If you’re anything like me, you’re constantly checking social media. Keeping up with friends and family, looking for the latest news, watching videos to brighten your day — there’s so much to do, and it’s easy to find yourself scrolling for hours on end.
It’s because of this engagement that social media is such a great tool for business owners. You can advertise your business and connect with clients on a level that no other method comes close to touching — provided you have the right strategy.
Coming up with social media post ideas for businesses isn’t always easy. What sorts of things would your audience like? Are your posts coming across as too boring or, conversely, too unprofessional? Are they effective, or do they just make you feel productive?
It’s one thing to say that you need to maintain active social media, but it’s entirely another thing to figure out how.
I know just how difficult creating engaging content ideas for social media can be. That’s why I’m here to help you out. I’ll give you some of my best tips for effective social media posts, along with some ideas to kick-start your creativity.
Why is posting on social media so important, anyway?
Social media is everywhere these days. People spend much of their free time on Facebook, X (formerly Twitter), and TikTok — and hardly any reading newspapers or checking fliers on the street.
Don’t get me wrong; traditional marketing methods still have their place, but you must also be willing to adapt to the times. In this day and age, maintaining a social media presence is practically a given — so much so that people might look at you funny if you don’t have an online profile.
With the right posts, you can:
- Spread the word. Sharing content is a pretty important feature on most social media sites. If you have engaging content, people will share it with their followers, who in turn will share it on their feeds, and so on. This means you’re a lot more likely to get your business in front of interested parties.
- Create a loyal customer base. Interacting with others is crucial for building relationships with them, and what better way to do that than on social media? Social media thrives on interpersonal interactions, making it a lot easier to connect with customers.
- Meet other professionals. Social media isn’t just a good way to form relationships with your customers; it’s also a prime opportunity to network with other business owners. Take the time to share posts, start a conversation with a noteworthy professional, and start building those relationships.
My top tips for effective business social media posts
You’re probably pretty anxious to start posting once you’ve got your business’s social media set up — but first, you’re going to have to start generating ideas.
What sorts of posts would work best for your business? How can you really engage with your audience? What’s the right way to stand out from the crowd?
Figuring out social media post ideas for businesses can be a challenge. That’s why it’s best to start with the basics — namely, figuring out what makes an effective social media post.
Targeting the right audience
Social media marketing aims to bring more customers to your company — so naturally, you want to attract the right ones.
For example, say you’re a remodeler who mostly wants to work with high-end clients. In that case, you wouldn’t want to be drawing in people on a limited budget since they’d probably take one look at your prices and start running for the hills, assuming they don’t leave some snarky comment in your feed first.
Before you start generating business content ideas for social media, take the time to figure out who you want your posts to appeal to. Once you’ve landed on the ideal target audience, look at what sorts of posts they gravitate toward (and how they interact with them). That can go a long way in helping you create effective social media posts for businesses.
Making a posting schedule
If you’re going to run a social media page, you want to ensure it stays pretty active. For one, the more you post, the more likely you are to appear on people’s feeds. For another, if you only post occasionally, it’ll be a lot harder to maintain followers since they might leave if you don’t give them enough content to chew on.
One of the best ways to keep your followers engaged is to create a schedule and stick to it. You’ll want to post at least once a week, though multiple times is often better. Figure out what days you want to post and determine the ideal times for maximum reach.
Want to go the extra mile? Decide on a specific type of post for each day! This makes it easier to plan content while giving your followers something to look forward to.
Making sure every post elevates your business
Posting about interesting news stories and fun memes is great, but they aren’t going to be much help if they don’t relate to your business. To get as much mileage as possible, you’ll want to ensure that every post connects back to your business in some way.
This doesn’t mean you should only post about your services, though. Share informational articles that relate to your industry, create guides for your clients, or share fun images connected to what you do.
Using your chosen social media platform’s features to your advantage
Each social media platform has unique features, and it’s in your best interest to make the most of them.
For example, different sites favor different types of posts. Whereas TikTok relies on short videos, Facebook is great if you want longer text posts. Tailoring your content to the site will help you reach more people.
Take the time to explore your site of choice and get to know it intimately. You can then create a good posting strategy from there.
