Be genuine. Publish Reels. Goal your splendid viewers. Sacrifice a goat. Perhaps these issues obtained you seen final 12 months however not anymore.
With almost half (46%) of Gen Z “consistently on-line” — and Millennial oldies like me not far off, I’d argue — social media is extra crowded than ever.
It’s not sufficient to publish frequently, grasp Reels transitions, be a part of TikTok, or comply with what everybody else is doing. To develop this 12 months, manufacturers must be unique, likable, and helpful.
For those who’re not any of these issues, listed here are 17 social media content material concepts to do as an alternative. (Kidding! You’re already nice, and these concepts will make you even higher.)
Bonus: Download our free, customizable social media calendar template to easily plan and schedule all your content in advance.
1. Use original audio in Reels
It’s been a classic Instagram growth strategy for a while: Find a trending Reels audio clip, make a Reel, get thousands of new followers, and repeat.
Those days are gone. Yes, you can still use a voiceover of Michael from The Office and yes, it may grow your Instagram a bit. But 2023 is all about original audio.
Brainstorm your own funny skits instead, or for the simplest Reel of all? You + camera = answering your customers’ questions.
Using original audio in your Reels can:
- Keep people watching longer, not knowing how it will end (as they do with trending audio after seeing a few).
- Showcase your creativity and, potentially, make you — gasp — go viral.
2. Create “how to” content on YouTube Shorts
How-to YouTube Shorts hook people right away with quick visuals and a specific end result. If you sell a product, show your target audience how to use it — either the “regular way” or something creative.
Service providers, share your process or steps to achieve a quick win, like your best sales email script or a software tutorial.
How-to YouTube Shorts can help you:
- Attract new subscribers.
- Rapidly test to find out what your audience wants to see or learn about most.
3. Start a series
You’ve heard of #ThrowbackThursday and #SundayFunday but instead of regurgitating these tired trends, create your own daily or weekly series. It’s more original, and it’ll make your content planning process easier.
Instead of having to think of three new post ideas for the upcoming week, you’ll already know the format and theme of your series and can get into creating it right away. For max efficiency, keep a running list of all your ideas then pick one to film for the week, or film and schedule them all in bulk a month or more ahead of time.
In-depth educational series work especially well on YouTube. To keep people watching, create a YouTube playlist and link to it from each video’s description.
Supply: YouTube
A content material sequence may help you:
- Construct momentum towards a product launch or occasion.
- Show your experience and earn belief.
- Hold a constant publishing schedule.
4. Put money into UGC content material
UGC, or “user-generated content material,” isn’t new but it surely’s positively time to hop on board for those who haven’t already. Like influencer advertising and marketing, UGC content material is created by individuals as an alternative of the model, however — historically — UGC content material comes from unpaid, actual prospects.
Why trouble? Your prospects are 2.4 times more likely to work together with UGC vs. brand-created content material. Authenticity sells.
Create a hashtag in your prospects to make use of and have their pictures or movies in your feed.
Don’t have a giant viewers but? No worries: You should buy authenticity, too. UGC creators are huge in 2023: Folks paid to create content material that appears to be like like natural buyer content material.
UGC content material may help you:
- Promote your merchandise with out seeming too sales-y.
- Collect numerous property to repost throughout your social accounts or use in different content material. For instance, pictures of individuals of many alternative ethnicities utilizing your merchandise, or a number of dwelling decor kinds, like Wayfair’s instance above.
5. Hold it easy
Spicy take: Some companies are luckier than others relating to social media content material concepts.
Exhibit A: What kind of content material is universally adored by everybody, no matter language, location, tradition, demographics, or pursuits?
Cute animal movies.
The San Diego Zoo doesn’t overthink their social content material technique. Folks like cute animal movies, so they provide them cute animal movies. It’s actually that simple typically.
@sandiegozoo Most boopable moments of 2022 ✨ #boop #cuteanimals #animalsoftiktok #bestmoments #SanDiegoZoo
Consider what “easy content material” appears to be like like for what you are promoting. What are you able to make in 5 minutes or much less? Then, make a bunch and bulk schedule as much as 350 items of content material at a time to routinely publish with Hootsuite. Ahh, the straightforward life.
Easy content material can:
- Enable for batched manufacturing and scheduling, chopping down content material creation time.
- Enchantment to a number of buyer varieties and audiences.
6. Curate content material from others
Nice information: Content material curation remains to be sizzling. Your unique content material is what retains individuals sticking round, however curated content material can beef up your posting frequency and entice new peeps.
Put aside time every week for strategic content curation and your publishing queue won’t ever run out.
What you share must be related to what you are promoting and in keeping with your standard model voice and tone, after all. Strive sharing business information, or media options out of your workers, like this text by Adobe’s Chief Product Officer.
