10 ideas to improve your social content

Both new and established brands use social media to grow their following, generate leads and increase sales.

And while building a brand using social media might feel like a massive undertaking, it’s easier than ever to use social media to grow your brand organically.

Through our experience of building several brands with social media, we’ve found that four initial steps are essential.

First, set your goals and objectives. Before you even think about posting schedules, reporting and benchmarking, figure out what you’re trying to achieve. It’s critical that your social media goals align with your overall business objectives.

Next, do your research. If you want your audience to notice and engage with your social posts, you need to understand what social channels they use and what information they look for and engage with. This is essential for creating posts that are relevant to your followers.

– Assess your current social media channels to see what is or isn’t working

– Monitor your competitors and ask: is there anything they are doing particularly well?

With your research complete, you can create platform-specific strategies. Each platform has its own best practices: Facebook and Instagram, for example, are more ‘social’ so think about images and video. LinkedIn is business-focussed and less chatty, so your posts might be more professional. Wherever you post, you should have a variety of different content to engage your audience.

Finally, analyse your results. Accurately track and measure your efforts, and review your results against your stated goals, to ensure you’re getting the best results from your social media marketing.

Ready to get going? Here are 10 ideas to try on your social platforms.

1. Go behind the scenes
Show your authenticity by giving your followers an insight into life at the office and the day-to-day action they never see. The peek-behind-the-curtains approach normally generates huge interest on social media.

2. Highlight your employees
People buy from people, so add faces and personalities to your brand by showing the people that make your business a success. Highlight anything you can think of: achievements, special announcements, or something you want to celebrate. There’s nothing better for building a connection!

3. Future products
Build excitement around a new launch by posting a countdown or a teaser video with a sneak-peek included. Posts like this keep your audience engaged and interested in the future of your business.

4. Add some humour
Making people smile, in a way that’s still relatable to your business, is great for building loyalty. Try adding a meme to one of your social pages and see people’s reactions.

5. Show the good things
Community outreach, sustainability efforts, and volunteering all go a long way in communicating your brand’s ethos. Just one thing: be careful to show genuine and authentic work, otherwise you risk alienating your entire following.

6. Share success stories and testimonials
We all rely on reviews when making buying decisions, so try putting yours front and centre to build trust with your audience.

7. Make a tutorial
Showcase your product and its uses with a well-executed tutorial. It’s a great way to show any key features and the most efficient ways to use them. It’s also a perfect way to incorporate videos into your page that are still business related.

8. Answer common questions
This is the perfect way to deal with those questions that always pop up. You could even pin your post on various platforms, so it’s always top of your page and ready to help new prospects.

9. Ask for input
A great way to boost engagement is to ask your audience questions or create a poll. Do you have a decision to make? Are you considering some new designs? Ask your audience for their thoughts.

10. Try a giveaway
This isn’t for everyone, and not every business has the capacity to do this, but if you can then it is a proven way to reach new audiences.

Looking for help and advice with your social media? Monitor is an independent marketing and creative agency helping businesses communicate with impact. We’d love to understand more about your goals so we can offer you the tailored advice that could accelerate your social media growth. Check out our socials here!