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Fifteen social media content ideas

CREATING a continuous stream of fresh social media content can be a little challenging. To help your creative juices to flow, I have compiled 15 social media content ideas for you to try:

Run A Competition

Especially good for consumer-based products or services but can also be effective for B2B, a well-timed competition will increase engagement and reach. Whilst running a competition you are more likely to have increased post views on your marketing collateral too. Competitions don’t need to involve high ticket items, a seasonal give away or a sample of goods is usually much more authentic. Top tip: don’t make the competition question too difficult and make sure it is a complete giveaway rather than tying the winner into a service – that will only aggravate the readers.

Topical questions

We recommend steering clear of political or religious topics but asking opinions on other trending subjects can get the social engagement flowing.

Product or Service Demo

A short demonstration on how to use, get the most from your service or product is always well received! These can either be in written format, visual diagram or a short video.

Interview with a customer

There is nothing more authentic than sharing the viewpoint of a loyal customer, regardless of whether you have a product or service this kind post works well.

The Pleasantries

Simple common courtesy, which is so often missing online, a Good Morning here or there, wishing everyone a great week or a fun weekend goes a long way. Responding to those that reach out in a similar fashion is also a good idea. If nothing else, it proves you are not an automated faceless corporation.

Re-Use and Re-Share

If you have been posting for a while, look in your archives, what did you previously post? How can it be updated? A simple change like swapping out images and updating wording can breathe new life into historic content.

Team up or recommend

Most of us have business buddies, those we have used or just gelled with because they have similar ethics to ourselves. Team up and collaborate with your social posts, recommend a trusted supplier or simply just help a fellow local business by sharing their content and adding a comment, will do both social entities the world of good.

How-to guides

Whether explaining how to put a product together, explaining the different service levels or explaining jargon. How-to guides are always very popular. We recommend adding these in-depth guides to your website and then sharing a snippet of the content across your social media platforms. This will not only provide useful information to your audience but will drive traffic to your site. Top tip: Make sure you have a call to action in case the reader needs further assistance.

Case studies

I have yet to meet a marketeer who does not set great store by case studies. A great case study will tell the reader how you helped a customer by solving a need. Don’t be afraid to include how you went the extra mile and if you can, get a quote from the subject. The most powerful case studies describe the client and the solution, if you cannot name the client then a general description about their industry will still give you powerful content.

Go live

Not for the faint hearted, live video can be a big audience draw. Especially if you build up to it with coming soon type posts a few days ahead of time.

Memes and GIFs

Still popular, memes are images with (often) funny captions. Have a go at creating a product or service-related meme. Or use them to engage in pleasantries. GIFs are animated images that can used in the same vein you will have no doubt seen the option in Twitter and Facebook.

Polls

Great for market research or just as a conversation starter. Add a poll to find out opinions, some of the more heated debates I have seen online revolves around Scones of all things, cream first or jam? Try a relevant poll and watch your engagement go through the roof.

Respond, acknowledge and shout out

Always respond to comments, questions and other engagements. If someone checks into your premises – like it! If someone leaves a review – thank them, yes even if it is less than glowing, use it as feedback and make sure you address any concerns – publicly. Thank your loyal followers, those few that always like, share, retweet or comment, a little appreciation goes a very long way.

Meet the team spotlights

Celebrate your team members, their achievements, their loyal service and their skills and expertise. Put a face to your business communications and personalise it. Do remember to seek permission, not everyone wants to be spotlighted!

Good news

And we end with personalisation, celebrate your good news, company milestones, team accomplishments, individual accomplishments, targets hit, birthday’s, workversaries… the list of good news is endless. With so much negativity in the world share some good news – don’t be shy!

We hope you have found these social media content reminders useful. Now you’ve started to think about it, what else would you post?

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