Creative social media post ideas for businesses to reach more people
You’ve got the basics down; now, it’s time to figure out some engaging content ideas for business social media. I have plenty of recommendations to get you started; check out these ideas and use them to develop your unique posting strategy.
Get creative
Social media is a great place for people to flex their creative muscles, so why not take advantage of that?
Fun, unique social media posts are a lot more engaging than more straightforward informational ones. Putting a personal spin on your content helps you stand out from the competition and attract more customers.
A little extra creativity can help humanize your brand, too. Most people want to work with other people, not faceless business owners. By making something fun and unique, you’re showing that you can let go and relax a little, which should help put potential customers at ease.
Plus, it can be a lot more entertaining to create these sorts of posts, too.
Need some ideas? Here are just a few to help you get started:
- Make a skit. This is perfect for any video-based platform, like TikTok or Instagram. Work with your team to create a fun, unusual script that connects to your services. Find the right costumes, set up your phone, and get recording. The right video could stick in your followers’ minds and create a ton of engagement.
- Tell a story. Stories are the perfect way to explain the value of your services without coming across as pushy. Stories of real experiences humanize you and explain how you’ve helped others with their needs. That said, you don’t have to stick to true stories; you can just as well make up fictional ones to entertain your followers and illustrate your point.
- Share some memes. Used correctly, memes can appeal to a younger demographic and get a laugh out of your followers. Try not to overuse them — too much might feel overbearing — and follow the golden rule by ensuring they relate back to your content.
Use testimonials
People want to know that the companies they’re working with are reliable. Usually, the best way to do this is by looking at testimonials from previous customers. After all, these people probably don’t have any agenda for or against the company, so looking at them gives you an unbiased perspective of the good, the bad, and the ugly.
Why not make your followers’ lives a little easier by bringing the testimonials to them?
Positive testimonials from satisfied customers show just how valuable your services are. Posting some every now and then can remind people of what you’ve been able to do for others and save them a little bit of effort.
You can share testimonials as standard text posts, of course, but why not make things a little more interesting? A little panache, after all, will make people more likely to notice your content. For example:
- Ask your customers to record video testimonials. If someone leaves a good review, reach out and ask if they’d be willing to record a video of themselves talking about their experience. Videos tend to be a lot more eye-catching than standard text posts and are pretty effective at drawing viewers into the story. Ask your customers to talk about their experience and what aspects of your services have made the most impact.
- Put the testimonials in an image. Custom graphics can enhance what might otherwise be a pretty standard testimonial. Work with your team to create eye-catching graphics that reflect your brand and help the text pop.
Showcase your services
You want to ensure you’re driving followers to request your services. Naturally, they should know what those services are.
Showing off your services doesn’t mean just making a standard text post, however; you can spice things up a little by:
- Creating infographics. Infographics are a fun, engaging type of visual content that illustrates all sorts of information. In this case, you could use them to showcase the different services you offer, your process for a specific service, or how hiring you for a certain service could benefit your followers.
- Making videos. Videos are fantastic for not simply telling people about your services but also showing them in action. Walk people through what a day is like at your job, showcase a project, or even just provide highlights of a specific service.
- Add pictures. Photos or graphics spice up an otherwise boring text post. Take pictures of you or your employees on the job or create custom graphics to catch people’s eyes.
One pro tip: Make it a point to always highlight what’s in it for your followers. They’re looking for what you can give them, after all, so if you want to convert them to paying customers, you’ll need to put that information front and center.
Give a little insight into your company
What do your employees do on their time off? What’s the company’s culture like? How do you go about organizing big projects? What drives your success?
People love the idea of getting to look behind the scenes. Giving them even a bit of insider perspective can go a long way toward building trust and creating relationships.
Company insights are a surefire way to humanize your business. They also allow you to be transparent about your business practices and give people a glimpse of your character.
You have all sorts of creative ways to showcase behind-the-scenes action, including:
- Interviewing an employee. What better way to show off your company culture than by speaking to the people who keep it running? Interviewing an employee shows everyone how much you appreciate your team and everything they bring to the table. Choose one employee each month and ask them about their role, what they like about the company, and what they do in their free time. If you (and your audience) prefer text instead of video (see the next point), don’t forget to include a photo so people can put a face to the name.
