A content creation guide: Social Media for Business.
I work with lots of clients to plan, create, and schedule their social media content. I see what works and what doesn’t, and while some things remain as constant as the knowledge that my kids will wake up at 6.23am every morning, there are some things that do vary from business to business and within industries.
Ensuring a positive & interesting social media presence is so important for all businesses - big or small. If you are going to use social media as a marketing strategy, you might as well get it right.
The main reasons to post (share content) are:
To offer value to your audience – what will the audience learn from this?
To build new relationships and connect with new clients
To build your credibility
To share your personality
To promote a new product/new website/new service
Social Media Content: What to post?!
First, you need to think about who is your target audience? Large business? Small business? Students? Parents? Knowing your target audience will help you define points.
Then you need to come up with content ideas. I know it can be hard to think of things to share on your business Facebook page, LinkedIn profile, or Instragram account! But if you can use a mix of content, this will keep followers engaged.
Think of what advice you can offer, tips you can share or insights you can give. Does your business have an event or anniversary coming up? Have you just added a new team member? Why not write up a profile about your business growth and have short bios on the team? Have you attended some events recently? Are there any businesses you collaborate with that you can 'tag' in a post? What questions would you love to ask your followers? Do they prefer your Green or Yellow packaging? Don't be afraid to think outside the box!
Use a mix of:
Images
Videos
Photos
Blog posts
Reviews
Testimonials
Infographics
Quotes or tips
Events / check-ins
Links to industry articles
Use a mix of ‘curated content’ and ‘created content’
Created Content
Put simply, created content is content you have created yourself (or via a designer etc). So, if you have written a blog or created a graphic (or paid a copywriter/VA to do it for you!) then this is your content.
Curated Content
Curated content is simply the term used for everything else! Content you have gathered from other sources: existing articles you might like to share, social media posts from other sites that you “share” and re-tweet etc.
Build your audience, test your content
To build your audience you need to be constantly offering value in your content. And ensure all your social media links are in every piece of marketing they can be: on your email signature and on all listings etc. So put your LinkedIn profile and Facebook page link EVERYWHERE!
Also, make sure you are responding to comments – engagement is the key!
And, make sure you are checking your analytics – Facebook has some great insights into the best times to post based on your unique audience and which content is popular.
In summary....
Tackle your social media strategy with a simple plan: decide what sort of content you want to share, how often and on which platforms, and then enjoy creating.
However, if you don’t enjoy creating or finding content, then send me a message and I can take care of it for you!
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