People from companies I coach often ask me, “What do I post on my social media?”
It’s difficult to create content every day that’s relevant to your customers. But, here’s the first thing I would do:
Make a content calendar of holidays, special events and promotions your business will run throughout the year. For example, are you offering a Mother’s Day special or a Black Friday deal? Or, maybe it’s national sushi day and you own a sushi restaurant — you should definitely have a post about that! Another recommendation I have is posting on your social media three to five times a week, and since every day isn’t a holiday or special occasion, you need to find other engaging ways to fill your feed.
If you don’t have a graphic designer on staff, I would recommend downloading the Canva app. It’s a great tool to create graphic templates that match your branding colors, font, etc. It’s an easy-to-use, simple tool to create fun graphics for social media.
To fill the space on your social media pages in between major holidays and promotions, I came up with 16 ideas for potential social media posts.
Video
Video is said to drive 80% of your web traffic today. Think about it — when you’re scrolling through social media and see a video that catches your eye, you’re probably going to keep watching so you can find out more. The great thing about social media is that you don’t have to have professionally shot videos to get attention. You can just use your iPhone to film yourself giving advice or sharing your expertise or even just taking behind-the-scenes shots of what you’re doing at your company.
Live Videos
Live videos are a great tool to use on your social media pages because platforms like Facebook and Instagram actually reward you and will promote your video, allowing you to reach a lot of people without spending money. Going live on social media can be scary, but remember that it also allows your audience to see your authentic self, which will help them become more familiar with you. Plus, you can always go back and delete it and try again.
Staff Profiles
Featuring your staff on your social media pages is a great way to introduce your audience to the people behind the scenes at your business who make it all happen! It’s a fun way to see a different side of the business and the people in it, and it will help your audience get to know your business better.
Company News, Awards, Product Launches
Social media is a great place to share company news, any awards you’ve received and product rollouts. Let your followers be the first to know about breaking news with your company!
Market Data
If you want to be seen as the expert in your industry, social media is an excellent way to establish that! Share your skills, knowledge and expertise with the world. By giving them this added value, your audience will start to trust you, which will likely lead to them becoming customers!
Articles and Blog Posts
It’s always a good idea to feature articles and blog posts on your website, as this drives more traffic to your site via search engines. A blog is a great thing to share on your social media platforms to drive traffic back to your website.
Behind the Scenes of Your Business
Let your audience get a sneak peek of what’s happening at your company! It doesn’t have to be anything professional – just videos and photos of what you do every day are perfect.
Contests and Giveaways
Contests are always a great way to gain followers! When I was running a website called 918moms.com, we created a Freebie Friday where we would give away a prize every Friday. These prizes were from our advertisers, so we didn’t have to pay for them. It was a huge traffic driver for us because we asked people to like, share and comment on our post to win the prizes. Our advertisers loved it because it promoted their products, and it also significantly boosted our following.
Influencer Collaborations
They’re called influencers for a reason — they have an influence on their followers! If you can find an influencer who has access to your target audience and will post about you, you’ll almost immediately gain followers. It depends on the influencer and the amount of followers they have, but sometimes they will promote you in exchange for free products or services. You may have to pay them, but the following you’ll gain from it will likely be worth it.
Product Photos
If you have a product, you should post photos of it! If you have a restaurant, post photos of your food, your menus and any other new offerings you have. If you have a clothing store, post photos of people wearing your clothes! It’s great to give people tangible examples of what you’re offering.
User-Generated Content
You’ll know your social media pages are successful when you start seeing user-generated content. This is when followers post photos of your products or services without you even having to ask them. For example, if you own a clothing store, someone may post a photo of themselves in an outfit they bought from you and tag you in it. You should always re-post these photos onto your business’s feed so that everyone can see that you’re generating buzz!
Instagram Stories
I recommend posting three to five Instagram stories a day. Stories get a lot of traction on social media and they also don’t have to be polished like an actual post might be. It’s more of an unfiltered look into what you’re doing at your business. Since stories disappear after someone watches them, you’ll want to post multiple times a day to stay top of mind with your followers.
Interesting or Inspirational Quotes
Inspirational quotes are an easy way to put content out that your followers will enjoy. You can use a famous quote that resonates with your followers but brand it so that it aligns with your business, and credit the person who said it. It’s an easy way to get content — plus, people like to re-post inspirational quotes onto their own pages!
Guest Takeover
Guest takeovers are a fun way to switch up your social media posting! You can have someone from your company take over the company’s Instagram for a day and post behind-the-scenes content and share what a typical workday looks like for them. It keeps things fresh and interesting and helps people get to know your company on a deeper level!
Testimonials
It always looks better for someone else to brag about your company instead of you. A client case study or testimonial is powerful and gives you more credibility!
Questions
Ask your followers questions to see what content they enjoy the most instead of just guessing. Polls and surveys on your social media pages are a great way to get content ideas from your audience. After all, you’re doing this for them, so you want to hear what they want to see from you!
The next time you feel stuck while trying to schedule social media posts, refer to this list!
