Most of us are on social media at least once a day, and most of us use it to update our friends and family on what we are doing. But what if you could be doing more than that?
What if you could earn money while posting updates?
While it may seem like the product or service you want to promote is unrelated to social media, there is actually a lot of relevance to it.
It can be difficult and time-consuming to figure out what to publish on social media related to your business.
Social media post ideas appear simple at first, but they do not take long to become complex and overwhelming when you start preparing them.
Why are Engaging Social Media Posts Important?
You're not alone if you're a business owner who has trouble deciding what to publish on social media. It might be challenging to be innovative while regularly engaging with your followers.
Social media for brands can help in:
Brand Awareness
Social media helps increase brand awareness as the audience base is far larger than you can imagine. Great content can surely build brand awareness and help you create a strong audience.
For example, if you share something on Facebook and one of your followers shares it, your post will be visible to a whole new group of people.
Helps Build Brand Trust
In most cases, the products or services are not sold by you; rather they come from others that make good content for your post.
When you're sharing great content, other people want to know about it sets a tone of predictability that could help enhance their relationship with their brand as well.
With these kinds of workarounds, businesses can create an online community in which customer sentiment analysis can be very useful.
You can Showcase Your Product
If you're a small or large business, you need to find creative ways to promote your products and services on social media.
One way is by creating special videos that show people how your product or service works, or a specific feature that makes your product or service better than others.
What to Post on Social Media?
The most obvious way is to be active and post content regularly. A good thumb rule is four times per week posts, but this can vary depending on your audience size.
A post should focus on one area while also showing some creative thinking. Think why people would want to follow you instead of an all-inclusive list that seems impersonal or over-the-top promotional in nature.
Here are some of our favorite things to post on social media. We hope they inspire your social posts as well.
Infographics
Infographics are graphics that use images to illustrate a complex topic. They're often utilized when you need to present a lot of information in a simple way.
Infographics have the potential to go viral because they usually contain facts or explanations, making them an excellent choice for a social media post.
Your social media would gain more attention and higher engagement rates by posting insightful infographics.
Create a Daily, Weekly or Monthly Series
To keep the interest there, your social media needs to be consistent with a similar theme or topic.
Start by creating regular posts around the same duration/frequency and topics that appeal to different types of people in your audience base. Then you can bring variations in your social media posts to keep them fresh and interesting.
For example, various Instagram influencers conduct a series or talks with other industry experts to gain their audience's attention.
It's much easier to think of a special guest or topic to fit into an existing framework than it is to start from scratch every week. Further, your audience will appreciate the consistency.
Run a Contest or Giveaway
Make a list of your social media habits, likes and interests. Ask yourself how many times you've posted on Twitter in the last week, month or year (or whatever period is relevant to your industry).
Posting contests and giveaways on social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest are some of the best ways to get your brand noticed.
The key to a successful social media contest is to make it interesting, fun and easy to participate in.
Here are some tips for how to create a successful contest or giveaway:
- Celebrate Special Milestones: When you get an appointment or tie a significant achievement, it's important to let your audience know. Use this to your advantage and create a contest that awards prizes for these milestones.
- Organize giveaways for festivals or events: Reward your most loyal followers with stuff they would actually want to receive. Don’t just rely on prizes but also brands and products that have something unique about them, such Use your audience as a tool: Your contests and giveaways can be part of an integrated strategy.
Host an AMA (Ask Me Anything) Session
An AMA is a discussion with other users where you answer questions from the community. It builds your credibility in front of your audience and increases engagement levels.
We can all get lost and remember some people better than others, so use testimonials or try to communicate this as much as possible within a simple post asking for ideas on upcoming topics (testimonial included).
Some people love to do an Instagram, TikTok, or Facebook live video stream, responding to questions directly from the audience in the comments. Users can submit questions to the host through an online form, many times they will be answered publicly.
It's important that you respond promptly and engage your followers in this activity as much as possible.
