As a Business leader, sometimes Social Media post ideas can be the last thing on your mind. So how do you create a resource library that you can draw on when inspiration is failing you?
The Challenge
We all have days when we stare blankly at our Social Media screens and think “What on earth can I post? I’ve said everything I can think of about our product, I’ve bigged up International Coffee Day and I’ve posted the results from my latest LinkedIn poll…”
Here are our tips on where to go for that spark of inspiration ….
Finding the right Social Media Inspiration
The Planner
If you find spur of the moment creative thinking tough, a quarterly content plan is the way to go. This way, you get all of the brainstorming out of the way in one big session, and have a plan to draw on for the next 3 months.
There are other positives to the planned approach – the plan will keep you on topic, so that your Social Media re-enforces your blogs and your website content, creating a virtuous circle that helps your readers (and Google) understand what your offering is all about.
Try Hootsuite’s guide for efficient content planning as a starter for 10.
When you see other people’s posts that you like, and want to draw your own Social Media inspiration from, take copies and file them with your planner – this will give you templates to work from.
The Visual Thinker
If your inspiration start point tends to be an image, Pinterest is your friend.
Even if you think your industry isn’t very visual, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by what you find on this platform. Here’s an example of a Pinterest search for “Accountancy”
Pinterest allows you to bookmark topics of interest, so when you are ready to post, you can easily access the blog content that piqued your interest.
You can use this content in a few different ways ….
- Share it as it is, adding your own comment as to why you find in interesting / insightful
- Take an element, show it (crediting the writer of course), and write your own commentary about that element
- Take inspiration from the title or topic, and write your own original thought about it
The Data Junkie
When you are the kind of person who likes to back up their opinion with data, there are a few options to consider – why not try …
Newspapers – helps keep your content current
Google Trends – helps you see what people are (and aren’t) talking about in your industry
Surveys – Extracts from industry surveys, or publicly interesting (and GDPR compliant) data from your own internal surveys
The Conversationalist
Social Media is all about getting (and keeping) a conversation going, so discussion groups and competitor blogs and articles can be a great source of inspiration.
Social Media groups – keep an eye on the topics being discussed in the groups that your audience is likely to belong to – this is a rich source for what is top of mind
Competitors – Track what your competitors are talking about – and how much engagement they are getting. You’ll quickly form a picture as to which topics are popular, trending and that are driving the most engagement.
The Curator
We tend to think of Social Media as being all about “New News”, but a new take on Evergreen topics usually works well with readers. Take a look at your Google Analytics to see your most read blogs, and your Social Media Insights to see what topics have worked best over time, and repost on those subjects. Even Google use this technique!
This is a particularly useful technique if you have a business with a strong heritage story to tell.
Getting the message right
Your Social Media plan should follow your Inbound Marketing strategy. Messaging should follow the sales funnel steps relevant to each Social Media platform and it’s place in the customer journey :
- Awareness – People know they have a problem (or a dream) and are searching how to resolve it.
- Consideration – People have identified that solutions are available, and are looking to shortlist the most relevant to them. Sharing reviews is a great technique at this stage.
- Decision – Making the sale – remember that unless you have a Social Media shop, this is the lightest touch for messaging. Consider time bound promotions and exclusive insights here.
- Engagement – People like you enough to want to know more about what you do.
Top 10 Social Media inspiration topics
- A tip about one of your products / services
- Industry news
- Share and comment on articles from key players in your Industry
- Short video showing how to use one of your products
- Celebrate team successes
- Introduce a new team member
- Thank-you for a review or testimonial
- Feedback from a recent survey or poll
- Celebration of a holiday or event that impacts your audience
- Answer Frequently Asked Questions your business is asked
Summary
We are all wired up differently, and even the most creative amongst us get stuck for ideas from time to time, so keep this checklist handy for next time your Social Media inspiration dries up – even better, use it to inform your Content Planning inspiration brainstorm. If you are looking for support for your content planning, we’d be happy to hear about your thoughts – just contact us for a no obligation chat.
