When it comes to social media, your vibe attracts your tribe.
Social media content comes in many shapes, sizes, and levels of engagement. For best short-term results on social media – use visual, interactive, and entertaining content.
But if you’re interested in a content strategy that delivers real, tangible, long-term results for your business then you need to build an effective social media strategy to get your content mix right.
Start by understanding your target audience and what type of content and media they like to consume.
Once you have these answers comes the challenging part of running a social media campaign… Coming up with new ideas.
If you constantly recycle the same type of content again and again, your social feeds start to feel like a déjà vu.
If you wish to increase engagement and keep your social feeds from becoming old… here are 10 ideas for different types of social media content you can start creating today:
1. Poll Your Audience
People love to share their opinions. Polls are interactive, relevant to your topic, and easy to set up. They have their own content type on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. A poll can be used to engage users, but it can also be used to learn about their preferences, or even to find answers to a business challenge. You should only ask one question and have a limited number of possible answers.
2. Host an AMA
An AMA (Ask Me Anything) is essentially a Q&A session where you get to establish your expert position by sharing your knowledge, experiences and insight. You get to show off your personal side. You raise awareness to your business without being pushy or salesy. AND… you learn more about the concerns and interests of your audience.
3. Run Contests or Giveaways
People can’t resist the power of “free.” A great way to increase followers and keep them engaged is contests and giveaways. Post ideas that include a hashtag challenge, give a testimonial, photo with your product, “best caption wins”, “best comments win”, etc…
4. Go Live
Whether you’re vlogging from your car or conducting a Q&A session, responding to people in real-time establishes a more personal connection with your followers. The best part? You can always repurpose your social video content (e.g. YouTube videos, “sneak peaks” on Instagram…)
5. Conduct an Interview
Interviewing a relevant influencer or professional in your industry serves as the perfect combination of education and entertainment. Social interviews are often informal and spontaneous, coming across as very authentic. At the same time, you can repurpose your social interviews into podcasts, blog posts and YouTube videos, which adds value for your community.
6. Share Client Reviews and Testimonials
People are more likely to buy if the product is recommended by other people. Contact your clients to get detailed information about their experience with your products and feature them in your social media posts (e.g. Instagram highlights, Facebook albums).
7. Give Customers the Spotlight
What better way to show your customers you appreciate them than giving them a shout-out? You could create a “client of the week” program highlighting your most loyal ambassadors, or sharing their stories as case studies. The more appreciation you show your clients and followers, the more likely they are to share your content and promote your business for you.
8. Go Behind the Scenes
People buy from people. Don’t let your personal side disappear from your business social feed. Giving your followers a “behind the scenes” look at your company communicates authenticity. Got your office painted? Throwing a birthday party to a team member? Let your followers see what you see.
9. Share a Milestone or an Achievement
Whether you are celebrating an anniversary, an award, featured in a major publication or reaching a certain number, let your audience know about that. You can create milestones in advance and let your audience know how they help you to get there. Your clients are part of your success. Be sure to include them in your celebration and thank them for supporting you.
10. Do a Daily, Weekly or Monthly Series
Want to make your social feed feel more like an event versus a laundry list of random posts? Start a series where you have the opportunity to interact with your fans and followers on a regular basis. By providing relevant content at a consistent schedule, you can build a habit for your audience to look forward to seeing specific content from your brand.
Now It’s YOUR Turn
For five minutes… come up with as many ideas as you can… what types of social media content could YOU use to grow your business?
Let's Brainstorm
Please share your ideas (all of them or just one) in the comment box below… and let’s get WOWing.
Live fully, stay awesome,
Nisandeh Neta
Top Commenters – last 30 Days
Let's Brainstorm
Please share your ideas (all of them or just one) in the comment box below… and let’s get WOWing.
Live fully, stay awesome,
Nisandeh Neta
376 comments
In my mind I write I have been writing many inspiring posts based on all the great pieces of advice shared in this community and during earlier business trainings from Open Circle but when it comes to actually going "live" I run into my personal critical parent telling me that I suck at it. Vered will say: excuses get you now where. Get over yourself and start living your dream". And she is so write. So if there is anyone in this community to would care to coach me (of course I'm willing to pay for it as we are all professionals living from selling our services unless there is a mutual win-win to be found" I would love to buy your services.
