Shortcuts

1. Use behind-the-scenes social media content to promote your small business

2. Start a conversation with your customers

3. Educate your small business customers with valuable social media content

4. What you give is what you get: giveaways and awards

5. Hop on the bandwagon with social media trends

If you own or manage a small business, social media is crucial to your success. However, you’re probably wearing many hats. It’s not easy to make sure you’re posting awesome social media content while handling customers, orders, and other business aspects.

In this article, we’re going to show you 5 great social media content ideas for local small businesses. Let’s attract more customers!

1. Use behind-the-scenes social media content to promote your small business

Customers love seeing what happens behind the scenes of local small businesses. You’re adding so much value in terms of personality already. We’re willing to bet you know the names and preferences of all your regulars.

So why not add that thoughtfulness to social media, too?

Pic: Instagram @jordannaashlee_cake

Depending on your business type, you can:

• Announce new products

• Show how you create your products

• Introduce your customers to your staff

• Post appropriate jokes and humorous posts

• Show customers your workspace through images and videos

• Invite customers into the conversations taking place at your business

• Explain how you got started with your business, and what motivates you

For example, you can interview your team members. This is especially important if they often deal with customers; they’re celebrities in their own right.

You can even share daily tidbits that make customers feel like they’re a part of your team. The more relatable your content is, the more customers will it attract.

However, it’s important to understand your audience and their preferred communication types. For example, younger demographics are more informal, and they respond well to jokes.

However, if you’re dealing with other businesses, then it pays to be more informative and formal with your social media content. In that case, you can emphasize your company culture, your product quality, and other relevant factors.

2. Start a conversation with your customers

Every social media post should contain some form of CTA (call-to-action). CTAs invite your customers and prospects to connect with you and engage with your small business.

Pic: Instagram @sugarvaultdesserts

For example, this bakery invites customers to visit them.

You should adapt your CTA to your social media content. For example, if you shared a picture of your workspace, you’d invite your customers to tell you what they think, or even ask them to share pictures of their workspaces. Conversely, if you were talking about your products on social media, you’d likely ask them which products they like the most.

Social media polls are also a great way to learn more about your customers, or simply show them how fun you and your business are. You can poll your customers about their favorite products, habits, and much more.

You can also hold Q&A sessions on social media. Invite your customers to ask the things they’ve always wanted to know about your business, your industry, or your team. You can set this up as a post, or you can hold a Facebook or Instagram live video session.

Getting and celebrating feedback from customers is another way of starting a conversation with them. It also shows other customers that you’re open to feedback.

This goes for negative reviews, as well. If you’ve received a negative review, you can improve, and then write a post about it. There’s nothing like improving that shows your customers you’re a brand that cares about customer experience.

User-generated content is a great way to engage your customers! Invite your customers to share how they use your products. Just make sure you’ve obtained their permission to re-share their content to your profile.

Finally, if you’re on Facebook because your customers use it, don’t forget about the power of Facebook Groups.

If you only own a page, not all of your followers will see your posts. But when you own a Facebook Group, your posts are prioritized in your customers’ News Feeds. Just make sure they’re fun and useful!

3. Educate your small business customers with valuable social media content

People turn to social media for information, so why not use it to promote your small business?

You don’t have to create your own content all the time. Curate and share content from other sources.

Have you found interesting information regarding your industry or a neat tutorial that’s relevant to your brand and your customers will love it? Share it!

Pic: Facebook/ Intrepid Travel

If you have a blog, you can share your posts on social media:

• How-to's and tutorials

• Business and team updates

• Opinions on trends and recent developments

You can write about anything, as long as it’s relevant to your customers. The more helpful you are, the better!

For example, if you own a bodega and your customers love your fruit and vegetables, why not share a recipe with them? If you sell sewing supplies, you can offer handy tutorials and help your customers make the most of their materials, as well as attract new prospects to your store.

Similarly, you can interview your customers for their tips and tricks, then share it with your audience.

4. What you give is what you get: giveaways and awards

When you’re a local small business, your customers want to be a part of your journey. So if you’re hosting an event, make sure you share it to your social media profiles.

For example, if you’re running a sale, notify your customers through social media. You can easily create beautiful posts with free image editors like Canva, and attract even more foot traffic to your business!

The same goes for local festivals. If your business is participating, share the details with your customers, and invite them to join you.

Giveaways are one of the most effective ways to promote your small business with social media content.

You don’t have to give away a lot. Just make sure it’s interesting to customers. For example, a popular product is a great choice.

The point of giveaways is to attract new customers, so invite your existing customers to share your posts, and leave comments. This way, they’ll be sharing your giveaway with all of their social media friends.

Finally, if you’re receiving an award or participating in a charity, share it with your customers and tell them how they can support you!

5. Hop on the bandwagon with social media trends

Finally, it’s important to adapt to social media trends. You don’t have to use every platform. Instead, opt for platforms that your customers use the most, and use it well.

For example, Twitter often has hashtag trends such as #TBT (Throwback Thursday).

Show your business in the early days, or simply joke around with your customers as Volkswagen does.

Adapt to seasons with your social media content.

For example, you can have Valentine’s Day-themed content in February, and Christmas-themed posts in December. From there, you can branch out into questions, videos, tutorials, and even events like sales.

Inspire your customers with #MotivationMonday posts, or simply by sharing a lovely quote that fits your brand.

And while social media can sometimes be intimidating, don’t forget that it’s all about starting a conversation with your customers. So have fun and stay social!

For an easy and fast tool to share and schedule your social media posts, you can try the Hookle App. Download Hookle now for free!