10 Flavors of Small Business Social Content To Share
Generate visibility with customers with these 10 types of social content your small business can share
Businesses of all shapes and sizes understand that social media communications is an effective way to build customer relationships and build a business presence. Whether your business involves sitting behind your computer offering virtual accounting services, driving around in a gourmet food truck, repairing that same food truck or a myriad of other business your social media presence can have a solid impact on your business or not if you don’t get it.
One of the most difficult things to figure out in social media engagement and communications is just what content you should be producing and where you should be showcasing it. It seems a daunting task to know what to say and when and where to say it. However, it may not be as difficult to create content as you think. The content you need is often right in front of you, part of your everyday life, just waiting to be used.
In business as in life timing is everything. However, it is impossible to hit the right timing with every client all the time so what can you do? Share on a regular basis and position your content to be there, become comfortable and familiar and when the customer is ready to hear your message they will remember you.
Start With Your Social Networks
Begin by identifying your favorite social networks and identifying the ones where you customers may be looking for you or your type of information. Popular social networks, of course, include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok and others. You may be able to survey your customers or ask your staff, children, friends and family if they know of any new or emerging ones. You do not need to select them all but pick ones you believe you have the interest to sustain.
Once you have identified your social networks determine your best times for sharing. Consider your customers and when they are online. There is a lot of research available that provides you insights into time-of-day social sharing. Don’t be afraid to share something more than once and on multiple networks. Keep in mind, however, that the conversation (tone, messaging) can vary from Facebook to LinkedIn, from Pinterest and so on.
Now the big question is what should you share? There is so much to share. You can share brief statements, tweets, updates, blog posts, images and more. Here are a few ideas.
10 Types of Content You Can Share In Social Networks:
1) Your Celebrations: Your business has milestones, anniversary dates, new hires, big business deals, your 200thcustomer or 500th day in business. A simple, genuine message celebrating your company milestones can fit onto almost any social network. A simple Tweet, a LinkedIn posting (your personal LinkedIn account or your business account), a Facebook share and so on. A message as simple as: Today we served our 1000th customer we are celebrating with a special deal, 10% off for the remainder of the day.
2) General Celebrations: Did you know there was a No News is Good News Day? A National Teddy Bear Day? Collect Rocks Day? Both traditional and fun days are ways to celebrate with your community. If you can find fun promotions to go along with these days you can build them into your marketing strategy. A message as simple as: Today is National Collect Rocks Day, bring in a rock and you receive a free coffee.
3) Quotes, Famous Sayings, Motivational Sayings, Poems, Jokes (the appropriate kind): Who does not love a good motivational quote. A message as simple as: Payton Manning said: Pressure is something you feel when you don’t know what the hell you’re doing. When was the last time you were in the Zone?
4) Recommendations: Social media networks are full of opinions and recommendations. While you may not want to share recommendations on everything, sharing recommendations that relate to your business is great, but sharing recommendations about books you like, movies, attractions and more can connect you with your community (watch your credibility and be able to back why you made a recommendation). A message as simple as: Our mechanic loved the new Julia Roberts movie, who knew! Tell us what you thought about ABC movie.
5) Meet and Greet: Sharing information about your staff, vendors, community organizations, famous people tied to your industry or business and more can be a way to build community relations. Gather an image of your accountant baking and share the recipe, profile a member of your community by posting a Q and A.
6) Ask Questions: You can ask questions on almost anything, but generally you may want to avoid anything controversial (though that is a matter of choice based on your brand and business culture, just ask STARBUCKS). Try a question such as: What did you think about last night’s storm? or How did we do last week when we promoted our ABC service for a 15% discount or Who do you think will win this years Superbowl?
7) Links, Resources, Tips: Gather and share useful links and resources in your community, related to your business or on topics of interest to you.
8) Share other people’s content: Help other businesses, especially those related to you or in your community by sharing information or engaging with them in social networks.
9) Sales and Promotions: Certainly, you want to sell and promote your own information. This is much easier to do when it is not all that you do. This is the information you want to hit the mark when the timing is right. For that to work you need to be present and visible as a member of the social community and not just as a seller.
10) Respond and Engage: Keep your eyes and ears open and find opportunities to jump into a conversation in social networks. You do not need to stay long. Monitor conversations, look for key words or key people, join groups, networks and communities. Organic opportunities take advantage of serendipity, and it is often serendipity and being able to grab it that leads to success.
Maintain Balance
Remember not to go overboard, sending 10 or 20 messages in a row 3 or 4 times a day is probably excessive. You can choose to establish your own pattern. Every Monday you may chose a Monday Quote on Tuesday you may choose a Celebration and more. Finding a pattern and content that you enjoy and works with your schedule is important.
As a business owner time is often lost to you and you may wonder how you will fit all of these into your schedule. In fact, often you can spend as little as 30 minutes a day on many days to sustain and even improve your social media presence. Even when you only share once, at the right time, you may be slipping into other people’s periphery.
They may not consciously see you but when they see you sharing and contributing on a regular basis, they may take notice in the moment when the timing is right. Along the way you may also build genuine relationships with your extended community of customers, clients, vendors, and more that turns them into Brand Ambassadors for your business. This does not mean you are taking a hit and miss, or scatter gun approach. You are being systematic, focused and engaging and increasing your odds of being in the right place at the right time when you can meet the needs of your customer.
