Social Media content fits in the short-form content type in terms of the content marketing strategy for any kind of business which means you should be creating it daily unlike blog and youtube videos (long-form content).
Social Media can help your business only when you put out the right content regularly. So the problem here is that you need to come up with new ideas to engage your audience. And it’s so frustrating and overwhelming to guess what to post.
Worry not! It’s ok to get stuck with “What to post”.
In this article, I’m gonna explain the content ideas & strategies with a wide range of examples from small businesses to big brands.
But before diving deep into the content ideas, I just want you to know about the two main content types that really work well on social media.
Video Content is the next big thing in marketing and it can bring you insane reach on social platforms. Yes, because social platforms are trying to crush the television networks out there, so the reach for video is more than any other type of content.
Don’t believe me? Just take a minute to read some video marketing stats.
Video content continues to be more effective in content marketing strategy and will be more and more effective in the coming years.
Because people find videos more engaging, more human, and more memorable. Videos grab attention and videos go viral.
Whether it’s digital or outdoor marketing, visuals matter a lot.
Product images, Infographics, Quotes, etc.. anything with good and appealing designs works well on social media.
People are 65% more likely to remember information if it includes an image. Just keep in mind that visual content is very much essential to see success on social media.
While the above 2 content types are a must to see growth in social media, here are 20 content ideas that can help you build a strong social media presence.
Make sure that the content you post reflects your brand’s voice.
Pro Tip: Not everything that you post on social media has to be related to promoting your products & services. Don’t be too salesy!
Showcase your products in the right way, with the right angles & right composition. Hire a photographer if you need to & if you can.
Images of the product tried out by someone would work well. The fashion brand Gucci’s Instagram account is all about this.
Demonstrate use cases. Explain the features and talk more about the benefits they are gonna get in a more visual way.
Be creative.
See how Bellroy used a stop motion video to showcase their products.
Text overlayed on Image works very well for offer posts. This makes it easy for your audience to get the message without reading the caption.
Make your offer clear on the creative itself.
Meme marketing is one of the viral marketing techniques that most companies are using to market their product and to attract millennials especially.
If you are not using pop culture references in your social media content, then you are missing out on a lot of millennial audiences.
Streaming companies like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video do a lot of meme marketing to promote their upcoming films and web series.
Create memes that are related to your business to promote your product or services but most of the time create them just to entertain your audience.
Making BTS a part of your social media strategy gives an idea of how your business works and what it is all about. It creates a more personal connection between your business and your audience.
Why?
People trust people. Not businesses. So it is one of the best ways to humanize your brand. Your audience will get to know the “Who” & “What” of your business.
I have seen most restaurants sharing their cooking videos on Instagram and Facebook stories.
If you are a freelancer (or service-based business) like me, you can put updates on what you are working on by sharing some screenshots.
If you run a product-based business, show the process of making it.
Another great stop motion video.
Click some images and share them if you can’t make a video. See this beautiful post by Printful.
Wish your audience on festival days. This makes them feel like you are part of their culture.
I made this one when I was working in a rental startup.
Run an offer campaign during each festival. Give them an extra reason to celebrate. Festival and special day offers are very common in India.
Share something that your company has achieved or completed. Talk more about your company situation or how your company had reached a particular point and what it took to get there.
Your company completed 3 years in the field? Your company accomplished something that you are proud of? Share it!
Hootsuite made a video on their product updates.
Hostinger’s take on “Workation”.
Got a new team member? hired someone? Announce them proudly on your social media.
Looking for a creative way to introduce your team on social media? Here is a good example.
You can build excitement before sharing an important update, with something similar to what Vayner Media did.
What was it like working with your company? And what’s a better way to trust your company than some good words about your company from an employee.
A testimonial can be a good designed visual or a video.
Mariott hotel has a separate Instagram page for careers. It’s called Marriott Careers and all they do is share their employee’s stories.
Also, see this one.
You should definitely post this especially if your business is service-based. This can build trust and generate sales.
