As I’m talking to my business coaching clients around marketing, often enough the question comes up “what do I post on social media?” A great question and I thought it might be helpful to give you a fairly decent list of ideas. Many businesses are on social media these days, whether that be Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn or something else.
Businesses in Australia need to create content which is:
- Interesting and engaging
- Informative and educational
- Salesy – just a little bit – in my view no more than 10%.
So, here is my list of 40 ideas of things you can post on social media:
- Videos you have created, which might also be on YouTube.
- Facebook Live videos – interview someone, or have someone interview you is always a great way to action this.
- Advice about your latest podcast you have done and a little ‘teaser’ of what it is about.
- Blog posts – have an intro to your blog on social and then direct the traffic to your website to read the whole article. Alternatively, you can have a short post specifically for social.
- Curated content – pieces you’ve collected or put together which make amazing content to share. Of course, be sure to credit the original author!
- Photos (and a brief) description of your products or services.
- Educational pieces – when your clients are asking you similar things repeatedly; this is likely a great subject as others will likely want to know too.
- Press Release mentions or media mentions about your business.
- Influencer content – content written by social influencers.
- Tips & Tricks on how to do something. I suggest you make it related to your business. If I was to post tips around gardening or cooking, it wouldn’t make sense as I’m a business coach.
- How things operate in your business behind the scenes; whilst it may appear ‘raw’ ensure what you post is appropriate and shows your best side.
- Guest posts – where you invite someone else to share some info, news or a tip, especially someone who might be an expert in a particular field or area.
- Customer photos or team photos
- Pre a special event – telling people you’re about to celebrate a business’ 10th.
- Post a special event – sharing the photos and how it went after the fact.
- News and especially news which is relevant to your business or your customers. I will often share news around ATO rule changes, government announcements around business and even business grants as they come up (which isn’t that frequent).
- Industry News. You may wish to focus on the deep, long form content or provide a summary, especially breaking news. When the Federal Budget comes out, my email inbox (and to a minor degree social) is hit with a ton of information; but often it’s better written than the official announcement.
- Motivational and inspirational quotes – ideally on an image for best impact.
- Client testimonials – perhaps on a branded background. Share the love which is shared with you – with permission from the person giving you the testimonial (unless they posted it publicly).
- Polls and surveys
- Share your company culture and what your business is about.
- Share positive news about your team (with permission) and where suitable. Even baby photos are quite engaging and get lots of likes.
- Share posts from award nights or presentation evenings.
- Share a good story about an achievement, or fantastic outcome you’ve achieved.
- For Facebook, remember to show a little of you as a person. People (especially on Facebook are sick of being ‘sold to’ or seeing only business, so mix it up. Pets are great for this, or perhaps a photo of you kayaking in the bay, bike riding or dining out at a local restaurant. Be selective about what you post and of course never post after a few drinks.
- Memes or GIFs are a great add on to visual content.
- Contests and competitions BUT be careful as some platforms have competition posting against their rules. Know your platform and know the rules. Facebook is one of these.
- Infographics are an awesome way to share data and info in a visual manner. Whilst a little bit of work, they are great to look at and get good engagement.
- Links to free resources and giveaways. It might be an eBook, downloadable item or a sampler. Anything free (which has decent value) is always popular.
- Job Listings within your organization. If you are needing a new team member, put the ad (or link to the advert) on social. Free advertising and shows you are growing your business.
- Introducing a new team member on social.
- Data, facts and stats which are relevant to your industry or your audience.
- Jokes, humour and funnies – but ensure it is tasteful and would not likely offend anyone.
- Kind wishes – whether that’s for Christmas, Easter or there has been a natural disaster.
- Information about other business.
- Updates about a community group, charity or fundraising event. Sharing about a worthy cause is a great thing to do.
- Posts about your suppliers or business associates – helping to promote others is good karma.
- Question sessions – inviting others to pose a question or you asking a question.
- Answering common questions that people ask.
- Your services, products, offerings or new releases. This will be salesy so don’t make every post about what you do and what you can offer.
If you put your thinking cap on, I’m sure you could come up with a few ideas yourself. When it comes to marketing and especially social media, be sure to have a strategy, be sure to have a documented plan and schedule what you will post and when. What you never want to do is to be sitting there, thinking that it’s time to post on social according to your ‘to do list’ but gosh, what will I post? This isn’t so much that you have writer’s block, it’s just a lack of planning and following a system.
Another problem with marketing and posting to social media in small business is that often when the business owner gets busy (or one of the key team members gets busy) then marketing and business social media posting comes to an abrupt halt. You think that it is fine because you are busy.
The challenge is that with marketing there is often a time lag from when prospective clients and customers reach out and then of course there is a lag between the time they reach out and the time that you deliver the service and invoice them. So due to these lags, the best time to market is often when you are busy – that way you stay busy. All marketing and social media should have a purpose behind it, work to a plan and happen on a regular basis.
If you need help with developing a marketing plan or developing strategy around your marketing, business or social media, or general business coaching, then please give me a call; happy to discuss your needs with you.
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