Q: Help! Q: Help! Do you prefer to skip a day or post something to keep on track?
Social media can be difficult because it is hard to come up with engaging, new content on a regular basis. Even if your social media strategy is in place, it’s easy to get stuck on the content to share and feel tempted to abandon the schedule you created.
It’s common to run out of content ideas, no matter how experienced you are with social media. These are some of the strategies I recommend to overcome that mental block.
1. Be consistent
First, I recommend sticking to a regular schedule of posts. Your brand will be remembered by your audience if you post regularly. They will eventually come to expect you to post more often, which can result in higher engagement. Posting on a regular basis will keep you in the habit of creating content.
However, everyone is different and a consistent schedule can look different. Some brands post three posts per week while others post three per day. It all depends on your audience size and what your followers want.
Although each platform has its own recommendations about the best times and days to post, these are often very broad. Instead, find out what works best for you.
Here’s how it works: First, pick a platform and then post three times per month on that platform. Next, increase that number to seven times per semaine for the following month and then 14 times for each subsequent month.
You can gather insights via Buffer’s analytics dashboard by analyzing three months worth of data. You can see which days, when and what you should post in the “Answers” tab. This will allow you to optimize your reach and engagement.
Buffer can provide you with an analytics dashboard that will show you when and how often to post
You can commit to a certain frequency if you see higher engagement in one month than the next. Keep an eye on your stats and compare them month-to-month to determine which posting times, dates, and posting times work best. Brands must strike the right balance between being informative and annoying. Consider readjusting your posting schedule if you notice a decline in your numbers.
You can feel more confident about how to best reach your audience. This will encourage you to keep to your posting schedule and provide the content that they expect.
2. Think Big (bigger)
While you know that you need to post at least once per week, how can you create new content?
This might be a simple task for some weeks: You made a product announcement, wrote a blog post, or saw a meme that you had to reproduce. Some weeks you will be staring at a cursor blinking on Monday morning and wondering what to share.
Instead of closing the tab or not sharing, try to think outside the box.
Consider how you might share a blog post you shared last week with a link and caption. Make a graphic that highlights key information from the post or draw out your favorite quote to create a visual. Canva is an excellent tool for creating engaging graphics. Buffer’s integration to Canva makes it even easier.
A new version of our social-media calendar was launched recently. We created a visual quote by our Product Manager to share the news in a new way.
It is helpful to check out what others are posting or if any relevant topics are trending. Share your opinions if you see a news story that has an impact on your industry. You can create a graphic linking International Coffee Day with alternatives to milk if you are selling them.
Everyone is talking about scary movies in October. Partake Foods, a snack brand, jumped on this trend and created pairings of film favourites and their treats.
Take a look at the top-performing posts and see which topics are most popular. Then, make use of all the different features on each platform to create new content around those themes. Use Stories’ engagement tools to engage with your followers. You can also go live on Facebook or write a LinkedIn post. It’s possible that you will discover that your audience responds better to a different type of post. This is something you wouldn’t have discovered if you weren’t willing to try it.
Bonus: Buffer’s Head of PR Hailley Griffis offers more ideas to consistently come up with new content . This article contains even more information.
3. Make a Backlog
While you are brainstorming content ideas, make a list of the things you like and want. These aren’t things you have to act on immediately. These will inspire you the next time you are stuck for ideas.
You can create a saved folder in Instagram that contains things you’ve seen brands do. Take screenshots of Facebook posts that you like or link to LinkedIn that you want to copy. These can be great ideas and reminders to keep you motivated the next time you need them.
For small businesses as well as large influencers, creating content can seem like a daunting task. Use the next time you feel stuck as an opportunity to grow. Keep your pace and brainstorm something different. Then, see what your audience thinks. You might just be on to something.
Do you need help with content planning? Our recent post “How to Save Time Planning & Creating Social Media Content” is a good place to start.
Do you have a question that you would like answered by us? Use #AskTheBufferTeam to send us a tweet.
Did you miss our previous article…
https://onlinemarketingagencies.net/geographic-segmentation-your-landing-page-guide-to-marketing-by-place/
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