Even the world’s best CMS – WordPress posts this kind of content.
Use customer photos (if they approve) on your social media. A happy customer can always help in converting your social audience to your customers.
Help them by answering some FAQs and posting content that can solve most of your audience’s common problems.
You don’t need to share your own content every time. Heard of Content Curation? Share articles or posts from other Industry leads that can help your audience.
It doesn’t matter if that piece of content is from your competitor, if you think it’s gonna help your audience, just share it no matter what.
Most social media scheduling companies like Tailwind, Preview app, and Buffer do this a lot.
Buffer had shared research done by Socialinsider (A good example of content curation).
It’s the very same reason why I post carousels on my Instagram
Do you blog? Well, if not, you should.
Share the articles on Twitter, Facebook, and Linkedin.
Or make an infographic from the article and share it on Instagram or Facebook.
A blog (or any long-form content) is always a better content type to repurpose.
Semrush does this a lot on their Instagram and they share their articles on Twitter pretty well.
Share user-generated content. If your customers are sharing them happily on social media, it is your responsibility to show them some love by posting or reposting those pics (& tagging them).
It builds trust among your audience (especially non-customers).
Fashion brand Cupshe does this a lot! They ask their audience to tag them, for a chance to be featured.\
Although quotes have nothing to do with you selling anything, it is okay to give a boost to your followers
But share quotes from your Industry so that your audience can relate to them. See how Nike embedded this in their social media strategy.
And see how Beardo (a company that sells beard products) did it well.
An infographic is a good way to grab attention and hook your audience.
Chloe West has written an amazing article on some infographic tips to wow your readers. Definitely worth a read.
Now check this infographic posted by a realtor.
Sharing industry insights (or data) in the form of infographics works really well.
Do you have free stuff designed to attract more leads? Promote those on social media occasionally to get more leads.
Running a webinar soon? Promote it with a nice and simple design.
Questions are the best way to generate engagement.
Remember that engagement is one of the main factors that social algorithms look at when ranking your content and placing it in others’ feeds.
Ask questions that are related to your business or industry.
You can go personal too.
It’s also a good idea to start with a question when sharing useful resources.
Check this Facebook post by DocsApp.
You should do quizzes and polls if you want to know more about your followers.
A Twitter poll on the current topic (trending) Or Instagram story quiz on what type of content your audience wants to see from you. These are just 2 basic examples and you can use them in 100 different ways.
Make it fun. Give them a reason to engage with you.
#AskMeAnything is very famous on both Instagram (stories) and Twitter and is an excellent way to stay connected with your audience.
Let them ask any questions that they might have and answer them politely. It’s better to get your team assembled before starting this, to answer questions perfectly and easily.
You know what that means. In 2015 unboxing videos got more than 1 Billion views on youtube and 3 billion views in 2017. It’s 2020 and you can predict how the numbers can be.
See how Nikon did it!
I call it educating content (well, most call that). It is very important to educate your audience to make a sale.
How valuable your products are to your audience? How can your product can make their life easy?
Preview (Instagram scheduling app) does a very good job of educating its audience with new Instagram tips and also how to use their app for Instagram users.
Now check this one.
Not all your followers might be familiar with your products/services. Create a how-to video or write a how-to blog post and share it on social media.
Pro Tip: Writing long-form comprehensive guides can help your audience to know more about your products and at the same time you’ll have more chances for your content to rank well on Google.
We know that these social platforms are giving a lot of preference to video content.
But do you know? 82% prefer live video from a brand to social posts. And people are spending more time watching live videos rather than normal videos as per Social Media Today.
Leveraging Facebook Live and Instagram Live helps in creating a personal connection. Some ideas that can help you get started.
Refer here for more ideas on this.
I think these are the 20 main content ideas that every business should concentrate on to build a good social media presence.
Since the organic reach is getting declined every year, it’s time to make more content with these ideas before these platforms make it any harder for us.
Create. Post. Analyze. Repeat!
9 Comments
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