This week our host, George Leith, goes over 39 ideas for you to pick and choose from the next time you’re struggling with what to post on social media. Now, this list isn’t to be implemented all in one day. However, it’s important to understand that this is social media, and content can come from absolutely anywhere. Don’t get stuck thinking you must post your offering and only your offering. Social media is a place to connect with your audience. Be authentic, be honest, and most importantly- be confident. Show the world who you are and what you’re up to and watch opportunity unravel.

The 39 ideas for when you don’t know what to post on social media:

Remind people of who you are, write a post about how you started
Behind the scenes
Personal story or struggle
Share a quote from someone who inspires you
Share your morning routine
Share what inspired you to create your product, service, or brand
Ask a question
Post a poll on a subject
Share a review of your favorite book
Ask for recommendations (apps, tv shows, local restaurants) anything related to your industry
Host a giveaway
Post a how-to tutorial
Build infographics
Weekly recurring post (tip Tuesday, fantastic Friday)
Share learnings from loss or failure
Celebrate a win
Post a testimonial
Share the secret sauce of your offering
Throwback Thursday
Motivational Monday
Thank your followers
Post something seasonal or highlight a holiday
Talk about top pain points and how your solution solves it
Share a client success story
Share a tweet
Let a team member or fellow influencer take over your social for a week
Show someone else using your product or service
Do a shoutout or mention other brands
Shoutout or mention of your clients
Host an interview with a guest
Give people a compelling reason to join your email list
Give your audience a gift
Post about events you are hosting or attending
Post upcoming speaking events or presentations
Share contact information for each channel you are on
Ask your audience how they found you
Share your other social profiles
Answer FAQ
Post new blogs, case studies, and other written content from your website

Tag @ConquerLocal if you end up using any of these ideas, we would love to join in on your conversation and see what you created!

Join the conversation in the Conquer Local Community and keep the learning going in the Conquer Local Academy.

Introduction

George Hi there, I’m George Leith. It’s the Conquer Local podcast master sales training. And we’re gonna try something a little bit different. If you’ve been listening to the podcast over the last four seasons, you’ll know that I love my lists. The eight things that you need to do to be successful today. The 21 things that will help you master blackjack. No, we’ve never done that, but I do love my lists. And in the history of this show, we have never had 39 ideas, but today we do. 39 ideas when you don’t know what to post on social media. This has actually happened to me. I know I need to be on social media, but what the heck do I put there? We get this question a lot. So today we’re going to dig into not 1, not 2, but 39 ideas when you don’t know what to post on social media. It’s all coming up next on this edition of the Conquer Local podcast. We are going to rapid-fire these 39, but in between, I’m gonna tell you some stories. That’s kind of the plan because 39 is, I’ve never had to tackle a list like this before, but we want to give you a lot of components because the question we all have, we know we need to be on social media. Not really sure where we need to be, or maybe we’ve determined where we need to be. Then what do I do?

Get Personal

So an overarching theme is get personal. People don’t often buy into a brand or a product until they can connect with the story behind the brand. So social media is an amplification of something that we’ve always known, and that is that stories sell. So if we’re selling the brand or we’re selling the product or we’re selling the solution, we need to get personal.

1. Remind people of who you are, write a post about how you started

Number one is to remind people of who you are and write a post on how you got started. It’s almost like that quick little bio of how we got here. Selfies almost always perform the best. So get past being camera shy and let’s start showing the world who you are.

2. Behind the scenes

We want you to think about going behind the scenes, that’s number two. Do a video of your operation. Ah, but I don’t have a video team. Well, the good news is most of us have a video camera right in our pocket, on our phone. And those organic videos of you showing the operation and the cat runs by, that’s what people want to see. They want to see that view of what’s happening behind the scenes, and the more authentic you can make it, the better. It’s great content. If you’re in an industry where you’re on-site in different locations, like real estate, home services, record a video tour and post it on your channels.

3. Personal story or struggle

Number three, share a personal story or a struggle you’re going through. The chances are you’re not alone and your followers will be able to relate. One of the things that I’m struggling with right now is Don Cherry is not in the hockey hall of fame. I don’t think that’s fair. So I posted online the other day about a news story where they’re saying, yeah, Don did some things he shouldn’t, but he should be in the hockey hall of fame. My top performing post for the last four months is that post. And I produce some great content. So sharing a personal story of something you’re struggling with, like Don Cherry not being in the hockey hall of fame, might just be one of the best performing posts that gets eyeballs to all of your content.

