Having a social media strategy which has content ideas at the forefront is important for your business to build the right visibility and credibility with your existing customers, followers and target audience.
In our blog post we will share impactful and engaging ways to create content for your social media platforms. Social media users want to see relevant content for them, therefore it is important to take the time to do your homework before building your social media presence on social media networks
Firstly we will look at what objectives to set, the need for doing your research and then dive into specific social media content ideas. This blog post will help your business make the right impression on your social channels.
Gemma Finch
Social Media & Paid Ad Specialist at 1PCS Creative. Love engaging and impactful social content, family time with my little girl and helping companies grow and build their presence online.
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Social Media Objectives
Before drafting up your social media post ideas we would recommend deciding relevant objectives for your social media accounts. There are many objectives to consider, this is by no means an exhaustive list but gives you some ideas of objectives that could be relevant:
- Build brand awareness
- Increase traffic to your website
- Encourage visits to a physical store
- Generate leads and sales
- Be seen as an industry expert
- Build a community online
- Increase engagement and followers
By establishing your objectives for your social media platform it will help you to decide which of below are most applicable to your business. For example if level of engagement is important to you, it would be beneficial to ask your followers for their opinion. As an example if you had a new product range, ask your followers to comment on your social media post with which one was their favourite product.
Whereas if your objective is to use your social media network to increase website traffic, we would recommend including relevant external links to your website. For example structure a social media post around a particular service you offer or advice available on your website, with a supporting direct link through to your website.
Ensure going in the right direction by choosing the right social media objective for your goals
Take the time to do your research so you can understand what is compelling content for your target audience. Look at industry leaders and competitors to see what works well and what doesn’t. Of course don’t copy them, but it can give you a useful insight.
As part of that research, also look at where they are posting e.g. Instagram stories, Facebook live, LinkedIn. Where are they attracting the most followers (bear in mind this is just one metric) e.g. instagram users, facebook users.
It is relevant for some businesses to be across all social media channels, whilst for others for example business to business may wish to focus more on LinkedIn. Take creative inspiration from the relevant social platforms and also trending topics. Doing your industry research now will pay off in the long run.
Our previous blog post on how to use social media for your business provides advice to help understand the benefits and differences for each social platform.
Time to get to the fun part, content creation. We recommend using these content ideas in rotation in your social media content calendar, so you are making sure you aren’t focusing too much on just one content idea for your social posts.
Solve a problem
Sharing a few tips and curated content with relevant articles is an impactful way to appeal to new followers and keep your existing audience engaged with your content. Tips could be in the form of a ‘how to’ either with steps within your copy or as video content for social media. You might even want to try as live videos. Or a ‘did you know?’ branded graphic.
If you are unsure what tips to provide, it could be updates on industry news or sharing relevant facts to show your understanding on a topic. Or providing valuable advice and educational content. It allows you to demonstrate you are the expert in your industry, and leaves followers feeling valued as the advice has helped them.
The aim should be to solve a problem for your social media followers. Social media is a cluttered space so if you can provide free resources, this could in turn interest them in finding out more about your business and also helps to strengthen your credibility.
Show your brand personality
Even if your business is in the corporate world such as law or accountancy. You can still show the personality behind your brand, your team and your business. The social media game thrives on feeling like it is getting secret access and insights.
A great example is for any new team members to be featured on your social media with a ‘meet the team’ focus. Ask the team member interesting questions with a mix of business and general topics about them. For example ‘tell us something most people don’t know about you’. They may say something such as, they have been a Leeds United ticket holder for 20 years. That one question could lead to engagement from social media followers who are (or aren’t!) Leeds United fans.
Another way of showing your personality could be with ‘behind the scenes’ with a social video, video stories or youtube videos shared on your social media platforms. Giving social media followers a VIP pass to areas of your business they wouldn’t see otherwise. It also gives the opportunity to build a story and community with your followers.
A great example is sharing progress photos for a business completing an extension, whilst also featuring the team working on the project. Followed by the final reveal with ‘before’ and ‘after’ shots.
Don’t be afraid either to share social posts of a company event with visual content alongside your post copy. Keeping your followers up to date with what is going on in the business will likely be of interest to them and boost engagement. It might even become viral content.
Make an impact
With more and more businesses every day realising the positive impact social media can have for them, it is important your social media posts look and read the part so users don’t scroll past. With the majority of social media users viewing from their mobile, the copy before ‘see more’ is essential to grab their attention.
It is worthwhile working with a professional writer to get this right, they will get across the relevant tone of voice for your business whilst being experienced at being concise with the copy. Writing long form copy for a business blog differs to the much reduced space on social media posts.
It isn’t all about impactful copy though. You also need impactful imagery.
Your social media page represents your business and branding. It is important the imagery, graphics and video content shown on your social media channels are consistent with any branding done elsewhere. Whether for other digital marketing campaigns or traditional marketing campaigns, such as print advertising.
Success stories
Are you always receiving positive feedback from existing customers on email or Google reviews? A useful content idea for social media is to share those success stories (with their permission.) They can leave reviews on Facebook or you could utilise social media resources by using testimonials as a specific content creation idea.
We explained above the importance of impactful imagery. We would recommend against a screen shot of an email or review, as it often is unreadable and can look unprofessional. Creating a branded graphic with your logo, colours and fonts for sharing your social proof will drive more engagement.
This is also a great way to drive user generated content. Encourage existing customers to share photos or videos of the product or service you provided alongside their positive review with your social media business page tagged. You can then go onto comment or share this user generated content.
User feedback helps build trust and credibility. It isn’t just you saying how great your business is and hoping people take your word for it. Your audience’s feed will see first positive examples of your work with genuine comments or reviews, which will build stronger trust in your business.
Creative Block
If you are struggling for post ideas or want to increase your frequency of posts within your content calendar. You will likely have existing assets or content on your website which could be repurposed.
For example blog content could be used to structure a shortened version suitable for social media. Or a blog post could be shared on social media, encouraging followers to click the link through to your website to read in full.
Whilst community management isn’t a specific content idea, making time for community management firstly could give you some content ideas if suffering with a creative blog. But more importantly being prompt to respond to any feedback, comments or tags from users will help boost engagement from your audience.
Treat social media as you would a customer walking into your office or shop, or if they called you. Customer service is just as important on your social media pages, as it is anywhere else you come into contact with your customers for your business.
Social Analytics
Whilst you may have created a content calendar for the weeks and months to come. It is still important to constantly look at your social analytics across different social media networks. In doing so it will help you to analysis for your key performing indicators which social media post ideas have been most effective and deserve investing more time into for future posts.
Along with which social media content ideas haven’t worked for your business and identify why so you can test a different approach. For example, it could just be that the visual content needs re-working or the copy needs to be more attention grabbing or informative for your followers. It could simply have come down to posting at a bad time of day for your audience.
We hope this blog post has been helpful to provide you with ideas for your social media content and shown the importance of a social media strategy for your business.
At 1PCS Creative we provide social media management in-house with our experienced team who can deliver impactful and engaging content relevant for your business, that will give you the right visibility and credibility to help grow your business. We can also respond as your business to any comments or direct messages, so you never miss a potential enquiry or sale.
Feel free to get in touch to discuss with our team how we can help with outsourcing your social media. We can happily provide an audit of your social media to provide recommendations to help your business.
Social Media Research