Don’t Know What to Post on Social Media? Try These Ideas

Posting on social media can be a powerful way to connect with your desired audience. But it also takes commitment and consistency. Sometimes you might feel completely out of ideas for what to share on your social channels. Don’t worry, though: We’ve got you. Today, we’re going to talk about how to generate a steady stream of ideas for social media posts that will appeal to your dream clients or customers.

Social Media Content Strategy Fundamentals

A lack of clarity could be why you aren’t sure what to post on social media. So before we dive into specific ideas for social media posts, let’s do a quick check-in to make sure the foundations of your social media strategy are strong.

1. Have you defined in detail the audience you want to reach on social media? Remember, you’re not trying to get everyone to follow you and engage with you. Your social media follower count is a lot less important than having followers who are your people — and then building relationships with those people that lead them to buy from you. In other words, nurturing a small, targeted following that’s invested in your social media content beats having a big following that feels no real connection to you. If you need some help defining your audience, you’ll find some tips in our article “How to Create Audience Clarity.”
2. Are you focusing on the social channels that your audience uses? You don’t have to be everywhere on social media! If you’re having trouble coming up with ideas for what to post on a particular social media channel, it might be because that channel isn’t a fit for you or your audience.
3. Do you understand what makes you unique? Your social media posts are an opportunity to tell your audience what you’re all about: your expertise, your values, your unique approach, the passions that drive what you do. If you’ve never sat down and clarified these things for yourself, now is a great time. As you do, you’ll probably find some inspiration for social media posts!

The Basics of What to Post on Social Media

Once you are clear on the questions above, you’re well on your way to a steady supply of ideas for compelling and engaging social media posts. You want your posts to accomplish the following things:

1. They should speak to your desired audience.
2. They should provide information that’s valuable to your audience.
3. They should encourage your audience to buy from you or advance their relationship with your business (for example, signing up for your email list).
4. They should convey who you are and what makes your business distinctive.

So what does that look like?‍

5 Types of Social Media Posts You Can Share

1. Testimonials or reviews. Sharing positive feedback from your clients or customers sparks your social media followers’ curiosity to learn more about your business. To learn more about how to collect testimonials or product reviews, and other ways you can use them, check out our article “How to Drive Sales With Better Customer Testimonials.”
2. Examples of your work. Like testimonials and reviews, work samples demonstrate your credibility to your social media audience. For example, if you follow DesignGood on Instagram, you know that we frequently do posts that showcase the brands we create for clients.
3. Quotes. For many brands, inspiring, funny or simply relatable quotes can drive a lot of engagement on social media. Just be sure to choose quotes that reflect your brand voice and that will resonate with your audience.
4. Behind-the-scenes info. We all love feeling like insiders. Make your social followers among the first to know about what’s happening at your business: Are you launching a new offering? Did you just form a new partnership? Hired a cool new team member? Those are great announcements for social media. Another idea is to talk about your process. How do you create the results you do for your clients or customers?
5. Useful information and resources. When you deeply understand your audience, you know what kind of information they’re craving. Think about some ways you can give them that information on social media. A few ideas:

• Quick tips and tricks. We all love getting information that immediately makes our lives better, whether that’s a guide to setting boundaries or ideas for giving your work life a reset.
• Your latest blog article. If you are blogging for your business, be sure to promote your article on social media. This drives your social followers back to your website, which means they are that much closer to buying from you.
• Tools, guides, etc. From your social accounts, you can promote more in-depth resources that your followers can go to your website to access in exchange for providing their email address. These resources are often called lead magnets. They do two really important things: 1) Lead magnets demonstrate your expertise. The goal of a great lead magnet is to make your followers think “Wow, if they’re giving this away, then their paid services or products must be even more awesome.” 2) They collect your followers’ email addresses. Your email list is one of the most valuable resources for your business.
• Special events or workshops. You can host events directly from some social networks. For example, you could go live on Facebook or Instagram for a Q&A about your area of expertise. Or you could use social media to promote an event or course you’re hosting on another platform.

One More Social Media Secret

After you’ve decided which of the post types we listed above are the right fit for your business and brand, create branded templates in Canva for each post category. This will save you so much time in your social media posting. For example, next time you run across a quote you know your audience will love, you can just pop it into your template. No sweat, right? Templates also elevate the total look and feel of your social feeds. They help you make sure all of your posts are polished, consistent and on brand. If you’re working with an agency (like us) they can make sure you have branded templates so you can maintain your own social media feed. 

How We Help Our Clients With Social Media

The social media tips and strategies we shared with you here are based on the work we do with DesignGood clients. Our approach covers all aspects of succeeding on social media, from gaining clarity about your business and your audience to designing your social media feed. If you’d like to learn more, schedule a chat with me now. And, of course, please follow us on our social channels for ways to align your business, brand and being:

• Instagram
• Dribble
• Pinterest