Social media plays a major role in all aspects of the business. There's no denying that. In fact, many businesses - even small ones with less than 10 employees - have entire teams devoted to managing and maintaining their social media presence.
And why wouldn't they? It would be ludicrous for a business to ignore the various benefits and opportunities available through social media: customer service, branding/marketing, increased sales and revenue.
The list goes on and on. By selectively crafting posts informed by relevant hashtags (#), keywords (keywords), current events or just general topics that will get people talking, you can effectively boost your business' reach across the globe using only 140 characters at a time.
So if you're feeling overwhelmed about your social media management or simply want to take your efforts to the next level, check out these tips from industry experts and real-life brands on how you can improve your social media strategy.
These 9 tips include:
1. Create Polls
A common social media idea is to create an engaging question (poll) with multiple answers or vote on your page - this can be a really effective way of seeing if there's any commonality between people who like the page to see what they might typically respond to.
This can be especially useful if you're running some kind of promotion/giveaway, as these posts will typically gain more likes and comments, which can then help your posts show up higher in other people's newsfeeds.
2. Do some research on influencers your audience trusts
One mistake marketers often make is targeting people who don't know anything about their products or services. To avoid this, do some research and find the top influencers in your industry who might be interested in what you have to offer. Reach out and establish a relationship that could lead to partnerships down the road.
3. Attend industry events in person
Another great way to get some interesting social media post content is to attend local events offline. This includes everything from conventions to small gatherings or meetups. You will probably find that most people are willing to talk about experiences they've had and provide valuable insight into what has worked for them personally in easy ways.
4. Create original content that is relevant to your industry
This one leads to taking things offline and creating something unique that your audience will love! Creating content ideas and organic posts for social media can be difficult sometimes, but if you want to take it up a notch, start writing blog posts or white papers and make them available for free download on your website. This will give you even more credibility and authority as an expert in the field because people know they can trust you.
Post behind the scenes information about your business; this can be really useful as it allows people to see you not just like an online store but rather as an actual, physical establishment where people are working towards the same goal - growing your brand/business! People love seeing these kinds of posts because it feels more personal and lets them get to know who they're buying from/interacting with.
5. Give Credit To Those Who Helped
A somewhat related item to behind the scenes content is sharing what goes into your product or service that people buy from you - whether that's something like 'this video was filmed using our new GoPro!', 'this recipe was created on behalf of...' or even something like 'Shout out to Anna for taking these pictures of our team!' this kind of content can be really helpful both in the customer service aspect (it's nice knowing that you're not just some faceless corporation) and also in terms of marketing, as it helps people get an idea of what makes your brand unique.
6. Invest in promotions and giveaways
One social media post idea is to do a giveaway/promotion - whether that's offering free shipping on orders over 100 pounds (for example), having a contest where people submit their own versions of your logo/a picture with your product using the hashtag '#yoursquare' etc. these can be great ways of developing a following not only on your social media page but also in the long term by collecting email addresses at either end of this type of promotion.
People are much more likely to respond positively to offers like these if they come from people/companies that they care about or have already bought products from, so keep this in mind when you're coming up with your social media post ideas.
7. Never underestimate the power of visuals.
Social media post ideas don't always have to be text-based. Did you know that the use of images and other visuals in your online marketing can dramatically improve your results? So make sure you are using visual content whenever possible, even if it's something as simple as a Twitter Cover Image or Pinterest graphic.
One idea is to create an infographic, video, blog post etc. - whether it's related to someone's birthday (if you run a restaurant) or something relevant to your niche ( example, if you sell brewing equipment for beer), this can be a great way of creating really informative posts that will help people in their everyday lives.
If you're not the best at visual design, video editing, or writing blogs but still want to create content, consider getting someone who is! There are lots of sites out there where people offer their services and charge very reasonable prices, sometimes even offering a free trial period where you only pay after if you like the work they've done.
8. Promote your brand
If all else fails, one popular type of social media post idea is to just post about whatever your business/brand is. Whether it's new product releases, sales etc., this kind of post will typically get more engagement than posts that don't seem to have a focus and also helps people get to know what your brand is all about.
9. Avoid Spamming
Remember, don't spam people - you're building up a following online to help your business grow not just for the sake of having lots of likes/followers, so be creative and try new things, but still think about how it will affect sales!
Also, keep in mind that while this list is common social media post ideas here, this list is by no means exhaustive, and there are plenty more types of posts you could come up with. Make sure you experiment and keep working at it - even if one idea doesn't work out immediately, that doesn't mean that another won't take off.