Running a business on social media is quite different from having a personal account. People that follow your business in most cases don’t want to hear about your everyday life. And you might not want to share out personal details of your life with strangers.
So, then what do you post? In this article, I will give you 5 different ideas of things to post that not only engage your audience but don’t make you look sales hungry either. Let’s get started.
Idea #1 – Quotes
While quotes won’t directly give you more business, they can be a great way to gain new followers. People love to be inspired, and if the quotes you are posting are one you like you as well, then you just found a great way to connect to your audience.
I like to open my week with a quote. Something inspiring and that I hope will inspire my followers. Along with my quote, I will give my spin on it. Write a bit about my thoughts and what it makes me feel.
Not all quotes have to be inspiring, but they should be on-topic and directed towards your audience. What will this quote make them feel? I have a friend who loves posting quotes from spiritual leaders. Another related to government. In both cases, it connects well with their audience and the brand they are creating.
Idea #2 – Questions
Questions can be a great way to create engagement. It is also the perfect medium to get feedback and help you craft your business. Let me give you an example.
As we prepare to bring out new fragrances, we will sometimes post a question asking our followers what they would like. This opens the door for them to have input into the direction your business takes and gives them a feeling of ownership. It also builds trust – you are showing that you care about what they want.
And you can use any type of question. I have asked when my clients work best, what they are reading, heck even their favorite color. And while some of these are not useful in growing my business, they do help me stay connected and create conversations with my audience.
Even the questions that get no engagement tell me something: my audience was not interested in that question.
Idea #3 – How it’s made
There is a good chance your audience may wonder how you make your craft. What tools do you use? What is your process? This is a great way to educate your followers on how the inner workings of your brand.
It is also a great way to add value to a product. Sometimes people think “oh, that is so easy I can make that”. They don’t realize how much time goes into making it or the great volume of experience you have gained to produce the product. It may even help convert those on the edge to commit (although that is not the goal).
This also counts as another trust-building piece. You are being open about the process and how you do what you do. Sure, someone might use your knowledge and try and make their own thing. But they were never your client anyway.
But the trust is built by showing. They can see the items that go into it. They see the raw product and the quality. They understand what you do and why it’s worth your requested price.
And you can have a lot of fun sharing too. I have a guy I follow that makes wooden bowls. He loves to create short, connected videos where he goes from the raw product, throws it in the air, and catches the product done at step two, and so on. It’s fun for him and fun to watch.
Idea #4 – Detailed product intro
We all see what the product is or can be. And if you have done how-to posts, we see how it came to be. But why did you start making this product? What was the inspiration?
Product intros are a great way to go into detail about a single item. Not sleazy or sales. We don’t want to sell, sell, sell. And I don’t believe in the A.B.C. of sales (Always Be Closing if you did not know). This is your chance to tell the product’s story.
One of our candles started as a request from my wife’s father. He knew he liked the fragrance and so he asked if we could make it. We made a few for him of course, but we figured we would see if others like it. And they did. It has become a popular fragrance.
People love to hear the story. It connects an inanimate object (the candle) to real humans and how it made someone happy. It takes the product from being just a thing to being a thread that ties people together.
Most products have a story at their root. Share the story and create a connection.
Idea #5 – In use ideas
Do people know how to use your product the best way? Or is there a nifty trick to using your product that you can share to help people get more use from it?
In-use posts are a fun way to share how others are using your product. Just because it might seem obvious to you, maybe someone else has not thought about it. And these types of posts can be tied into a question the creates fantastic engagement.
What starts as a simple share of you using your product can be connected to a question or request to have others share their use photos. Now not only are you seeing how others are using it, but you are also creating engagement and a community around a single product and its many uses.
For example, the wax we use in our wax melts contracts when cold. To get the remaining scrap wax from the decorative melter after the fragrance is gone, we recommend people freeze the tray. Then the wax just pops right out.
While that may seem second nature to us, we work with the wax constantly. We know all the tricks. But most people don’t. What seems simple to us is profound to our audience. And share-worthy.
Sharing bits of knowledge and tips on getting the most from their product goes beyond customer service. It shows you genuinely care about your audience. You put their best interest first.
But wait, what about sales posts?
Yes, you can still post sales posts and ask people for the sale. But it should not be a constant. For my own business, I use the 80/20 rule. 80% of my posts are not sales-related. 20% are.
I like to post five times per week, which means that I post a promotional-related post once per week. It may sound like a lot to some, but keep in mind not every post you make goes to everyone in your list of followers. Sometimes they may only see one out of every 10 or 20 posts.
There are plenty of ways to promote your business without either constantly discounting your product or slamming your audience with buy now every day. When you slam them every day, it only hurts your efforts and makes you look uncaring.
Yes, you need some posts that have a call to action, or people will never do anything. But turn the tables around: How do you feel being constantly sold to? Does it make you want to interact more or less?
Conclusion
There you have it. 5 ideas to help you generate a thriving audience on social media. All without having to post the personal details of your life or brow-beat your audience into submission so they buy from you.
Remember, the key to social media is to be genuine and personal. You are a small business, run by a human. Let that show through in everything you do.
Sharing and creating content might not come naturally at first. But as you continue to flex your creative muscle, your posts will become more interesting and genuine. Relax and have fun with it.
Above all be yourself. You can only maintain fake for so long and the people following you want the real you and your business.
Now it’s your turn to start creating and sharing.
