To actually attract and entertain your social media following, small businesses should definitely be posting several times a day from their business' Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. The social posts should be high quality and interesting, or you'll never be successful in growing your following. It's also crucial to make sure that small businesses are effectively using their social profiles and followers to promote their business and increase sales. All these things are easier said than done though right?
Well, here's a handy guide full of great (and easy!) ideas to populate your social feeds with.
Promotional Postings
How can you balance promoting yourself with providing interesting and relevant posts to your followers? By informing them!
Sales & Promotions - Of course you should announce your regular sales like Black Friday or Labour Day savings, but promotions can be so much more than that! Get creative with one day, flash sales or fulfillment promotions like "bring your daughter in to get 20% off". Your followers will stay tuned in to your business' feed to take advantage of these sales, and chances are pretty good they'll share them with applicable friends and family ("Look Mary! Take your daughter in!"). When it comes to Facebook, these days your posts will be granted greater reach the more they're shared and commented on. Make some sales just for your social media followes- they'll love feeling rewarded for being loyal customers!
New Stock - Your stock, supplies, or offerings likely change with the seasons right? Well let everyone know that there's new stuff to check out! Be sure to include a photo, as pictures drive higher levels of engagement. Let your customers know via word of mouth or flyer that they should follow your social accounts to be the first people to hear of such announcements- this tactic is a great strategy to grow your followers! You can draw this category of posts out by creating several posts in advance of the big reveal. Begin by vaguely announcing that exciting changes are coming to the store, then another post informing your followers when to tune in to hear the exciting announcement, and then finally the actual announcement itself.
Company Milestones - Share big accomplishments, new hires, and business expansions with your followers. They'll love to feel like they're apart of the show, and it'll serve as excellent marketing for any potential new customers.
Company Mission Statement - From time to time, simply post a declarative statement about something that matters to your company (we support organic) or parts of your company's actual mission statement. It's good to remind your followers what your company is all about, and social media users like to retweet or share declarative statements that they agree with! Avoid anything controversial or political>! Great, crowd pleasing ideas for this category include: depending on coffee, supporting the environment, loving dogs or cats, your home state or town, excitement for happy hour or the weekend, and even which movie stars are your favorite!
Showing Off Your Fans
Social proof exists even within social media! By "reposting" or retweeting your followers' posts, not only will you show off how loved your brand is, you'll also subtly encourage your other followers to post about you too! Social media users love the limelight!
ReShares - Encourage your customers to share photos or updates about being at your business or using your products, then reshare or repost! Social media users love attention like this! Resharing also bolsters your brand, it's the best and most authentic kind of social proof there is, and simultaneously encourages more of your customers to share even more images or posts too!
Interviews - Interview or profile your employees or customers. People love to read about other people, and chances are the friends and family of your profile will share the post too. Interview or profile your employees or customers. People love to read about other people, and chances are the friends and family of your profile will share the post too.
Testimonials - "Best Pizza Ever" , "BrandName is SUCH a Lifesaver!" or other props given to your business make for excellent Twitter retweets. Be sure to include commentary or comments when retweeting (then the original customer can retweet your retweet- the cycle can continue!). Customers love interacting with a brand, and they'll definitely appreciate your gratitude for their complementary comments. Need we even mention how great these posts will look to potential new customers?
Getting Creative
Ok, now it's time to turn that creativity tap on! It's important to post just to entertain your users!
Inspiring Quotes - Include motivational, inspiring, or even just plain old encouraging quotes! Try to tag the speakers when possible- there's always the chance they'll share your post! This is a great category to get creative with. Use quotes from your favorite business leaders, authors, anything that resonates with you will likely also resonate with your followers. Avoid political or negative sentiment.
Funny Holidays - Take a play from some of the most successful social companies and wish your followers a happy national left-handers day, or happy coconut ice cream day! These types of posts usually see high levels of engagement across all the social networks.
Links to Useful Content - One of the easiest answers to the "what to share on social media" question is useful content! Share helpful resources with your followers. This could be local tourist guides, local polling stations or things relating to your industry- it will all work and be appreciated!
Local Pride - Your local followers will love funny, surprising, or wacky local trivia. Work in advance to compile about 100 or so interesting local fun facts and spread out your posts from this category over time. Even a photo of your favoite local landmark will do!
Pop Culture - Comment on major pop culture events like the Super Bowl, Grammys, or the season finale of The Voice for a chance to get your content seen by a larger-than-usual crowd! Use the appropriate hashtags so your tweets or Facebook posts will be seen! Customers will appreciate that you're into the same things they are, and if you can find an opportunity for a joke or two, more social power to you! One of my most favorite examples is Hamber Helper's "I woke up like this #flawless" tweet! If you don't get that one, recruit your younger employees to help you create similar content!
Max Interactions - Retweet/Share or otherwise interact with other local businesses, related corporate chains, or even your local politicians. If they respond or retweet, you'll gain exposure to their audiences too! This is a great tactic to try with local news reporters, news papers, or broadcast stations! Complimentative statements get the most reactions on social networks.