Drawing a blank? How to Come up with Social Media Posts

With an estimated 900 million users on Facebook world-wide as of May 2012 and over 140 million active users on twitter, you know you need to be generating some social media posts for your small business. Combined with the fact that it is free to use, how can you ignore this opportunity?

But running a small business is time consuming enough, how do you come up with content for this new source of marketing? Here are a few tips:

Is there a link in that?

Throughout your day, with everything that you do, be asking yourself, "is there a link in that?"

Did the person you just meet have a website of their own that you can include in a shout out to them?
Ex: It was such a pleasure meeting [John Doe], you made me think about [some aspect about John's business]. [John's website] Be sure to like John's facebook page, and follow him on twitter - hopefully he will do the same, and now you are visible to all of John's customers.

Did the article related to your industry you just read have a link online that you can post and make a comment on your thoughts about it? No? Does the magazine or newspaper it was in have a website? Use that one.

Does the segment on TV with the expert related to your field have a link?...or the TV show? Post that link and share your thoughts on the segment on your social media pages.

Like and follow the expert, but try not to blatantly advertise your business on their Facebook page, tell them what it is you liked about what they said and then include your website link with discretion. Linking to higher exposure brands, helps your exposure

Is there a page on your website describing a service or product that corresponds to a quirky thought, and idea, tips or fun facts?

Do you have a blog? Post the individual link that your website platform generates for each blog post with a catchy description of what the blog is about. How do you come up with blog posts? Use many of the tips I shared above, or maybe that is another blog post for me to come up with!

Ask For Feedback

Is there some aspect of your business that you wonder about how the customer experiences it? Ask. Don't forget to use #hashtags on twitter.

Plan Ahead

If the prospect of posting social media content every day still seems daunting, you can make it easier by setting aside a time to come up with messages you want posted in one sitting for the whole month. Services like Hootsuite allow you to link to and schedule future posts for all of your social media.

You may also be relieved to hear according to Chris Luo, the Head of Global SMB Marketing at Facebook, in a webinar I recently attended, it is not necessary to post every day, "at minimum around twice a week is enough." If you post too much you may start to be ignored or appear impersonal.

Get Help

If this still sounds something you know you need to do for your small business, but you just can't find your way out of what you need to do and do well, get help from a professional who can manage your social media marketing for you, while at the same time working intimately with your business.