Create #TBT Posts
The key to any social media campaign is simple: make a general post in your content library, including the information you’re planning on posting, along with interesting and unique content that can be used throughout it.
Create a #ThrowbackThursday post that can allow you to post a picture of your days of struggle or any picture from the past that can inspire your audience.
You can get creative with this hashtag, so don’t be shy!
Share Relevant Content
It is a good practice to share the relevant content from your blog.
The idea is to post your own content and curated content.
Curated content is the content you choose to share on social media since others created it. This may be a useful blog article from a company in your sector, professional advice from a relevant thought leader, or anything else you believe your audience would find useful and interesting.
Curated content can help your brand appear to have its finger on the pulse, as though you're there to participate and establish the community rather than just brag about yourself.
So, if you have a video, a pin or a tweet to show to your audience, why not share it on your social network?
Repurpose Your Content
Your content library should not just be filled with your own blog posts; you can also repurpose other great pieces of content that are out there.
You might feel like sharing the same news article, but if it’s fresh and is an eye-catching piece of media then why not share it on social media as well?
It will increase your chances to gain new followers and show that you're dedicated to improving your brand. As a part of your social media marketing strategy, it will be useful to share the curated content as well as repurpose your content.
You need to keep updating your audience and stay ahead of the competition in order to create brand recognition, so they continue following you on social media.
If you already have a lot of users who are not interested but might be after seeing all that has been going on, then it's time for them (and people new) to catch up!
Create How-to tutorials
Tutorials or how-to videos are a great way to share your knowledge. This puts value on your followers and confirms your status as a pure pro in your field (or at least as an entertainer).
So if your main goal is to be an authority in your category, you should use things like YouTube videos and video tutorials as social media will help boost your visibility.
Share a video that walks your potential customer(s) through the stages of doing something extremely particular.
As part of your social media marketing strategy, it will be useful to share these tutorials regularly so people get excited about following you on social networks when they know what’s coming next.
Share Memes
You can give off your brand's sense of humor by participating in crazy trending meme formats or presenting your message in a fun package.
There are several ways in which you can promote your content through Instagram. You may want to take advantage of the Carousel feature or just intersperse images with captions and hashtags, but all of these options give potential customers a small glimpse into what makes your brand unique.
To succeed, it is also important that you share others' moments on social media and join their conversation by asking questions and requesting feedback from followers.
You can use various online designing tools like Canva or meme creator to share meaningful and fun memes across your social media accounts.
Create User-generated Content
The more followers you gain, the easier spreading your brand's message will become.
In order to come up with large amounts of social media content, it is very important that they are crafted properly.
When you republish a customer's post that features your product, this is known as user-generated content.
Because it teaches your followers how much others love your product and because followers will connect to the customers in the photo, this is an extremely engaging social media post format that makes your brand look more human.
Testimonials or Case Studies
Testimonials are positive comments made by existing customers regarding your company, products, or services. The best way to gain the reader's trust is to show how real people use the product and what they think about it.
Companies usually keep their testimonials on their websites, but turning them into a social media post is a terrific way to get your audience to interact with you.
You can even make a visual out of them to further increase interaction.
You may also try sharing a case study demonstrating how your product or service helped a consumer.
For every share made, your brand might gain a new community member.
Before and After Images
Adding images is a great way to add more personality and charm to your blog posts. By uploading images, you also have the opportunity for even more engagement.
Providing a before and after image can be extremely engaging if your product assists a user in upgrading something.
This post will not only show that your product performs, but it will also be entertaining to see a time-lapse of before and after using it.
It is important to ensure that your product will work in the real world, even if it costs money or takes time.
It might be as basic as clearing up your desk or as elaborate as documenting your weight loss experience in your before and after images.
It doesn't matter if the transformation you're sharing is personal or professional. You might show before and after pictures of your website renovation or rebranded logo.
Introduce Your Team Members
Since today's social media users expect more from a brand, it is important to provide them with a "real-life" experience.
