Being social media manager is mostly fun and creative work. You stay ahead of social trends, develop strategies for brands and create inspiring content.
Although we all know there are down times, when you simply can’t come up with post ideas. What should you post next? Should it be something fun or rather educational? And why hasn’t anybody appreciated the pug meme you posted last week?
We know the feeling, so we came up with 10 simple ideas for a brand’s social media content. Whenever you have a hard time with planning your next post, turn to this universal list of ideas.
1. Re-use old blog post
Many of us treat corporate blogs as newspaper archives where only fresh posts matter. However, old blog content can serve as an endless source of ideas for social media.
Take lists, stats, facts and quotes from posts and turn them into separate graphic posts. Here is how Depositphotos re-purposed its list blog posts with tips on photography:
2. Ask a question
What we all love to do is express our precious opinion whenever and wherever possible. So do you followers! Ask for their thoughts on a relevant matter or ask to help with some feature research for your product. It can be a simple question or even a graphic! Have fun with it.
3. Quotes are not dead
Some time ago, there was a huge trend of using quotes in social media. Sometimes we still see beautiful lettering on a floral background, featuring a quote on happiness and spiritual growth.
Kinda cheesy, right?
However, it all depends on the quote, image and design. Find a relevant way to present wisdom to your audience, and you’ll get a positive response.
4. Trending Twitter hashtags
Twitter is great place for finding latest social and cultural topics you can use for posting. What, today is #NationalChocolateDay? Great, make a post with a cute photo and a fact on chocolate diet. The last episode of Game of Thrones brought up a massive surprise? Share your excitement with your audience with the help of a fun GIF.
5. Show your team
It usually depends on your brands’ policy and guidelines, whether you should or shouldn’t show the company’s backstage on social media. It works well for small businesses as well as for big companies who want to show real faces behind the brand.
You can start with posting something relatable and universal, like photos of coworkers dogs on ‘bring your dog to work’ day or a 360-degree photo of the office – if you have a nice one 🙂
6. Post user-generated content (UGC)
Starbucks is a definite leader of UGC posts. The company inspires its clients to make creative photos with their products and then use the content to posts on their own accounts. It is like an infinite cycle of creativity between Starbucks and clients, based on the simple coffee cup.
Take notes!
7. Repost someone’s content
If you stumble across a good article on a topic relevant to your industry or an interesting opinion expressed in a post, you might re-post it to your brand’s account. You’ll show that your brand is responding to what’s going on around and may start a discussion with your followers.
Don’t forget to add a short introduction to re-post a question or a thought on the topic.
8. Tell a story from the past
Whatever you industry is, it has some history. Do some research and find some interesting facts, dates and photos. For example, for Crello, it can be a history of a design itself, a story of a first picture ever posted online or a history of an Instagram as one of the most popular social networks.
9. Create your own post type
Make your work easier by starting to post “Something of the day” or “Something of the week”. If you have a blog about software, post “Tool of the week” every Tuesday. If you sell hand-made jewellery, post “Look of the day” with your product once a day.
It really helps with content strategy and keeping your account on topic.
We decided to have some fun with this category and started posting these fun illustrations ritually:
10. Use old posts
The truth is, most of your posts get buried under hundreds of others unnoticed or once followers see them for a couple of seconds. So it is totally okay to repost old content, as far as it is relevant and potentially interesting.
Got other tips and tricks on keeping your accounts interesting?
Share your thoughts in the comments section!