4. Share a quote from someone who inspires you

Number 4 on our list of 39, share a quote or multiple quotes from someone who inspires you. Let your audience see where you find motivation. What are the things that are touching you and speaking to you?

5. Share your morning routine

Number five, share your morning routine. When I first read this, I was like, nobody wants to know what the heck I do every morning, but then I put it together into a post and it performed quite well. Might be the ridiculous time that I get up in the morning, might be I get more work done by eight o’clock than most people do in an entire day. But a lot of people found value in that. And I’ve even had some people that say, I want to adopt some of that morning ridiculous routine.

6. Share what inspired you to create your product, service, or brand

Share what inspired you to create your product or service or brand. This is people understanding the why. Why are you doing what you do? What is your inspiration? Keep in mind that engagement is everything. There are a few easy wins when it comes to content that everyone wants to interact with. And you want to try these ideas to get the action going in the comments or the likes or the sharing of a post. And for goodness sakes, if someone shares your post, go in and thank them for sharing it. Follow that trail that’s been created.

7. Ask a question

Let’s look at number seven. One of the things that we’ve found to be very effective is asking a question online. You have your audience that you’ve built. You put a post out there and you ask them for their opinion, because people love to weigh in with their unique view on different topics.

8. Post a poll on a subject

Number eight, host a poll on a subject. It’s kind of like asking a question, but you get to dictate where the answers might go to get the thought happening. Instagram stories, Facebook and LinkedIn all have great options for these polls. And nothing will give you a better read on where your audience is when you ask a question or you run a quick poll.

9. Share a review of your favorite book

Number nine, share a review of your favorite book. I don’t know about you, but I’m always looking for a good book. Recommendations from my peers or people that I aspire to follow and learn from are always a great way for me to discover that next new book that I want to be reading.

10. Ask for recommendations (apps, tv shows, local restaurants) anything related to your industry

Number 10, ask for recommendations on books, TV shows, apps, music, local restaurants, or anything else related to your industry.

11. Host a giveaway

Number 11, host a giveaway. Nothing will get followers commenting and tagging their own friends faster than a great giveaway. Giveaways are a way to reward your followers by giving a boost to your own engagement and your followings at the same time. It could be something as simple as a white paper, a case study, a book, if you happen to have one, you want to give away the audiobook or the online book that you’ve written. Many like Instagram and Facebook have specific disclosure statements you may need to include when posting any kind of giveaway. But as soon as you figure out what the rules and regulations are, you then can utilize this idea of a giveaway to engage your audience.

Be a Thought Leader

Our next components, I want you to think about this theme, be a thought leader. You have years, sometimes decades of experience in your field. Or if you’re like me, you sometimes have multiple decades of experience. You want to emerge as a thought leader from those scars and the things that you’ve learned.

12. Post a how-to tutorial

So number 12, post a how-to tutorial. We’ve done a lot of these over the years. They’re some of the most engaging pieces of content that we’ve ever put forward. Video does really well in terms of traction and performance. So nothing better than a Loom video out of your demo. And you could show something that you’ve solved or a how-to tidbit that might be relevant to your audience.

13. Build infographics

Number 13, I’m a big fan right now of building infographics. Infographics are those things that trap you on Pinterest, where you’re like, the 39 things that George Leith wants me to consider when I’m posting on social. Infographic coming soon. It’s one of the tactics that we are diving into this year. We found that infographics are making for great snapshots on a particular topic, and it becomes the gift that keeps on giving. They’re highly sharable. And if you do 39 things like we’re doing today, that could become 39 individual social posts that roll up to a larger infographic. So build an infographic is one of our key items, number 13 on our list.

14. Weekly recurring post (tip Tuesday, fantastic Friday)

Share a quick tip. Try a weekly tip Tuesday or fantastic Friday. It can work for any industry. There are little tidbits that go a long way to branding your organization or you as an individual.

15. Share learnings from loss or failure

Number 15, share the learnings from a loss or failure. Nothing says being a leader more like being authentic and showing where you might’ve lost and what you learned and where you grew out of that loss. And social is a place where that authenticity is expected. Social is all about oversharing and telling this big story. So you can go into that environment and talk about where you might’ve failed. It’s a safe place to do it.

