12 Fail-Proof Social Media Content Ideas to Try
When you find time to sit down and write social media content, do you struggle to know what to really say? It can be hard staring at a blank page, or a completely empty posting plan. We’ve all been there.
To help you when writer’s block kicks in, here are 12 fail-proof social media content ideas for any business:
1. Product or services
This is an obvious one. You should use your social media accounts to post about your products and services. However, remember that only 20% of content should be promotional and the other 80% should be non-promotional.
2. Quotes
These work for practically anything but use them sparingly. You don’t want to overdo it!
It’s easy to find quotes that are humorous, inspirational or motivational. Spend some time using free graphic design tools such as Canva to make them into quote cards, watermarked with your company logo for added oomph.
3. Behind the scenes
Post photos of your office, staff members, details of a new product design or even pictures of parcels arriving or being sent out to customers. Show what life is really like in your business. Remember to keep these posts professional though and make sure you don’t share anything confidential!
4. Relevant news or data
Follow news stories that are relevant to your industry, and share anything that would be interesting to your customers.
5. Blog posts
Don’t forget to share your blog posts with your audience. You don’t need to exclusively share new content either. If you have an older post that’s still relevant, you can share that too!
6. Ask questions
You can ask your audience for feedback on a new product design or packaging, or you could even ask people how they use your product. Don’t forget that on Twitter, you can create Twitter polls, which are a nice and easy way to get people engaged. You also have the option to create a poll via Facebook and Instagram Stories too.
7. Share relevant content from external sources
If you share other people’s social media content, they are more likely to share yours, so this can work in both of your favours. Search for content from industry experts and interesting publications.
8. Lifestyle posts
Take some time to really think about the wider picture. Consider the sort of lifestyle your customers have. Are they sporty? Do they spend a lot of time reading? Do they love funny jokes? Use this information to create posts that they would find interesting. It doesn’t need to be promotional, but it should still have some relevance back to your business where possible.
9. Customer photos or testimonials
Ask your customers to share photos of themselves using your products. Consider asking them to include a specific hashtag, making it easier for you to find their content. You can then share these via your social media accounts and encourage more people to join in. You could even turn it into a fun competition, with the best, or funniest photo winning a prize. Don’t forget to check the promotional guidelines for the particular social channel first though, before running a contest.
Where you have positive customer feedback, use Canva to turn the review into a graphic and share via your social platforms for everyone to see.
10. Repost old social media content
If you posted something on a Monday morning at 9 am, it’s safe to say that probably at least 50% of your audience did not see it. There is nothing wrong with waiting a couple of weeks and re-posting it on a Tuesday afternoon at 4 pm, for example, to try and reach an entirely different audience. This is especially true on Twitter, where a Tweet has a very short lifespan. However, whilst the link can remain the same, I’d always recommend editing the post text and changing the image where possible, so you’re not just repeating the same content over and over again.
11. Talk about your journey
Every business has a unique journey, and audiences want to understand your story. Where did you come from, what made you start your company, what did the first prototype look like and what mistakes did you make that others can learn from?
12. Charitable causes
Are you doing anything in your business for charity? Is one of your employees doing a sponsored bike ride, or is everyone getting excited for Movember? Use this opportunity to share content around your activities. Not only does it show that your business is supporting good causes, but it can also add a personal side to your business, which customers often like to see.
Next steps
Once you get going with these social media content ideas, you will find that you come up with even more ideas. Keep an eye on how people respond to your posts, and use their responses to inform your next posts. Before you know it, you’ll be regularly posting interesting and engaging content across all of your social media accounts.
My top tip would be to make sure you consider content ideas as part of your wider social media strategy. Create a list of content ideas that would be relevant to your brand and audience. You can then easily refer back to this each time you’re creating content. Add to this list when you have a new content idea. If you need further help or would like some personalised advice, get in touch.
Do you have any more social media content ideas that are not included here? Join the conversation on social media.
(Header photo by Dil on Unsplash)