- Making a company video. Videos catch people’s attention and can easily highlight what your office culture is like. You might choose to film company events, everyday office shenanigans, or (as noted above) employee interviews to create an immersive experience.
- Advertising upcoming campaigns. If you have a special promotion or event coming up, you want people to know about it. What better way to do so than by announcing it on social media? Create graphics, videos, and more to highlight how you’re preparing and remind people to save the date.
- Showcasing data related to your company. Did you recently run a fundraising campaign and want to showcase how much you donated? Do you want to be transparent about how you’re using funds for a project? Would you like to highlight how successful a certain service is? Providing this data builds trust and attracts attention; try graphing it to make people stop and look.
Encourage community engagement
Social media thrives on engagement. Sure, people might follow your page, but that doesn’t mean much if they aren’t spreading the word.
The better the engagement, the more likely people will notice your content. Most social media algorithms focus on how often people like, share, or comment on a post and boost that content accordingly. Plus, the more people share your posts, the more likely your content will get in front of the right people.
Engagement is the key to building relationships, too. If people leave comments, you can address pain points or create exciting campaigns. Plus, positive interactions make customers feel more comfortable partnering with your business.
If you want to boost engagement, try the following strategies:
- Ask a question. This is a simple and effective way to encourage people to leave comments. Consider asking something related to news in your industry, your services, or what people would like to see from a new campaign.
- Run a contest. People love being able to win free stuff. Why not give them an opportunity? Create a contest with appealing prizes, from company merchandise to discounts on your services. Get creative with it — for example, tell everyone you’ll enter their name into a raffle every time they share one of your posts and tag a friend.
- Use follower-made content. Do you want your followers to feel appreciated? Highlight art, copy, or other content they’ve created related to your business. Sharing their posts is probably the simplest way to do that, but it isn’t the only one. For example, say you wanted some unique designs for merch. You could run a contest where the winner’s design would be made into official merchandise. Pro tip: Make sure you always credit the original creator and ask permission if you’re doing anything more than sharing a post.
Educate others
You want to establish yourself as an expert in your field. What better way to do that than by sharing your knowledge with others?
There’s probably a lot that people don’t know about your industry. Creating educational posts helps get them up to speed. Not only does it illustrate your willingness to help others, but it also highlights just how much you know about your work. Because of this, more people will be willing to take a chance on your services.
There are all sorts of powerful ways to provide educational content, but some of the best include:
- Writing an article about something in your industry. This can be a perfect way to showcase in-depth knowledge and answer common industry questions. For longer articles, you’ll likely want to create a post on your website’s blog and then provide a link and a summary in a social media post to make it more shareable across platforms.
- Answering commonly asked customer questions. Have you noticed that your customers tend to ask you the same questions over and over again? Have others in your industry gotten similar questions? If so, take the time to answer them. Make a short post summarizing the basics; if you need more space, create a longer article and link to it.
- Talking about new developments in your industry. Your industry, like so many others, is ever-changing. When something new comes around, stay on top of it. Providing timely insight keeps you relevant and others informed. Give your opinions, talk about how certain developments may affect the industry, and explain how those changes may work to give your followers additional insight.
Look at examples of successful business social media posts
Still struggling with generating business content ideas for social media? When in doubt, take a look at what your competitors are doing!
What posts seem to be the most successful? How have other companies built effective marketing strategies? Are there any creative ideas that you really like?
While you won’t want to copy your competitors’ ideas outright, you can use them as inspiration. Figure out what you like about their posts, then create your own marketing strategy. You might even try sourcing your followers for additional input.
Create engaging content and help your business stand out
Social media marketing is a fantastic modern marketing tactic. By following the best practices for crafting social media posts for businesses, you can spread the word about your services, find the right customers, and grow your reach.
That said, it can sometimes be difficult to figure out social media post ideas for businesses. What can help you stand out? What works best for your company and your chosen social media platform? What would appeal most to your customers?
Thankfully, there are plenty of ideas out there to kick-start your creativity — all you have to do is look. I’ve only scratched the surface in this article, but there are plenty more to explore. Take the time to sit down with your team, go over some of these options, and decide what works for you. With just a little brainstorming, you’ll have a winning strategy in no time!
