4 Types of Social Media Content to Post for Your Small Business
Today, we’re sharing the 4 types of social media content to post for your small business. We know that coming up with a social media strategy can feel overwhelming. Trust us when we say, nearly every small business owner we meet with asks us the same thing. “What should I post? When should I post? How often should I post?” We’re here to make your social media strategy super simple, less time-consuming, and effective. Have you ever heard of content pillars? If you haven’t, your social media strategy is about to get much easier!
What are Content Pillars and Why Do They Matter?
Content pillars are 3 to 5 themes your small business can use as a guide to post and create content on social media. Content pillars for your small business include:
Content Pillars for Your Small Business
Promotional
Educational
Inspirational
Conversational
Content pillars are your guide to not only come up with content ideas to post on your social media channels, but to put a plan together to have a variety of engaging, entertaining, and informative content related to your business.
Let’s break down these pillars and discuss when you want to implement each of these pillars into your content.
Promotional Social Media Content | Content Pillar #1
The first content pillar you’ll want to know about is the promotional content pillar. This content pillar embodies social posts that directly advertise your products and services to your ideal client or customer. You’ll want to be careful when incorporating promotional content into your social media strategy. Too much promotional content can rub your audience the wrong way.
The general rule of thumb for digital marketing is the 80/20 rule. The 80/20 originally derived from Pareto’s Principle of Marketing that stated:
“80% of your results are a product of 20% of your actions.”
This rule also applies to digital marketing. 80% of your content should be educational, inspiring, or conversational, and only 20% of your content should be promotional.
Meaning, if you post x5 times per week on social media, that means only x1 of those posts should directly promote your small business’s product or service. The other posts should entertain, educate, or inspire your audience.
In today’s marketing world, UGC (user-generated content) is king. If you only post content directly promoting your business, that’s a quick way to lose engagement and organic reach (impressions you don’t directly pay for online) altogether.
Educational Social Media Content | Content Pillar #2
The second type of content you’ll want to incorporate is educational content. Educational content is a vital content pillar that will help build trust with your clients and customers, and authority in your industry, without paying a single dollar in advertisements.
Educational content is defined as any type of content that brings value to your audience by teaching them something new. For example, if you’re a Personal Trainer, you might create content around how to lift weights with correct form, share a workout you’ve been loving, or film a talking head video explaining how exercise is vital to your health.
You’ll want to be careful when creating educational content. It’s important that when you’re educating viewers on your business that you first of all stay in your lane (i.e. a Personal Trainer should not be giving dietetic advice unless they are certified to do so). Likewise, you may want to include a disclaimer, if applicable.
Educational content can be really valuable for your audience. It builds trust with the viewer and likely will encourage a future sale or client.
The Marketing Rule of 7
“The Rule of 7 states that a prospect needs to “hear” the advertiser’s message at least 7 times before they’ll take action to buy that product or service.”
If it takes 7 times to prompt a buying decision, educating your potential client or customer on why your product or service can benefit their life is a great way to close a sale and an important part of your digital marketing strategy.
Inspirational Social Media Content | Content Pillar #3
Inspirational content is the third pillar and, one of our favorite types of content to make for our audience! The inspirational content pillar helps consumers imagine how a product or service will enhance their life by seeing it through the eyes of others. Inspirational content might include:
Inspirational Content Ideas
Quotes
Images
Personal Stories
Ideally, inspirational content will “play at the emotions” of your viewer. In marketing, we call this “ethos.”
What problem does your product or service solve? Use this core value of your business to position your inspirational content in a unique way. Going back to the Personal Trainer example. Inspirational content might be before & afters of your client’s fitness journey. It could also be content on how you helped a client face a challenge in the gym and overcome it, an inspiring mirror selfie showing fitness results, and more. There are so many ways you can inspire clients and customers to want to be a part of your business.
What makes your business special? This is where you can find a lot of inspirational content ideas and SHARE that with your viewers!
Conversational Social Media Content | Content Pillar #4
The last content pillar is the conversational content pillar. To be honest, it’s quite vague and a pillar that may have been recently added to the digital marketing world. In essence, the conversational content pillar is the type of content that you’ll want to post to build a community around your product or service.
For example, going off the Personal Training example, maybe you post a video sharing how you really didn’t feel like working out one day, but you still showed up and did it and you’re proud. Vulnerability and honesty build trust with your viewers, and in the long run, close sales & deals. On the contrary, perhaps your business is able to show its “silly side” or the less business-y side.
People value authenticity. When your business is able to build connections with like-minded people interested in your product or service, that is what’s going to set your small business apart from the rest.
Conclusion
At the end of the day, content pillars are merely a guide to help your small business strategize your social media. No business owner wants to wake up and think, “Ugh. What should I post today?”
Social media is very strategic. On the contrary, it’s also a blank canvas that YOUR business gets to decide what to do with. If you’re not comfortable posting educational content, then don’t! These are simply best practices. There is no “one size fits all” in social media or digital marketing.
We always encourage our clients to 1.) Commit or quit. Consistency is key with social media and 2.) Post what feels good. If it feels good, you’ll be consistent. Did we mention that consistency is key?
There are a million different directions you can take your social media. The first step we always recommend to our clients is to start with a content calendar and PLAN AHEAD! Next, implement your content pillars.
Let’s Chat!
If you’re struggling to come up with a social media strategy that feels in line with your business goals AND that' you’re sure will have an ROI for your small business, let’s chat! We’re giving small businesses across North West, Ohio FREE consultations to not only learn more about your business, but HELP make running your small business that much easier.