The social media strategy I would love to do for my customers for my B&B is as follows:
- become active on Instagram
- choose a catchy and unforgetable name as brand for my B&B
- share beautiful inspiring photo's, vlogs and stories of places and things which inspires me in the surroundings
- share lovely or funny stories about situation occuring with or to my guests (of course with their approval)
- reach out to the former guests who gave a 4 star rating (max is 5) offering them a special discount as gratitude for their feedback if they choose to book my new B&B
- enter into partnerships with influencers offering them a special price for a story or shoots at my B&B
- enter into partnerships with my local community by becoming an Ambassadeur for the products and locations (eg. by using their products in my B&B or posting news about them on my B&B Instagram account
-
112 comments
Hello Marie-Louise,
I can help you to make your critical parent a supporting parent with Brain Gym. It can be done online. My website and Facebook are however in Dutch. When you click on my photo you can find my website, Facebook page and LinkedIn. When you contact me we can first schedule an initial interview.
Looking forward to help you with this.
Dunja
201 comments
1. In my case I use GRAPHS that children get with their reports when they grow big time
2. I BLOG about things I talk about with parents, if their questions and especially the answers are relevant.
3. a POLL on linked in can be very valuable. How ever, It could be wise to ask some people in your netwerk to respond.
The poll must not be too specific. You can connect and talk to responders bij PM.
4. I often ask a professor or a psychologist in my field some questions. I use the information to blog about it.
5. I often use things in the news about topics in my field.
67 comments
The linkedIn newsletter is HOT at the moment. In just a few moths I grew to 4,000+ subscribers and when I launched it over 1,000 people viewed my profile. I have actually described the exact process on how to create and deploy the LinkedIn newsletter as a feature to your network in one of my recent LinkedIn newsletters!
Also the Linkedin cover story has recently been improved. This 30 sec video can be added to your profile picture and provides the opportunity to the viewers to send you a DM.
94 comments
Something interesting, if you are not using it already, is the functionality from Instagram to add guides. If you are writing new blogs often it could be a good tool. Have a look!
328 comments
This is one of my favourite topics And I love your 10 idea's! very inspiring and I already text my team that we will expand our list of content thanks to your tips! I really am suprise when I see and read so many of us having a hate-love relationship with it.
As I believe, this (Social Media) Strategy is just like every thing else in life: You want to grow it? Care about it!
And so yes, I have a great relationship with my Socials as I love contributing and being "in their face" all the time 🙂
Here come some of my idea's:
1: "Live Steaming Confetti Strategy" (Live + Podcast + Blog + posts) : Its a huge win-win these days and actually not a lot smaal business owners are doing it. You can just go live on Facebook (that's the easiest) and then extract your Audio and use it as a podcast. Then Let it someone (your VA?:)) transcribe it and then it will become a blog and you're blog posts you can use for your social media posts.
For example: Your Live Streaming titel is: 7 Most Common Mistakes of High Performance Female Experts concerning their LinkedIn Marketing.
This become 1 Live Streaming Video, 1 Podcast, 1 Blogpost, 7 Separated Audio posts, 7 separated Written posts and 7 separated video snippets.
2: Community Building - Gather 7 theme's that Your Target Audience wants/needs and then post it every day in the community to get engagement, connection and to find out how your TA behaves.
For example: I have "Monday Motivation", "Tuesday Strategy", Wednesday Fun", "Thursday personal stories" , Friday "testimonials", Saturday Celebration and Sunday "gratefulness" as themes. And yes: this really works great!
3: Commit - Consist - Communicate - Conversate - Convert : Always remember these 5 C's!
Commit first on a Social media Platform for 1000 days
be Consistent about this 1000 days
Begin the conversation every day and show them how you can help them
Invite them to your webinars/1-1/high-tea (what ever free product/CTA you have)
Overdeliver on this Free Product
And only then: Convert them into one of your products
4: Interview Your best Competitors or Top Class Experts on your field
And creat Video, audio, blog, podcast and Social Media post about it
and then creat a Membership area when you just charge 7 euro for 12 interviews All-in (Video,audio, transcribed script)
5: ENJOY while doing and implementing it!
It seems too simple or easy but it will make a huge difference when You are having fun while on Social Media.
I see so many entrepreneurs just following strategies and being a "robot" while implementing it. Well, guess what... No body really will engage if YOU are not showing how great your stuff is... 🙂 So Make it light and Have fun with whatever you do!
94 comments
For us is more to find the right influencers to wear our clothes. We are trying to mix funny, sexy and body confidence.
