- Social Media Marketing Explained
- Different Types of Social Media Tools
- 15 Types of Content to Post for Engagement on Social Media
- The Bottom Line: Social Media Management Strategy and Tools
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Social media should be an integral part of your digital marketing content strategy. Once you know where your audience is hanging out, what they love to see and read about, you can come up with a great plan to reach them and drive them down your sales funnel. This blog post will show you how to keep your social media content fresh, interesting, and engaging. If you are confused about what to post on social media and need a bit of inspiration, we have a comprehensive list of 15 social media post ideas.
Social Media Marketing Explained
Social media marketing, also known as SMM is a great way of building personal relationships with your market and getting them to know, like, and trust you. It is a marketing activity that is relatively cheap and easy to implement into your content strategy. Focusing on all channels, however, is not possible, therefore you have to choose the right platforms and decide what to post and when.
Different Types of Social Media Tools
Here, at LMNts Marketing, we work with different brands on their social media campaigns; from startups to established multinational companies. One type of content might work for one of them, while not for another. That’s why we created this comprehensive list of post ideas.
15 Social Media Post Ideas for Engagement on Social Media
1. Long form social media posts
If you are building a personal brand, want to create an emotional connection, or communicate your mission, vision, and values, this post will do really well. You can target people who share the same thoughts and priorities, and really give them an insight into your business, its philosophy, ethics, as well as the benefits you provide.
Best for:
Choose this one from our list of social media post ideas if you have a new brand that wants to build personal relationships. Also amazing for branding, such as brand awareness and communicating your brand persona.
Which Platform:
We recommend these social media post ideas to be implemented on Facebook and LinkedIn. Twitter has restrictions on the length, and Instagram audiences are not likely to read the whole post.
Tools to Use:
All you need to create this post is an image that shows your face, team, or environment, and your keyboard. Emojis and special characters are recommended.
Examples:
Many business and personal coaches have mastered this form of post. Here’s an example from Anik Singal’s new group:
2. Memes
These are thought-provoking images or GIFs that your audience can resonate with. Think about the most urgent and most annoying problems your audience might be facing and find a meme that will make them react with a “me too” or comment.
Best for:
Memes can really capture your brand persona. It’s a good social media post idea for starting a conversation and communicating the fun side of your business.
Which Platform:
Best to post on Facebook pages and groups, but they will do well on Twitter and LinkedIn, too with moderation.
Tools to Use:
You might want to use Canva to create the graphics if you are creating the memes from scratch, but you can legally “steal” other people’s posts, too. The results are the same.
Examples:
3. Quotes
Some people say that you always have quotes to fall back on when you don’t know what to post on social media. There’s more to quotes than that, of course. In fact you can use these to create positive associations between people you respect and trust and your own brand. If your audience knows the author of the quote, it’s even better. You can use this type of content any time, but don’t forget to add your own commentary and twist to remain original.
Best for:
New brands trying to find their voice. Also entering a new market and finding out about your niche’ attitudes.
Which Platform:
Quotes can work well on Facebook and Instagram, as well as Pinterest, if you create your own graphics. These social media post ideas well as story posts, too.
Tools to Use:
You can get away with a simple graphic design software, such as Canva or Ripl.
Examples:
Here’s a great example from our “brother agency”, Digital4Trades, targeting tradesmen mainly on Instagram. They created their story post templates in Canva and scheduled a series of quotes. They focussed on motivational quotes and later on switched over to funny jokes.
4. Image posts
This type of post is great for stopping people scrolling on their phones when they are browsing social media sites. Post an image of your screen if you want to show people how you work, your building, or anything you are proud of. The main thing to remember is that you have to create unconventional and newsworthy content to get people’s attention. Visuals are more important than ever.
Best for:
Any business, independent of the size, age, or expertise. Whether it’s a work-in-progress image, a testimonial, or a photo of your team members, it’s great to show who you are and what you do. Remember: social media allows you to “show not tell”.
Which Platform:
Image posts can work on any social media platform. You just need to make sure that you size them right according to the requirements. Thankfully, some social media posting sites will automatically resize your images.
Tools to Use:
Canva is brilliant if you would like to save time and make sure that you are using the right format for each post. You can also resize the images with one click if you want to create a new post on a different platform. Alternatively, other social media tools can be used, such as Ripl.
Examples:
Showcasing your achievements with a smile is a good social media post idea. Here’s one from one of my connections on Facebook. It’s straight to the point, and is combined with a long form post. A lot to learn from these social media post ideas.