Content material curation can:
- Refill your content material calendar with no need to create visible property.
- Develop cross-promotional relationships with different manufacturers and/or business leaders.
7. Embrace memes
Humor is at all times in model as a result of there’s at all times one thing to be unhappy about. So give your viewers a lil’ giggle, eh?
Perhaps run tremendous spicy stuff by means of authorized compliance first. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
SO BASICALLY IT’S LIKE CHAPTERS AND AUDIBLE AND NETFLIX AND SPOTIFY HAD A BABY BUT YOU CAN BORROW ALL THE STUFF FOR FREE. pic.twitter.com/tpWVSOnR8N
— ReginaPublicLibrary (@OfficialRPL) August 18, 2022
Memes may help you:
- Achieve new followers by cashing in on new, trending memes.
- Seem cooler than you’re. (That’s a joke. You’re very cool. Memes will assist your viewers see that.)
8. Launch a problem
Challenges are a enjoyable option to enhance engagement, probably get some juicy UGC (user-generated content material), and subtly promote your self on the identical time.
Some companies have extra apparent problem concepts than others. Nikon hosts month-to-month pictures and videography challenges which inserts their enterprise completely. You might have to hunt for an thought for those who, say, manufacture paper cups.
@nikonusa For this month’s problem, right here’s Nikon Ambassador Kristi Odom’s tackle movement with stunning wildlife cinematography 🎥 Ideas and tips on NikonUSA.com
Challenges may help:
- Educate or encourage your viewers, and encourage them to take motion on a objective or use your product extra.
- Refill your content material calendar. Share your viewers’s work as a part of your content curation process.
5 Social media content material concepts for small companies
1. Leverage AI for social content material concepts
I’m only a author standing in entrance of ChatGPT asking it to not take my job. Simply kidding. AI can’t exchange this sort of—
Supply: OpenAI
Crap. Okay, however significantly: AI is our good friend (at the very least till it tries to reprogram our microwaves to kill us all).
I didn’t use ChatGPT after I outlined this text, but it surely got here up with a number of of the identical social media publish concepts. None of them are rocket science, however that’s precisely the purpose: Let AI do your simple duties so you might have extra time to create the unique components of your content material that may make you stand out.
As a small enterprise proprietor, you’re most likely both nonetheless doing all your personal social media or counting on a small staff. If developing with concepts is stopping you from posting as a lot as you’d like, AI content tools get the ball rolling.
Simply don’t put all of your eggs in a single synthetic basket. Use your human mind for content material concepts, too.
AI content material instruments may help you:
- Refill a listing of content material concepts so you will get creating sooner.
- Overcome author’s block.
- Save time on thought technology so you’ll be able to give attention to the actual work that strikes what you are promoting ahead. (Spoiler alert: It’s content material.)
2. Run a contest
Social media contests are at all times a good suggestion as a result of individuals love free stuff.
Give away a present card to what you are promoting or one thing you promote. You are able to do something from the super-simple “like, comply with, and remark” format, to extra concerned contests like asking your followers to share a photograph, or fill out a survey.
A superb rule of thumb is to maintain the trouble of coming into the competition in keeping with the prize worth. Smaller worth prize = much less effort to enter, larger worth prize = extra effort.
For brick and mortar companies, goal native individuals with a enjoyable scavenger hunt contest:
@cookcountysaloon Thirsty anybody? 🤠 #yegscavengerhunt #yegbar #cookcountysaloon #edmontonfun #yeg #edmontontiktok #yegfun #edmonton #countrymusicalberta
Social media contests may help you:
- Quickly develop your follower counts and viewers.
- Generate potential leads.
- Discover out useful details about your prospects by means of surveys to tell your marketing strategy.
- Collect content material property you should utilize for future campaigns (for photograph or video submission contests).
3. Function your prospects
What’s the easiest way to promote your services or products on social media? Displaying not telling.
Share a testimonial or transformation story from a buyer. It goes a lot additional to achieve belief than speaking about your self.
This may be as simple as whipping up a testimonial quote graphic, or higher but: Movie a brief video interviewing your buyer. Edit it into a number of variations and share them throughout TikTok, Reels, Instagram Stories, YouTube movies, and extra.
Hold social media videos below 60 seconds for finest outcomes.
Buyer tales (particularly video ones!) are:
- Extra impactful and versatile than a written testimonial.
- Nice promoting instruments: Folks with the identical drawback as your featured buyer see you as the answer.
4. Associate with content material creators
Creators, a.okay.a. influencers (or KOLs), are sometimes pictured working with large manufacturers solely, however 2023 is the 12 months small companies take over.
