10 Content Ideas

If you’re serious about growing your business, social media is the place to make it happen.  Digital marketing has become the single most important tool in a small business’ promotional arsenal, so care and attention needs to be undertaken to get it right.  

While it can be a magical tool to help you grow your fan base (and thus sales), it very often becomes a real pain in the butt: having to drum up new and exciting content on a daily basis takes a LOT of time, energy, focus and dedication.  Inspiration can be fleeting and in moments of self-doubt, it may seem like a far more enticing option not to post anything at all than to publish sub-standard content.

Not showing up on social media at all though is worse than having content that’s a bit meh…

So if you find yourself in the clutches of a digital meltdown and simply can’t come up with an interesting theme for your next post, help is at hand.  I’ve put together a bit of a cheat sheet of social media content: idea kick-starters to get your creativity flowing. 

1 / YOU
A scary thought, posting about yourself, but I tell ya, digital audiences love a good behind-the-brand human interest piece.  Slap up a picture of your pretty mug and feel free to get a bit vulnerable with your audience.  I especially like to do an INTRO post right after I’ve run a giveaway, that way all the people that have joined my tribe simply to enter the giveaway might be enticed to hang around a bit longer. 

2 / THE START
Kind of linked to the idea above, but niche-efied somewhat (it’s a word: keep reading). Take your audience on a journey right back to the start, give them an insight into why you started your business, what drove you to make it happen and what lessons you’ve learned along the way.  Throw in a relatable anecdote about entrepreneurship and your audience will be eating out of your hand.

3 / BEHIND THE SCENES
This is one of my favourite content types to create and read on my newsfeed.  I LOVE seeing the action behind the camera, the chaos and the process.  Go for gold with a process video, showing how you make your products, package them up and prep them for shipping.

4 / QUOTE
A quote is a great way of filling in the gaps: funny, inspirational, insightful, thought-provoking : they’re just some of the themes available to you to enhance your newsfeed.  Choose wisely and select only those quotes that your target audience would relate to.  Best of all, quotes have great shareability so make sure you have your logo or brand name at the bottom of the visual to drive traffic back to your account.

5 / PRODUCT SHOWCASE / SNEAK PEEK
Working on a new product that you’re keen to share but isn’t quite ready? Give your audience a teaser of your exciting new offer.

6 / MARKETS / EXPOS / FAIRS
If you’re heading to a market, fair or expo as a vendor or exhibitor, let your audience know.  If you’re working on stock for the next event, share that too.  Keep your audience engaged with your behind the scenes prep.

7 / USER-GENERATED CONTENT
If a customer or client has used your product and posts about it (in a positive light of course), you need to be sharing that with your own audience.  Not only does it drive credibility, but it helps to foster a bond between you and your followers. When they trust you, your call-to-actions will be a lot more effective because you’ve shown that you care about your customers and their experiences with your brand.

8 / FEATURES
Excited to have your work or product featured in a magazine?  Get that content out, because THAT my friend is a great way to tell your audience “I’m legit”. Celebrate your wins and your audience will celebrate with you.

9 / THROWBACK
Throw it way back to your childhood, teenage years (wait, no...) or pre-kid days with a photograph or video that gives people a peek into your backstory.  This isn’t the same as THE START theme above: that was more business-related, this one is purely personal.

10 / VIRAL
I find that this is really working for my social media clients at the moment: sharing a viral, funny video or meme that links in with your target audience’s frame of mind or shared experience.  On viral posts that I publish for my clients, the reach and engagement have been unbelievable, so it’s content that will work really hard for you if it’s relevant.

So suffer no more crafting, erasing, rewriting and deleting your almost-there posts: these are sure-fire ways to kick digital butt with your content and to keep your audience engaged.

 A bit daunted? Unsure how to get started kicking ass online and taking names? Get in touch and let’s up your content game: info@shoutandco.com