To keep your followers engaged and attract new users to your account, you’ll need to come up with new social media content ideas. It might be exhausting to be creative and provide good content for your audience across various platforms daily. To help you keep on top of your game, we’ve put together a cheat sheet of content ideas for social media. Never again will you be concerned about forgetting what to write next!
Branding
Here are some post ideas related to improving your company brand. Improve your average customer’s knowledge about your products and services.
1. Company History
Depending on the excitement level of how your company was founded, this idea may need a bit of sprucing up. You may certainly write long paragraphs about how “X Company was built in 1997…” but most people probably won’t care much about it. Instead, pair a relevant image with a short snippet of text like, “Did you know X Company is a woman-owned business? Support your local community by shopping for…”
2. Press Releases
Press releases often leave us imagining a conference. Don’t be intimidated by “press release” sounding so official. It could be something as small as store hour changes or even a new staff member!
3. FAQ
Create multiple image, text, or even video-based posts to help your customers understand your products and services a bit better. Brainstorm with your staff to determine the most frequently asked questions at your place of business. Can things get overly complicated? Develop your own video tutorial series for tons of posting opportunities.
4. Customer Testimonials
These days, reviews are highly sought out to determine whether or not that product is as good as it looks! Unfortunately, most people are much more willing to create a review in order to complain instead of praise. Be proactive and find happy customers to provide a positive review of your company or services. Start-up companies and individuals can ask friends and family for character reviews!
5. Mention B2B Clients
Business-to-business (aka B2B) clients are often thrilled to receive any sort of mention or recognition from other companies, including yours! Share and congratulate a client for their recent success. Share relevant posts of your clients as long as it doesn’t conflict with yours.
6. Mention B2C Clients
Mentioning clients who are not involved with an organization may be a bit trickier. Some folks prefer to keep their profiles personal and you should absolutely respect it. That being said, many customers love being appreciated with 15 minutes of fame. Do you own a local bookstore? Ask a customer if they are willing to have a quick photo taken with their newly purchased book. Are you a barber? Maybe your recent client would be happy to have a post with their new stylin’ cut. Sometimes, all that is required is a simple question.
7. Share Contact Information
This seems like a boring post because it is! However, adding an image or video that truly represents your brand and services may end up being shared. For example, if your best friend was looking for a new hairdresser, you’d likely share a barber shop’s image and contact info if you happened to notice one, right? Others will absolutely do the same.
8. Host an AMA / Q&A
You may be thinking to yourself, “How is this different from FAQ?” The answer is simple: Audience Participation! You can likely guess the majority of your own company’s frequently asked questions, but there will always be a few questions that surprise you. Not only will this help your customers get to know you and your business, but this will also help you get to know your customers in return.
9. Go Live
Many social media platforms give us all the option of streaming live from our devices. This is an amazing tool for events, but it’s also great for promoting your business in general. Show a new release to your customers or something really unique that followers might enjoy.
Content Marketing
Content creation doesn’t always need to hold significant meaning. Evergreen content, for example, is a popular trend involving the creation of timeless posts. You’ll eventually maintain a library of posts that can easily be recycled when you are running low on meaningful topics.
1. Share Jokes & Quotes
Keep it relevant! A convenience store sharing or creating a meme about horses may be a bit strange. Plus, not all of your customers will appreciate a joke about animals. Determine what type of audience you have via social media embedded analytics as well as your own personal experience. Instead, that convenience store manager could share a meme about shopping lists or “Karen” customers. Poor Karen…
2. Share Favorite Books, Tutorials, Articles
You aren’t the only authority around here! Help your customers as well as content creators by sharing their content. You may even be able to earn some passive income by using affiliate links. Beware, some people view affiliate links as manipulative. Quickly mentioning it as an affiliate link may calm some nerves.
3. Daily, Weekly, Monthly Posts
You’ve likely noticed these types of posts on your own personal profiles. “Motivation Monday,” “Tuesday Tips,” “Throwback Thursday,” and more come to mind. Post about motivational quotes. Share some relevant business or product tips. Reshare popular or important posts from your own newsfeed.