Our Social Tendencies report discovered solely 28% of small businesses presently work with creators whereas 42% of companies with over 1,000 workers do. Including influencer marketing to your technique this 12 months will show you how to stand out out of your friends, and ship cost-effective campaigns in these unsure monetary occasions.
You don’t want a giant announcement to begin partnering with creators. New analysis reveals influencer campaigns have as much as 30.5% higher ROI once they’re not for brand spanking new product launches.
You additionally don’t must dish out 1,000,000 {dollars} to rent an influencer. Micro and nanoinfluencers are a way more budget-friendly choice — and may really be simpler than very huge creators in getting their audiences to take motion (e.g. click on by means of to your web site or purchase a product).
@gracewellsphoto Replying to @drinkpoppi the gamification of soda 🎮 👀 #epiccommercial #videography #videographer #filmtok #popcultured #poppipartner
Creator partnerships may help you:
- Attain useful audiences who belief the creator introducing you, typically for a lot lower than paying for advertisements.
- Collect high-quality pictures or movies you should utilize in future campaigns, in your web site, and extra.
5. Get suggestions out of your prospects
Dying to know what your prospects need? Simply ask them.
This doesn’t imply that as a result of one particular person suggests one thing, it’s a good suggestion or that you should do it straight away. However permitting prospects to decide on new flavors or the following occasion subject brings them nearer to what you are promoting and builds a way of neighborhood.
Asking for suggestions on social media can:
- Encourage engagement. Be sure to answer to feedback, even simply to say thanks.
- Deepen present buyer relationships and develop new ones.
You’ll be able to positively use the guidelines above, however these social media concepts are particularly efficient for B2B manufacturers:
1. Share your finest case research
Testimonials, success tales, earlier than and afters, yada yada — same-ish, completely different phrases for one factor: Demonstrating your capabilities.
B2B consumers are searching for a outcome, not the hope of a outcome.
By how a lot % did your buyer’s e-mail open charge enhance after utilizing your A/B testing software program? Precisely how a lot cash did your answer save your buyer?
Pull some key stats out of an present case examine and make a couple of graphics to publish on social, or edit them right into a video for a TikTok or Reel (relying which platforms you’re on).
Can’t point out your huge shopper successes by identify? Pull collectively common statistics into averages, like how Heyday’s AI chatbot saved purchasers a median of $3,000 USD per day throughout Black Friday/Cyber Monday.
Case research may help:
- Construct belief. Testimonials are nice, however numbers and statistics persuade.
- Your prospects perceive your product’s key options in motion.
2. Assist your neighborhood
Do you frequently give cash or volunteer time to native non-profits? Do you provide workers a paid day to volunteer at a company essential to them? Not too long ago sponsored a fundraiser or occasion?
Present how concerned you’re with native and business communities. Faucet into the Instagram Reels algorithm by asking your workers to report a brief clip of their volunteer day to share.
For those who help an occasion, sew a couple of clips collectively into a fast Reel, TikTok, or YouTube Brief and let your prospects know the impression of their contributions to the trigger.
Neighborhood involvement may help you:
- Construct belief inside your native space and make individuals be ok with purchasing at what you are promoting vs. a competitor.
- Community with different native companies and not directly, although successfully, promote your self to draw new purchasers.
3. Publish your analysis
Have a brand new white paper or examine? Seize a couple of key stats and create social content material linking again to the complete report.
Make graphics for carousel posts and quick movies for Instagram Reels, TikTok, and YouTube Shorts. Or, provide a couple of pages of your report as a PDF on LinkedIn with a hyperlink to obtain the remaining.
Use on-line graphic design tools to show your statistics into animations you’ll be able to publish as Reels for larger visibility within the Instagram algorithm.
Sharing your analysis may help you:
- Goal and entice your splendid viewers.
- Construct credibility inside your business, particularly for brand spanking new firms.
4. Share your organization tradition
Apart from promoting, recruiting prime expertise must also be a fundamental objective in your B2B social media advertising and marketing plan. Sharing open jobs is a part of that, however so is sharing why somebody ought to take into account you within the first place.
For those who can, weigh in on a preferred hashtag to additional enhance your attain.
In fact, this implies you even have to supply nice advantages in your staff members. For those who don’t already, begin now.
Displaying your organization tradition can:
- Hold you prime of thoughts when a competitor’s star worker is searching for a change.
- Assist advance essential advantages and protections for workers throughout your sector or nation. (Social progress is cool.)
Plan, schedule, and analyze all of your social media content material from one organized workspace with Hootsuite. Go additional than the essential options you’d count on with Greatest Time to Publish, social listening instruments, automated publish boosting, and extra. Do all of it throughout all of your platforms with Hootsuite.
Do it higher with Hootsuite, the all-in-one social media device. Keep up to the mark, develop, and beat the competitors.
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