A healthy social media presence requires three key ingredients: 1) a significant amount time, 2) the right content shared at the right times, and 3) meaningful engagements. If you plan on managing the social media for your small business, then be prepared to invest about 3-5 hours/week between content creation, scheduling and sharing posts, and monitoring/responding to meaningful engagements.
Meaningful social media engagements include clicks, likes, follows, re-shares, and mentions — from real people (not bots) and generated organically (not via social media advertising). If you’ve got enough time and the right content, then the meaningful engagements should come naturally.
What is good social media content?
The specific content you share depends on the social media strategy for your small business. In general terms, good social media content for your small business should come from various sources, resonate with your audience, and should not simply be about you and your small business.
In fact, we talk about ourselves on about 1 out-of 20 social media updates (“posts”). So, how do we find 19 other things to talk about on social media?
We re-share, re-purpose, and pull content ideas from hundreds of sources.
What are good social media content sources?
Great question! Here are ten social media content sources for your small business:
- Non-profit orgs.
Align your business with an org that makes a positive impact on the world. Then, share their stuff. For example, we support Ruby’s Rainbow and the Austin Independent Business Alliance. Find a non-profit that aligns with your business and your values and help them do more good. - Team birthdays.
Create an internal team birthday calendar, then on/before each person’s birthday, take a photo of their smiling face and share it via your small business social media profiles. - Your customers’ online reviews.
Keep an eye on your online reputation (and if you don’t know how, contact us). Each time you get a 5-star review, respond and thank the author, then re-share his/her review on your small business social media profiles. - Hiring announcements.
We run a summer internship program each year and begin promoting it in March. Next time you’re hiring, try a “now hiring” or “apply to our internship program” — we found some pretty awesome people online! You can also use “new hire” announcements to introduce your teammates to your small business social media audience. - Recommendations.
Think of all the questions you typically ask Google in a day. Now, pick one of the more interesting questions (SFW) and ask your social media audience. Extra credit: publish a poll and gather real-time feedback from your fans and followers. - Local events.
Find local events in your area (around your small business) and help spread the word. Austin Massage Company regularly about the bike races, triathlons, and marathons happening in and around Central Texas. Why? Athletes know the value of a damn-good massage, so AMC shares the events (and attends them) as a way to engage with more customers. Pick something happening locally that your customers (and prospects) might enjoy and invite them to join you at ________. - Knowledge-bombs.
Small business owners (aka, local business superheroes) are constantly learning. As you learn new tips, tricks, and hacks for managing your small business, share them on social media. Specifically, share any valuable nuggets of interesting or useful knowledge with your fans and followers — they’re called knowledge-bombs! - Your own online reviews.
Talk about other small businesses you support in and around your local community. Patronize them (in a good way) and become their #1 fan. Give them feedback (online reviews) and talk about (and tag) them on social media! You’d be surprised how many small business owners manage their own social media (or at least keep a close eye on what’s happening). Who knows, your positive online review about a local business may land you a new customer! - Life’s precious moments.
If you don’t have a child or a pet and you’re not allergic (to pets) rescue one. Seriously — click here and go adopt a shelter animal. Then, you’ll “unlock” the ability to share photos and videos about the cute, hilarious, unscripted stuff they do. - OPP (other people’s posts).
Find thought leaders, influencers, and other social media “celebrities” in your area, industry, or market segment and follow/friend them. Consume and re-share their content with your social media audience. This will add to the quality content you share and likely spark some meaningful engagements with the original authors of the content you’re sharing.
Need help managing social media for your small business? Let us know — we’d love to help!