4. Blog Posts & Articles
Do you have a website? We hope so! If not, please be sure to check out our services. All modern businesses should have some form of a website, even if it is one simple page with your contact info. If you wish to promote that website, then a blog is a great way to go about it. You are creating more content for SEO while also promoting your social media pages and directing more customers to your site. (What is SEO?)
5. Case Studies
This won’t be relevant to all businesses, but it is still a great idea to mention. Share an experience about how your services or product will be beneficial in the lives of the average Joe.
6. Polls
Another great way to learn about your customers and their needs. Simply put, polls are fun! Most people love to share their likes and dislikes, so you should harness that behavior. Learn what you are doing right and wrong. Determine what product should go on sale next. Ask followers what type of posts they enjoy most. Or simply post a poll for entertainment. The possibilities are endless.
7. Industry-Related News
If you haven’t already, follow your competitors and authority figures in your industry. You’ll end up having a newsfeed that offers free, relevant content every day. Share posts regarding industry-related news, or create your own.
8. Host a Challenge
You could end up creating the next new craze! After all, planking, free-running, and The Harlem Shake had to start somewhere. Once again, stay relevant! You want customers to think about your brand just as much as the challenge itself. Fitness challenges are a perfect example for local gyms. DIY (Do-it-yourself) challenges would be fantastic for a local hardware store. Think about your business and a challenge that would motivate others to purchase your product or service.
Promotions
In our best Oprah impression…ahem… “YOU get a giveaway! YOU get a giveaway! You all get giveaways!” Promote your business with some ideas you may not have tried yet.
1. Giveaways & Contests
Looking to boost your amount of followers quickly? This is one of our favorite methods for retail locations, but it works just as well for service-based businesses too! Boost the posts on Facebook for even more customer reach. In fact, even $20 could gain hundreds or possibly thousands of fresh eyes on your post. Focus on the conditions of the contest or giveaway as well. For example, in order to be eligible, you can and should require applicants to follow your page and mention the contest to one friend.
2. Coupons & Seasonal Sales
We doubt anyone needs to explain the potential of a coupon or sale, but not everyone thinks to promote them. It doesn’t require much, but be sure to at least make an image. According to Biteable, videos > images > text when it comes to clickthrough rate. https://biteable.com/blog/video-vs-image/
3. Free Gifts
Similar to the above promotions, sometimes it is nice to simply give items away! Offer free bookmarks at a bookstore, free hand sanitizer at a beauty supply shop, or free branded cups at a coffee stand for free advertisement.
4. Guest Performer / Author / Artist
Get a local celebrity to participate with your business. There are plenty of professionals who love exposure. Ask the author of a relevant book if they’d be willing to join an interview that you’ll later post on social media. Allow an artist to sell their work at your location. Scratch their backs, and they’ll scratch yours. Just be sure now to be insulting. Offer something that is actually comparable to their time.
5. Influencers
Influencers could be considered local celebrities as well, but they tend to stay within the digital world. That’s great, as many influencers can influence at least thousands of potential customers in your area. Some influencers may be willing to do an unboxing or unbiased review in exchange for a free product. Keep in mind, that the more followers they have, the more likely they’ll want financial compensation. If finances are a concern, try choosing an influencer that is on the same popularity level as your business.
6. Profile Ownership for a Day
Find a trustworthy customer to post on your social media pages for a day. This works really well during events. For example, if you have the above-mentioned author signing, it might interest customers to get the inside scoop from one of their peers. Naturally, you’ll want to be absolutely sure that you can trust this person. Use account settings to assign roles instead of providing full access.
7. National X Day
It’s a good idea to show your support. It really doesn’t take much and it helps your customers know that they are welcome at your business location(s). If you are the manager of a gym predominately run by men, showing support for International Women’s Day might go a long way. If you’ll notice, many websites have been promoting the fact that they are a sex, gender, or race-owned business. On a similar note, religious affairs like Christmas and Hannukah would have a similar outcome. Be careful though. Depending on the subject matter, you may end up rubbing a large portion of your audience the wrong way. Stay respectful to all cultures.
8. Hire an Agency
If you ever require some assistance with your brand, Element Marketing Company would be happy to help! Let’s get started 🙂
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