How to add entertainment value to your social content
- Mar 17
- 2 min read
Updated: Mar 30
There’s a difference between social content that informs and social content which people actually choose to watch.
Right now, the brands winning on social aren’t just sharing updates or pushing brand messages, they’re entertaining their audience with shareable content.
The battle for attention is only getting more competitive, and it’s no longer enough to cross your fingers and hope your content lands. Every single post has to earn its place.
If you want your content to cut through, you need to give people a reason to stay. Luckily, our Social Entertainment Lead, Matt Highton, is on hand to make sure your content is crammed full of entertainment value:
Start with the hook
Put your best bit up top. It’s no joke that you have 2–3 seconds to hook a viewer, so start with the moment that grabs attention. Tease the outcome and people will stick around to see how it gets there.
Surprise and subvert
People love thinking they know where something is going. Subvert that expectation, surprise them and the audience feels rewarded, making them far more likely to share it with others.
Escalation
You can always add another step. The best posts often take a simple idea and build on it, then build on it again. A small moment can spiral into something absurd and each escalation raises the entertainment value. The 'not everything is a two person job' trend is a great example of this and one we worked into our social posts for our clients, Landsec.
Trim the fat
Last year Gen Z loved pointing out the “millennial pause”; that moment where someone hits record and takes a breath before speaking. Social moves quickly, so tighten wherever you can. If something slows the pace, it probably isn’t needed.
Emotion over information
Information alone rarely travels far. A laugh will travel further than a fact, but a fact with a laugh can go around the world. When a post taps into a feeling (laughter, joy, even anger), audiences connect and engage.
Energy translates
Viewers pick up on the energy behind a post, especially in video. If it feels like the creator is having fun, that energy carries through the screen and makes the content more watchable.