16. Celebrate a win

Number 16, on the flip side, don’t be afraid to celebrate a win. And I go back to an event that I was, I go back to an event I was at a number of years ago back when we could travel. And I was teaching business owners about how to market their business. And someone said, well, if I share that on social media, it’s gonna be like I’m bragging. And I had to educate them that that’s marketing. You are winning. You’re good at this. And you’re putting it out there so that a larger audience can see that this is where your sweet spot is. There’s nothing like a good humblebrag to get your followers in the corner, to back up your hard work. What might even happen when you post that is people who’ve experienced your proficiency will come in and say, yes, Coleen’s amazing at that.

17. Post a testimonial

Number 17, post a testimonial. So this isn’t you bragging. This is your audience in their words talking about how you solved a problem. It builds an enormous amount of credibility.

18. Share the secret sauce of your offering

Number 18, share the secret sauce of your offering. I want you to think about this because I’ve talked to a lot of folks and they are reluctant to declare something as a secret sauce. They don’t think it’s big enough, but a true secret sauce is actually quite simple. And it’s something that you could deploy over and over and over again that is yours. So look deep, figure out what your secret sauce is, and then promote it as such. That’s number 18.

Classic Content Considerations

Classic content considerations. It just wouldn’t be a list of some oldies, but goodies. These are ones you’ve likely seen, but you don’t really understand that it’s gonna help you. You might be doubting their ability to boost your online presence.

19. Throwback Thursday

So here’s number 19. Remember the first time there was a throwback Thursday? It’s still a thing. Try reposting old blogs, graphics, quotes, professional milestones, or maybe share a personal or work tip that you figured out. That is a throwback Thursday. Something from back in the past. It also shows how long you’ve been doing it. If you’ve been at this for five or six years, and you can pull something out of the archives, it’s great. It shows that you’ve been around for a while and that you are a trusted expert.

20. Motivational Monday

Number 20, we all remember motivational Monday. It’s still a thing. If you look at that hashtag and you research it, you’ll find that all sorts of people are promoting around number 19 and number 20, throwback Thursday, hashtag motivational Monday, so utilize those.

21. Thank your followers

Number 21. It’s an oldie, but a goodie. Thank your followers. Just thank them. We just got to 500, come up with an animation, put it on there, have a celebration.

22. Post something seasonal or highlight a holiday

Number 22, post something seasonal or highlight a holiday. I thank my American customers on American Thanksgiving every single year. It’s just something that I do. And it’s from the heart. I would probably send them a card if we still did things like that. But I do it online.

23. Talk about top pain points and how your solution solves it

Number 23, talk about top pain points and how your solution solves it. Addressing the pain and how you are best at the world at solving it and it is a play you’ve already ran. Keep talking about that. That’s number 23.

24. Share a client success story

Number 24, share a success story whenever they happen. And I find people are reluctant. You’re at the client. You’ve solved their problem. You got a chance to shoot a video right there, onsite. Do it, post it right from their doorstep. Share that success story organically, number 24.

25. Share a tweet

Number 25, good old Twitter. Share a tweet that you like. And it’s hard. I’m on Twitter maybe once or two or three times a day. I got a bunch of followers and I just forget to retweet, share a success story, but there’s an audience there that is consuming information from my brand. So you want to share a tweet that you liked, number 25.

Lean on Others

Next up, we want to lean on others. Leveraging the audience, influencers, a network to get your content around like-minded individuals. So we want you to try these ideas for posting while leaning on others.

26. Let a team member or fellow influencer take over your social for a week

Number 26, let a team member or fellow influencer take over your social media for a week. That’s scary. No, if you get the right person there that can bring a fresh perspective, 26 can be very effective.

27. Show someone else using your product or service

Number 27, show someone else using your product or service. So you’ve done all the demos yourself. Now let’s get a customer using it. Let’s put it in the hands of our audience where they can see a real live customer using your solution.

28. Do a shoutout or mention other brands

Number 28, do a shout-out or mention other brands. Congratulations to so-and-so, and it might be an adjacent brand in your industry where you want to tie yourself to that audience. It might be a customer of yours that has been successful. Those shout-outs can help you expand your audience. Think about tagging another brand or account within the post. It’s a great way to encourage and reshape your audience.

29. Shoutout or mention of your clients

Number 29, a shout-out or mention of your clients. This is where you tap into your friends and family of your clients, and then tag the customer in your posts. And we see a lot of this recently. In fact, on LinkedIn, it’ll actually notify me if posts aren’t getting good engagement. It suggests that I tag individuals to get a broader audience.

