How to Come Up With Social Media Ideas for Your Business [Video]

Generating social media ideas for your business can be tough sledding–especially if you/your business is new social media. However, coming up with ideas can become clockwork for you if you follow the approach we take (in the video above) and apply it for yourself.

Identify what types of content fit your brand

This is the first step before you start creating anything for your brand. You need to identify what types of content are suited for your audience, and what you can realistically create.

We break down our content into four categories:

Inspirational – This is the type of content that will make your audience take action, feeling like they can achieve more through using your product. Let’s say you’re a gym owner, and your product is providing people a place to workout. With inspirational content in mind, you should be telling stories of past customers’ fitness journeys. This will show people who are mulling over joining a gym or not that they can get in shape at your gym.
Entertaining – This content is fun in nature, and keeps people engaged while showing gripping visuals and telling stories around your product.
Educational – This content is like this blog post you’re reading; it’s created with the sole purpose of educating your audience. By sharing your expertise and providing valuable information to your audience you can start to build your business up as the authority in your space.
Promotional – If you have a special offer or exciting new product announcement then you will want to promote that on social media. This should be <10% of your social media content.

Who is your target customer and what type of questions would they have?

Who is your customer? Where do they hang out (online)? And what type of questions do they have about your product? By answering these three questions you’ll be able to come up with topics you should be covering on social media. I recommend spending time thinking about this, and creating a buyer persona to work from.

Buyer persona definition via Hubspot, “A buyer persona is a semi-fictional representation of your ideal customer based on market research and real data about your existing customers. When creating your buyer persona(s), consider including customer demographics, behavior patterns, motivations, and goals. The more detailed you are, the better.”

Engage and Learn From Your Community

Your existing customers and community are your best friend when it comes to coming up with social media ideas for your business. You can (i) leverage user-generated content by your customers and feature them on your social media accounts and (ii) you can use the questions they ask you on a regular basis to create content.

Look and Learn from Competitors

Looking at the competitive landscape is a great place to find inspiration for your own social media content. By looking at competitors you can see what you like and dislike from their marketing efforts. Then you can use some of their tested methods for yourself (with your own spin of course).