4 Ideas for Consistently Producing Excessive-High quality Social Media Content for Your Small Business

Nowadays, having a strong social media presence is key to building a reliable brand that stands out from the crowd and resonates with potential customers. I recently learned 43% of consumers always look for a brick and mortar store online before visiting, which is a huge number. And while all businesses can benefit from social media, it’s especially important for small businesses, which typically don’t get the benefit of being a household name.

However, having a strong social media presence requires consistent content creation, which can be time consuming. If you’re a smaller business, or even a sole proprietorship, you might be wondering how you can compete with companies that have entire teams dedicated to social media. There will never be an even playing field, but we’ve seen small businesses embrace what makes them unique and make them shine on social media without having to spend huge sums of money on advertising dollars or hire an entire social team.

Here are a few ideas I’ve seen for individuals and businesses over the years.

1.Learn from your customers (and the data)

A good place to start is to pay attention to what your prospects are talking about. What are their pain points? What questions do you have about your area of ​​work? How do you feel about certain topics? This is all good material for content ideas like quick questions and answers on Instagram or more in-depth teaching content on Facebook or LinkedIn.

To get into the minds of your audience, you can:

• Scroll through the comments section of your social media pages and those of other companies and brands you admire. (We recently made a list of these Twitter, Doist, and Ben & Jerry’s were all mentioned.)
• Use the polling feature available on most platforms including Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn to ask questions of your audience.
• Submit a more formal survey through your newsletter. I recommend keeping it short so people will respond.
• Use market research tools like AnswerThePublic or Google trends to see what people are looking for.

You should also regularly check which of your previous posts have performed best. What was most popular with your audience? Which ones have more likes, comments, shares, retweets and saves? Find the patterns below them and you will quickly see what works. (Note: Use an analysis tool can help make popular posts easier to find.)

After you’ve gathered all of this information, spend some time reviewing it. What does the top performing content have in common? Does your audience prefer videos or memes? Are inspirational posts or actionable guides more popular? Once you’ve identified some patterns, you can dive into them and create new content that will give people what they want.

2. Use the news and your own statistics

Staying up to date on what’s happening in your industry is important for many reasons, not least because it can provide you with endless content inspiration.

I use Twitter lists to get the current media issues under control quickly. Create your own lists of reporters, experts, news sites, and influencers in your field and if you don’t have any substantive ideas, keep scrolling to see what they’re talking about. You can republish your views on what happened or create your own.

You can also be part of the news by collecting your own data and sharing the results with your community. For example, we got ours earlier this year 2021 Status of remote workthat we have created through surveys of customers and potential customers. Each data point (like the fact that 98% of respondents want to continue working remotely) can be an interesting, engaging social contribution in its own right. We also used the report to create complementary content, such as:

Our remote working status report offered endless opportunities for interesting content. Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/CLHcaFQLFpn/

3. Go behind the scenes

Consumers love to learn more about how a company works and the people behind the brand. Simply put, showing the people running the show makes the business human, and that can be a pretty powerful marketing tool.

Also, showing how you develop your products or your business (aka building in public) can add great value in the long run. In this episode of Buffer’s Small Business, Big Lessons Podcast, Paynter Jacket Co. shares how her building in public and behind the scenes sharing footage has affected her business for the better.

Payers on Instagram. Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/CWAZPeBocv0/

Video, like Stories, Reels, and IGTV, is a great medium for behind the scenes content, and it doesn’t have to be highly produced to grab someone’s attention. It’s also easier to create as you film elements of your regular operations. Consider sharing:

• A day in the life of a teammate
• Steps in the manufacturing process of your product
• Tours through your workplace (this also works for remote teams!)
• AMA meetings with team members
• A satisfied customer with your product

4. Make it easy for yourself

Of course, it’s great to come up with unique ideas, but you can add to your custom content by reposting things you see on the web. Sharing articles on industry trends, inspirational images related to your brand, or even relevant memes can add to your feed without wasting valuable time.

Pro tip: when you come across an article, picture, or other piece of content that you want to share, you can do so right from your browser using the Buffer browser extension. Schedule it right away and there, then do the rest of the things on your to-do list.

As a small business, putting together a solid social media plan can feel overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be. Take about 30 minutes of your time a few times a week to focus on the content, first choose a tip or two of the tips above, and then build from there. The results speak for themselves and inspire you to continue.

Do you have methods of developing content that works really well for you? Get in touch on Twitter and let us know!