5. Creative Concepts as Social Media Post Ideas
If your brand is visual and it’s difficult for you to tell people what you do, it’s better to show. Creative concepts are great for interior designers, logo designers, and other creatives who would like to show how their brand “feels”.
Best for:
Designers and creatives who would like to showcase their talent and build up their following through images that people resonate with on an emotional level.
Which Platform:
Creative concepts do really well on all platforms, but Instagram and Pinterest are the best places to post them. That’s most likely where your target audience is hanging out. Just collect your hashtags, add vibe, and you are done.
Tools to Use:
Any tool you use for design; Google Creator Studio, Photoshop, Adobe Creative Suite, etc.
Examples:
This bridal henna artist created an amazing post featuring their latest bridal design. You can see the theme straight away, and the image is simple with a floral background and great contrast.
6. Behind-the-Scenes Posts
This is the type of social media post that will get you a lot of engagement as you will be showcasing how you work. No matter if you are a tradesman or a creative, a public speaker or a business coach, behind-the-scenes posts will help you create a strong emotional bond with your audience. If nothing else, they will remember your face. You can do simple images or videos.
Best for:
Any brand, really. You can build credibility and social proof using this type of social media post, so you can be a startup or an established brand looking for more exposure.
Which Platform:
Facebook is likely to get the most exposure, especially if you add a bit of humour to the posts.
Tools to Use:
None. Your phone camera will do really well. Anything professional will indicate that the post is staged and not spontaneous.
Examples:
Look at a local example from Frodsham TV, one of our content partners locally promoting fish and chip shop in Frodsham. You can see the whole process of getting your meal together in the video.
7. Testimonials
Social media is brilliant for creating trust. Adding social proof to your content strategy in the form of testimonials featured in your feed will help you gain credibility, too. We use the hashtag: #testimonialtuesday to feature some of our feedback. We often get comments from clients who are featured, and it enhances the social proof even further.
Best for:
Established businesses with great feedback score looking to improve their brand image and showcase real examples of how they helped their clients,
Which Platform:
These can be used on any platform, but not recommended on Pinterest, as it is not likely that people will share them. You can post them on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Don’t forget about Google My Business, either. It can come up in local search results as a knowledge graph snippet.
Tools to Use:
For simple testimonial posts, just use Canva or similar free software.
Examples:
Here’s one of our testimonial posts featured on Instagram and Facebook.
8. Explainer Videos
If you have a business that solves complex problems and it is hard to explain the process, you might want to use explainer videos. They are also brilliant for educating your clients and establishing yourself as an expert.
Best for:
Service-based businesses with no products to showcase. From mortgage advisors to technical experts; there are loads of industries that would benefit from this social media post type.
Which Platform:
YouTube channels are the place you want to publish explainer videos first. Once it is online, you can share it on other platforms, such as Facebook pages and groups and LinkedIn. You might also resize and repurpose your video and post it as an IGTV post.
Tools to Use:
PowerPoint, a video editing software, and maybe a slidely project. You might also use a streaming device such as StreamYard or OBS Studio.
Examples:
We have been following Adam Franklin for a while, and he has a great channel on Facebook where he posts short explainer videos about marketing, which is a pretty complex concept.
9. Video Articles
If you don’t want to spend hours creating meaningful content, you can simply repurpose your existing blog posts or articles. Create a video presentation or article post in a video format to get more engagement than you would with the text based version only.
Best for:
Lazy businessowners. (No, really: anyone who wants to save time). If you already have great content out there, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Turn it into a video and get your posts out there.
Which Platform:
YouTube is a great place to start, but Facebook groups and even LinkedIn would work. You can also upload a presentation directly to LinkedIn and it will turn it into a slideshow, so you don’t need to be a designer to get a video article out there.
Tools to Use:
We use Lumen5, which is great for building a video article based on a blog link or a script. You can create subscenes and even add your own narration. However, any simple video editing software will work. For example you can screen capture your presentation and talk over it.
Examples:
This video article was created directly from a blog post link using Lumen5. We tweaked the branding and images a bit, but the rest is automated.
10. Presentations
If you have recently prepared a presentation for a Zoom (or maybe live) audience, you should not let it go to waste. If it was useful for the people who attended, chances are that you will be able to impress your social media followers, too. You can upload these to LinkedIn, or simply turn them into videos playing in the background with you explaining the concepts on the slides.