It doesn't have to be a new member of your team. It's a terrific approach to demonstrate your thanks — and humanity — by highlighting the real individuals behind your company’s existence who worked on it for weeks, months, or years.
Your team is vital to your company, and showcasing them in an engaging social media post is a good way to help your customers put a face to the name.
You can also spotlight a unique employee every week, talk about how your team works together, and a lot more.
Upcoming Product Updates or Teasers
If you have a unique product with limited availability, this is one of the best ways to attract attention. There's no better way to persuade return customers than teasing out what new products may be on their way.
Upcoming Product Releases are not only an exciting benefit of having been in business for 10 years — but they're also creative and chic as hell.
Celebrate your audience by demonstrating your sense of style by showcasing upcoming features or news.
If you have an exciting new release or just a wish-list item that's months away from seeing the light of day, there are people out there who want to be the first in line.
Highlight your creativity by celebrating something they haven't ever seen before. It'll help generate online buzz and lead them to further interest in what could soon become "News."
Share Some Wisdom
Making a stunning graphic with some brand-relevant advice is a terrific way to establish oneself as an authority and a valuable resource. After all, no one enjoys being constantly sold to.
Use inspirational quotes on your feed to engage the readers on your social media.
Share your opinion and tell unique customers which they ought to pick up today.
Conduct surveys or get real-time feedback by asking people what's working, creating more buzz for the brand over a longer period.
Conduct 'This or That' Poll
Having your own YouTube or social media channels isn't a requirement for SEO, but it does give you an opportunity to impress by having your brand new customers express their feelings on the topic of "This or That."
It may not be as highly regarded as formal surveys. However, "This or That" generates the highest engagement.
They're easy to respond to and elicit a lot of emotion.
The key to “This or That” questions is to keep them as straightforward as possible. You don't need a full introduction; just list two points and let the discussion begin.
Post Video Content Often
YouTube videos that show fast-paced, exciting gameplay help promote the gamer experience.
Such videos encourage brand familiarity and help create name recognition as users see their favorite video creators represented everywhere they look online.
Consumers trust a recommended video when it shows that a YouTube star picked up on an interesting promotional beta by talking about this new title or release first in detail before other companies do.
It's something no one has seen before and which gives People are more likely to return for the personal touch that gets them excited about a product.
Customers look for video content in search of valuable information that is harder to explain through text.
Post Industry News
The majority of content creators focus on long-form, in-depth material rather than breaking news as it happens.
Make a list of the different news outlets in your field. This could be in the form of trade magazines or websites. Then, on Twitter, look for those sources and follow them. When they post anything fascinating, retweet it or share it on another social media platform.
Organize Podcast
One way to push your name through social media is via podcasting. This type of content requires coordination between a host and an editor for the listener to get value from it on an ongoing basis.
The most effective presentations often feature people. Thus, podcasts that feature interviews can be very popular.
It's important when creating these pieces to keep them conversational by asking questions during each segment; this typically gives listeners more ownership.
The audience will prefer to listen live whenever possible, but those who do not have time can choose to download the podcast.
What Not to Post on Social Media?
Now that you have learned what to post on social media, here is a list of what not to post on social media:
Misleading Information
Remember that social media can tarnish or create your brand image within seconds. If you post something dishonest, then your brand’s credibility will likely diminish over time.
Before posting anything online, it's always good to double-check the claims made on social media platforms. If a customer sees an incorrect claim made by any brand, they are far less likely to use that product/service when in need.
Insensitive Content
Never post any insensitive content on your personal or professional social media. It's good to create funny posts and memes but be sure not to offend any community or section of social media.
Conclusion
Create effective, persuasive and engaging promotions that will create a welcoming environment for others to follow your posts.
By creating these types of posts, you can get more engagement, more shares and chances for increased leads.
Make sure to create a social media content calendar for your business before starting.
By posting regularly on LinkedIn, Medium, Facebook or other social media posts, you will often be visible on Google, resulting in higher visibility.