Instagram is more tricky as the algorithm is different than all the others.
409 comments
Social media content.
- use a metafoor
- tel about an expérience (thats a bit like live)
477 comments
I also find this challenge difficult. I blog regularly and that's it. I do see the importance of it and know from my wife that she has a few favorites that she follows. It must indeed touch you and be valuable. Well here are my ideas from my cracking brain:
Publish beautifully catchy photos daily with an articulated thought.
One idea of mine from the past that worked well was making a kind of relay race through a picture that looked like a domino. They gave an object to each other so that everyone stood on it twice with whoever they got the object from and with whoever they passed the object to. On Facebook I had put all the photos side by side, so that the domino effect could be seen for everyone. Everyone took the 'selfie' in their own creative way. I came up with this for a good cause so that you could see the object in which the money came in growing.
112 comments
You have already mentioned so much, Nisandeh. A challenge to add something to it.
A Challenge: I did a short, both in days and duration, challenge live.
On Friday I post my Weekend Post where I reflect on the passed week: which successes, lessons and challenges I have encountered and I CELEBRATE!
At the moment I am figuring out what I can do best on social media.
160 comments
What worked best for me besides the regular posts and / or blogs:
webinars!
I did weekly free webinars about health subjects. Mainly dementia, prevention of diseases, happy belly happy brain, music and dementia, but also boring stuff like how to get a "PGB".
I frequently asked experts like a "mantelzorgmakelaar" to talk about how to get a health budget to take care of a loved one. Or a "health care singer for dementia" or a lawyer who knows about the (not so) necessary things on euthanasia etc.
When you have an expert, they most of the time promote the event or after the event the video for you. WIN WIN 🙂
175 comments
Social Media is proved to be useful finding new clients and to build an audience, but yes it can be mentally unhealthy. Keep in mind it is a great tool, nothing more, nothing less. Limit your time on Social Media, switch off notifications. Don't beat yourself up because others seem to be more successful, just let them inspire you.
About the engagement stuff: I doubt whether it's smart to do polls and AMA's when this strategy doesn't fit your style. Many small businesses do it (I think because their trainer told them so) and most of the time it is a little pathetic. Like they're wearing clothes they don't feel comfortable in. Besides, I think many Social Media users are tired of being invited to conversations all the time.
Of course, the algorithm rewards you for engagement, but the successful people I follow rarely use this strategy. I think businesses with a big audience on Social Media are big because their content is relevant. Not because of the polls they do.
Followers on Social Media want either entertainment or information. People want to be touched, they need food for thought, a solution for their problem or something that makes them happy. So, I think you have to develop a strategy to find out how you can serve them best 🤔
1. What's the soul of your company or product and what's the added value for your customer?
2. What is its strength? Describe your USP, where are you good at?
3. Define your identity, it helps you finding out how you can visualize your information.
4. What's the best way to communicate and visualize what you do? It can be quotes with a nice image as a background, it can be videos featuring yourself, photos of products-in-use, it can even be the work of others that helps support your stories.
5. Develop a strategy per channel that fits best to each of them: on Instagram you do visuals and storytelling, on LinkedIn you show your expertise by sharing your professional opinion. Target groups on different channels are presumably different: on Instagram you'll find buyers for your products, on LinkedIn you'll find companies for possible JV's.
6. Always be inspiring and consistent, try to figure out what's your style of communication.
7. Don't be distracted from the essence by the chase for likes and followers.
69 comments
Hi Ine, you used your 5 minutes welk today!
Very nicely put to words. I read it with great interest.
Thanks for your pencil today!
16 comments
I already use your ideas 5, 6, 8, 9, 10 Nisandeh. Till now, I haven't gone live except in my private groups. Find it more comfortable to shoot a video first and then publisch it on social media.
111 comments
To be honest, I try my best to avoid Social media as it's not good for my mental health. However, I do realise the power it has and that it can be used for good.
I'm not sure I can add much for the list above, but a few things did come up for me:
1. Post a short example of what you do to attract people to check you out - a friend of mine posts on Facebook nearly every day a poem of hers with an amazing photo, which catches people attention and the she links it to her website
2. My mentor hosts LIVE sessions on Facebook where she either interviews other experts or takes a chapter and edits it so we can all learn from it
160 comments
I have a hate-love relationship with social media as well. Still, I need it, since it brings me clients. Just try not to scroll, just focus on the groups you follow or organise and respond there.