Best for:
Authors, coaches, and consultants who would like to establish themselves as experts and build their credibility.
Which Platform:
These types of longer videos will work well on your own website, YouTube channel, or LinkedIn. As mentioned, LinkedIn will automatically turn your PowerPoint into automatic slides, so the process is painless.
Tools to Use:
PowerPoint or equivalent software, video editing software.
Examples:
When LinkedIn bought Slidely, they really did well on the presentations. Here’s one of their own posts from the early days. Next time you think about what to post on social media, check these out.
11. Recent work
If you have just completed a project you are proud of, or would like to drop some big names on social media, this is the type of social media post you should create. You could get professional photos taken, before and after images, or even an interview with the client after the work is finished.
Best for:
Showcasing your great work as an established business. Results-based businesses making a visual difference. Can be an aesthetics clinic, an office fitout company, or an interior designer.
Which Platform:
Pinterest, Facebook, and LinkedIn work really well for these types of posts. For B2B businesses, probably you want to stay on LinkedIn, but if you are a make up artist, throw in Instagram for some extra engagement.
Tools to Use:
Any photo editing software will do, alternatively Canva to add descriptions.
Examples:
This office fitout company in Cheshire is very proud of their latest projects and they create some amazing social posts on LinkedIn. Here’s an example.
12. Infographics
My personal favourite type of social media content is infographics. They are brilliant for engagement, explain complex problems simply in a graphic format, and behave as an image. As a result, they are extremely sharable.
Best for:
Complex businesses looking to explain complicated problems and solutions in a visual format. You can create a v.s. format, or a pros and cons on almost any topic, though.
Which Platform:
Infographics do really well on LinkedIn, but you should not forget about Pinterest, either. If you use the right tags, your content can be reshared multiple times.
Tools to Use:
Canva or other graphic design software. Alternatively, you can use PowerPoint and save the presentation as an image.
Examples:
Here’s a great example of an infographic that got a lot of engagement on Pinterest.
It is also a story post which is brilliant for getting engagement at the moment on the platform.
13. Polls
As I said a lot of times, there’s no such thing as a one-way conversation. That’s why you might want to put out polls. They are fun, easy to interact with, and give you insights, too.
Best for:
Companies engaging in market research about their audience’s attitudes. Market research companies. Before product launches.
Which Platform:
Currently these do really well on Facebook and LinkedIn. In recent months, LinkedIn polls have become one of the most popular forms of social media post, and they get much more views than regular content.
Tools to Use:
None, the platform does it all.
Examples:
Look at this simple post that probably took 5 minutes to put together and the engagement it got. It might be time for you to give this type of social media content a go, too.
14. Stories
If you would like to focus on the brand persona, you might want to create story posts. People want to see the human side of brands, and that’s what this type of social media post does.
Best for:
Speakers, brands with a strong message, or any startup.
Which Platform:
Instagram and Facebook, as well as Pinterst. LinkedIn trialled story posts in 2021, but it was a fail so they discontinued the feature.
Tools to Use:
Your phone camera, graphic design software, such as Canva.
Examples:
This life coach has featured their offer in their story, and it is likely that they got more engagement on it than their normal post, as people get more notifications about stories than about posts.
15. Blog Post Teasers
If you don’t rely solely on search engines to send you traffic, and would like people to return to read your blog, you can share your updates automatically from WordPress or manually. Add a teaser and a link to the full post and see your traffic skyrocket.
Best for:
Established brands with followers. Professional bloggers.
Which Platform:
LinkedIn is the best, but you can try Facebook, too. Twitter might work for some businesses, but not all. Stay away from Instagram, as the links don’t work in the posts.
Tools to Use:
None. You might need an emoji keyboard, though, to spruce up the text.
Examples:
Look at this blog post teaser and the imagery that goes with it. Kind of makes you interested..
The Bottom Line: Social Media Management Strategy and Tools
Once you have chosen the type of social media platforms and came up with your social media post ideas, you will be able to get started with planning your social media calendar. We have put together a simple downloadable template that you can print and fill out in your own time to implement a winning social media marketing strategy.
As you can see from the above post, we keep an eye on the latest social media content trends. We also walk the walk, not just talk the talk. Check out our social media marketing packages to see what we do.
Would you like to pick our brain on any of these strategies? Why not arrange a quick chat to see if we can help you with your social strategy?
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