Using mind maps to brainstorm social media content ideas

Does your social media marketing campaign feel like a waste of time? Are you fed up with scheduling each week’s posts with what you believe to be engaging content only for your number of followers and levels of engagement to flatline?

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Like anything, social media content needs careful planning. For some, a giant spreadsheet full of content ideas and schedules works, but in this blog post we’re going to suggest a rather different method.

Mind mapping is a tool used by countless businesses due to its unique ability to help us visualise the muddle of thoughts and ideas swimming around inside our heads. Social media marketing is another area that can benefit significantly from this addictive form of planning.

Social media is all about great content people will want to share and in order to generate great content, you need to brainstorm.

So, without further ado, let’s consider how you can use mind maps to brainstorm social media content ideas.

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1. Select a central topic

What’s the main theme of your social media campaign? Which subject do you want to draw people to? For example, if you work for a hotel in Brighton, your central topic might be Brighton’s place as a tourist hotspot. Place your main topic at the centre of your mind map and circle it.

2. Create 5-6 subtopics

It’s time to break down that central topic. What is it made up of? In our hotel example, that might be: nightlife, cafes, kid-friendly attractions, adventurous weekends, and so on. On your mind map, add the subtopics as stems from the main topic.

3. Devise perspectives for the subtopics

What sort of content do you want to publish about each subtopic? Are you looking to provide headlines, quotes or pieces of advice? Try and think of around 10 or so perspectives for each subtopic. For our Brighton hotel, these may be something along the lines of tourist advice, latest news, reviews and recommendations.

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4. Specify your social media channels

Social media marketing is at its best when you tailor content for each specific channel. What works on Twitter may not work on Facebook, so on your mind map, begin plotting out the social media sites through which you want to distribute each subtopic and its corresponding perspectives. For example, if one of your perspectives is highly image-driven, it may be best suited to Instagram.

5. Begin devising the content

This is the fun bit. You know your central topic, the subtopics and the perspective you want to apply to each, so you can now begin devising the actual content itself. On your mind map, add draft content ideas against each subtopic, paying close attention to the perspective and designated channel.

Summary

Mind mapping is an incredibly fun and productive way to delve into the depths of our imagination and draw out brilliant ideas. Use the 5 stages above and you’ll wonder how you did without mind maps for brainstorming social media content.

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  • http://www.tabfu.com William Blake

    Social Marketing is best when you viral your content on its specific channel.