30. Host an interview with a guest

Number 30, host an interview with a guest. There’s an easy way to accomplish this. You set up a video call on Zoom or Google Meet, hit record and conduct the interview, and then post that online. And what you’re going to find is that video far outranks everything else that you post online. So hosting an interview with a guest is a great way to get that holy grail of engagement, which today is video. I want to talk about in our last nine tips, the social mechanisms for growth. Here’s a few more mechanisms you can use to grow your social audience.

31. Give people a compelling reason to join your email list

Number 31, give people a compelling reason to join your email list. But remember, what’s in it for them? How do they benefit? Not just join our list here. Give me a reason.

32. Give your audience a gift

Number 32, give your audience a gift. If you’ve got something, a freebie, a freemium, a discount code, make an offer to your audience.

33. Post about events you are hosting or attending

Number 33, post about events you’re hosting or attending. Now, I like this. I am attending this event. We used to use this back in the day when we went to actual live conferences. The reason we did it was people were searching that conference, they were searching that hashtag, and you wanted them to know you were at the event. The same thing is true of webinars, virtual events. You want to post that you are there attending, or you want to post that you are hosting one of those events. That’s number 33.

34. Post upcoming speaking events or presentations

Number 34, post your upcoming speaking events or presentations. I’ve done this for years. It’s a great way to show yourself as a thought leader and a bit of a humble brag around the audience or the ecosystem that you’re building.

35. Share contact information for each channel you are on

Number 35, share your contact information with every channel people can connect with you on. So what do I mean by that? You have a LinkedIn profile. You have Facebook. You have a podcast over on iHeart. You have all of these different channels. When was the last time that you just shared your contact information with the way that people can connect with you? We’re in 2021 folks. We don’t just have a phone number anymore. We have all sorts of other places where people can connect with us. And we have to make sure that we’re sharing all of those contact information channels.

36. Ask your audience how they found you

Number 36, ask your audience how they found you. I find this is a real tough one. How did you come to connect with me? I have a lot of people reaching out to me on LinkedIn. It’s one of the questions that I ask most times is, how did you find me? Well, on your website or over here on this, or I was a part of this mastermind group. Those answers that you get on how the audience found you will show you where you need to double down. And it might even surprise you as to where your connections are actually coming from.

37. Share your other social profiles

Number 37, share your other social profiles to connect on. So it’s very similar to the contact information component, but it’s just sharing those social profiles in a regular cadence. One thing we’ve started doing for the podcast is Subscribe Sunday. So we found that there was a hashtag there. And then we promote the various channels that the podcast is found on. And lo and behold, our metrics go up on those channels when we started that initiative.

38. Answer FAQ

Number 38, answer frequently asked questions. It’s such a simple thing, and it can have such amazing results for your brand. So if you know there is a common question that is asked of your organization, put it together into a post because if 1, 10, 1,000 people have asked that question, pretty good chance that anybody that’s coming to your channel will have that question. And by consuming your thoughtful answer to that FAQ, it positions you again as a thought leader and works on that trust matrix. It removes the fear of the prospect on what might be the next step.

39. Post new blogs, case studies, and other written content from your website

And finally, drum roll, please. Number 39, post new blogs, case studies, and other written content from your website. This is that full-circle analogy that we talk a lot about. So you’re producing a blog. You’re producing case studies. You wrote a white paper and you post it once on one social media channel. You are not making the hay out of what my colleague Dan McClain likes to call a big rock. You went through the point of building this amazing big rock, hammer it, keep promoting it over and over and over again. There’s an old saying in the media business. When you are sick and tired of telling the story, tell it again and again and again. Your audience is just starting to understand it.

Conclusion

So we hope that this exhaustive list of 1 through 39 will help you in the coming months as you try to figure out exactly what you should be posting on social. We’ll be back with our wrap-up in just a moment. I’m not going to give you the entire list of 1 through 39. We’re gonna do that inside the notes, but the next time you’re struggling with what to post, call up this list and decide on how you can make the 39 your own, whether you’re aiming to post once a week, three times a day, once a month, don’t forget about these foundational elements. Present a good variety of different content. Be authentic, share your story over and over and over again. Get some frequency to your message. And make sure that you’re connecting with others so that you can grow that web, grow your audience through the connections that you’re making. And don’t forget to follow us on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter at Conquer Local. Thanks for joining me on this master sales series edition of the Conquer Local podcast. My name is George Leith. I’ll see you when I see you.