Finding new types of social media content isn’t as tricky as it sounds. There are so many types of content if you look hard within your business.
However, it’s a question I often hear from business owners and marketers. What social media post ideas can I use that aren’t just selling?
You can take one story and use many forms to get it out to your followers.
Let’s say your company has a new product to be released in the next month. It’s exciting for your company. You can use that idea in an announcement, article, white paper, video, or story. The potential is significant.
It’s best to drip the information slowly over some time. These are often referred to as teasers leading up to the main event.
Announcements include new products or services, events, promotions, news employees, and other significant happenings in your business. This is your chance to build hype and create interest in what’s happening with your business. Draw attention to your business in an exciting way.
One of the best ways to generate engagement with your followers is to ask a question. As you may have noticed, people love to give their opinion about almost every topic. Asking a question invites them to do that.
One social media post idea that works well, especially for B2B companies, is using Curated Content. Sharing other writer’s articles is an easy way to provide your readers with good information without authoring it yourself.
Sharing articles is one of the best ways to provide your audience with value. They keep your followers informed about trends in your industry. It also allows you to share information that isn’t about your industry but interesting to the people you are targeting.
Always consider the people that you are focusing on when deciding what curated information to share.
According to Oberlo, ‘nine out of ten consumers read reviews before making a purchase.’ While it isn’t necessarily the same for B2B as for B2C, it does show the extent to which purchasers will trust testimonials and reviews.
Consumer purchasers take their opinions and buying habits into work. That decision-maker who reads reviews at home will read testimonials at work too.
Also, from Oberlo, ‘79% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.’ Use testimonials and reviews; they are effective.
Not everyone will want to take on an E-Book when posted, but there is power in information. Giving away quality content initiates trust and often dialogue. If you have written a book or are thinking of writing one, this will get you likes on social media.
Businesses are somewhat suspicious of posting educational content. They fear that they will tell so much that prospects for their product will not understand some of the intricacies of their product or service or, more often, the buyer will try to DIY it.
Fear not; even when you supply good information, most people realize there is much more to it than that one article or white paper they read.
These are fun and a little like the old comic strips. Laughter in the proper context can be fun. Use them if you can.
People desire information. Because of the internet, they have more at their fingertips than ever before.
That’s why guides perform well with social media users. Create a guide on a topic your target audience cares about and watch your engagement rate climb.
Place a CTA at the end of your guide to generate leads.
You are keeping your eyes on what is going on in your industry closely. Share that information with the people that follow you. When you learn something, they learn something.
Whatis.com describes them as ‘An infographic (information graphic) is a representation of information in a graphic format designed to make the data easily understandable at a glance.’
Approximately 65% of people in the world are visual learners who need to see pictures and graphs to learn. With Infographics, you will be appealing to the visuals in an easy-to-understand way.
Honestly, these are just fun. Social Media CAN be fun. While not your typical B2B social media post idea, they can be used to add humor to almost any situation.
Share photos. Many B2B businesses I talk to have no idea what type of photos to post. Be creative. Do you have employee parties? Employee anniversaries? A manufacturing facility? Products? Old pictures from when the business was founded? There are many possibilities for photos. Be creative.
What’s one of the easiest ways to get followers engaged with your site
Easy to answer this, right? People love to give their opinion. Take advantage of that.
Quotes are trendy social media post ideas. They inspire and motivate people when they need an extra boost. Quotes can be all text but using images is even more powerful.
Use a variety of quotes, including:
The 100 Most Famous Quotes of All Time
Stories are different than regular posts because they’re temporary. That makes them appealing to your followers.
If you’ve posted something exciting, followers will have FOMO on your story. The curiosity is enough to get them to look.
What’s the latest trend in your industry? Create a conversation around that trend by posting about it.
According to Post Planner. ‘UGC is content others create, and you repost (while giving credit to the original creator). For example, it’s reposting someone else’s content and tagging them on the post.’
On Twitter, it’s as simple as a retweet. On Facebook and LinkedIn, it’s a share.
UGC increases engagement and reach. New followers are motivated to connect with you when they see these posts.
Video marketing is a real thing. Videos attract attention, and they satisfy our need for visual stimulation.
Video should be one of your top content priorities in your B2B social media strategy.
There are lots of ways you can create videos for social media, including:
Use a mix of these forms to create more interest while also considering the social site you are using.
B2B businesses are most likely to use LinkedIn or YouTube for video sharing due to both demographics. LinkedIn does support video, and it is widely accepted on the platform.
73% of B2B marketers said that webinars are the most optimal way of generating high-quality leads.
Why are webinars a resonating type of content?
They combine all the best parts of digital marketing into one form of media:
Why a White Paper? While brochures and other marketing materials might be flashy and include apparent sales pitches, a white paper is intended to provide persuasive and factual/technical evidence that a particular offering is a superior method of solving a problem or challenge.
It is a more formal way of providing factual information to the reader. While it is used for marketing purposes, it is written as a substantial paper.
Using Case Studies to highlight the success you’ve had with your clients is another way to tell the story of what you can accomplish for them.
Case studies are relevant for marketing B2B products, as you can gather data over time and outline how your product made a difference.
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