Having a social media presence is becoming more and more important for businesses, especially during recent times when it has been one of the very few ways to keep in touch with existing customers and clients and to get seen by potential new ones. Regular posting helps your business to stay at the forefront of the minds of your audience. But thinking of new post ideas can be difficult when you have so much else to be doing in your business. Here are some great ways to keep those post ideas flowing, and save you time, too!
Think about the types of posts that make you stop scrolling and pay attention when you are on social media. Look at your favourite brands and businesses and take inspiration from them for your own business.
Look for posts that make you smile, make you remember that brand/business, or invoke a feeling or reaction.
Do not just copy their posts but think about the topics and elements of their posts that you like and use these as a starting point for your own posts.
Ask them! Do some market research and find out exactly what your ideal audience want to see on your social media platforms. You can create social media posts asking questions and encouraging feedback within the comments (so that’s another few posts right there!), you could hold a poll in a Facebook group, send out a questionnaire to existing customers and your email list, and even ask family and friends what they would like to know about your business or industry.
Once you have gathered some answers you can create posts about these. Not only does this save you time struggling to think up ideas and getting frustrated, but it is also relevant content that your audience will love and likely engage with. Win!
We all like to learn new things, don’t we? Your social media audience is made up of people who are already interested in your business, your products and services, and you, so it stands to reason that they would love to learn more about all of the above. Serving them content that interests them and teaches them a little something will keep them coming back for more. You are an expert in your field, embrace it and share it.
Create posts that educate people about;
Giving value to your audience is a fantastic way to build their confidence in you, to show them you know your stuff and that you are there for them, to help them. Again, think of businesses that have made you feel this way about them and start earning that trust from your followers.
User-generated content is any form of content that has been created by your customers, clients, or audience online. This can be in the form of a review they leave on your pages, a picture or video they post with your products or a blog or article they have written that mentions your business. This is absolute gold because it serves as social proof for your business AND it is content that you can easily share to your social media.
Encourage your audience to leave you reviews, send you feedback, post pictures of your products in use, tag you in their content and post about how your service has helped them. Remember that they are already your fans and will want to support you, so let them know how this will all help your business.
It’s exciting to peek behind the scenes and see the ‘real’ things that make us human. Give your audience a glimpse of what it looks and feels like inside your business. Show them where you work, the tools you use, work in progress, or your walk to work.
Remember the people behind the business too. We like to know who we are buying from, it helps to build that important know, like and trust factor. Introduce yourself and your team if you have one and give an insight into your personality. You don’t have to give too much away and never feel like you have to post something that makes you feel uncomfortable.
Imagine you are in your shop/premises or are having a face-to-face conversation with your customers. What kinds of things to do talk about? How much would you feel comfortable sharing?
How great does it feel when someone shares one of your posts or creates their own post about your business and puts you in front of their audience? It feels fantastic, so let’s keep that feeling going and do it for others. You can post about suppliers you use, businesses you collaborate with, businesses you have used and would recommend to others, businesses you would like to work with, businesses that inspire you and businesses local to you.
There is a real sense of community amongst small business owners, we love to support each other where we can, and this is an amazing and free way we can do it. More often than not, when you do this regularly, other businesses will start sharing your content and shouting about you too, so everyone wins.
As well as all of the ideas above, you’ll need to create promotional posts for your products and services. For each one, ask who, what, when, where, why and how questions, and answer these in your posts. Remember that you can use many of these posts more than once too, some of them can become regular posts. Not all of your audience will see your content the first time it is published, and you gain new followers constantly, so don’t be afraid to reuse, repurpose and recycle non-time-sensitive posts.
