15 Social Media Ideas from Your Every Day Life

Content marketing is a fancy term for promoting yourself online by offering useful material. It's successful because it works on the power of attraction instead of distraction. In the same way we skip commercials, it's easy to tune out cheesy stuff online. Instead, we want to put out appealing, relevant content. Simple! Or is it? Do you have a hard time seeing your business through the eyes of an outsider? What may be an everyday, mundane thing to you (ho hum, here I am meeting with the wine rep again) might be wonderfully exotic to a new client (the handsome Italian wine rep - are you kidding me?!). With the goal of harvesting cool content for your social media marketing, here are 15 social media ideas that come out of the everyday things you probably already do. 

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Re-think the mundane
Have you ever been on vacation and watched a construction site? If you're in another country it can be especially fascinating to see how differently they do things. While our work-a-day lives are mundane to us they can be very engaging to viewers. A good trick is to think of your audience as someone who has never seen your subject before. Suddenly it's fresh and new. With that perspective in mind, here are 15 content ideas to get you started. 

Content ideas:

1. Holidays: take advantage of national moods to post something relevant to your industry. One of my clients owns a cemetery and they post a beautiful Memorial Day story every year with photos of youth groups decorating the graves of veterans. Relevant, poignant and related...perfect!
2. New product ideas: are you a restaurant considering a new dish? Ask your social media followers what would interest them and incentivize participation by offering a coupon to people who respond or share your post. It's a great way to boost engagement while making the process of menu development easier on you. Win!
3. New product or service count-downs: obviously you want to announce new offerings online but it's also great to create buzz by posting about the product development process in advance. Then by the time you make your announcement you have folks already interested. 
4. Before and after images: if you make a habit of getting "before" images then posting the "afters" is easy. This is great for design makeovers, fitness people, hair & makeup stylistss, auto and home repair peeps. etc. 
5. Client reviews: it's okay to crow about a good review. When was the last time you checked your Yelp profile anyways? If you have great reviews sitting over there, share them to your social media. If you can add context about the review, all the better. For example, "We got this review right after our big remodel."  
6. Customer ideas and suggestions: my client OB People's Food Co-op includes a Suggestion Box section in every newsletter and I'm always impressed by the thoughtful ideas (and yes, complaints) that they get. Both are valuable and can make good social media posts! New ideas are great and the complaints give you an opportunity to (kindly) talk about improvements or other angles to the issue. 
7. Founder stories: many About pages skip this altogether but new clients want to know who they're dealing with. There is a real movement in this country to shop locally and support family run businesses. This is an asset to use in your favor, not something to hide with obsequious, big-sounding text. No need to "leverage your vertical channels" here. Instead, talk about what elements led to the founding your business, what your goals are, and how far you've come. Those points help create an emotional connection with viewers. 
8. Relevant industry jokes, quotes and "On this day" items: posting random things is not effective and can actually be a spammy turn-off but when you encounter a funny comic, quote or historical item that is directly related to what you do, share it along. An example could be a yoga studio who posts cartoons about trying to do yoga with small kids in the house. Value in social media can certainly take the form of laughter. 
9. Ask me anything posts (called AMAs): in an AMA, you invite viewers to ask you questions about your job, process, field, etc. The questions may come from prospective clients, colleagues or even young people trying to get in to your industry. You may be surprised at how questions help you think differently about your work. 
10. Action videos: following a few guidelines for making decent videos, practice with your smartphone and get in the habit of capturing cool, day-in-the-life video clips. Something that is boring to you because you've done it many times could be fascinating to your followers. Watching a jeweler annealing metal to a glowing red (something they do all the time) is a real wow moment for the rest of us. 
11. Share moments of triumph: maybe you're a nonprofit and you get a big donation - make a little video about it. It doesn't have to be fancy, just something to express your excitement at being successful. People like to get on board with a winning team. 
12. Tips: if you have knowledge to share, what about doing short, helpful posts? The key here is quality and brevity. A stylist can talk about the best way to care for makeup supplies, a therapist can do a guided meditation or a personal trainer can do a quick exercise demo. 
13. Photo or video tours: giving new clients a quick tour of your shop is a huge way to reduce their anxiety about contacting you for new services. It can also filter out clients who aren't a good fit. Again, using some guidelines to create high quality images or video, welcome your visitor and show them around your space. Tidy up and put your best foot forward but don't get hung up on making it perfect or fancy. Start small with something easy and casual, if it's fun and well received you can do a nicer version in the future.  
14. Review products and services: if you are a janitor and have discovered the best window cleaner ever, tell the rest of us about it for god's sake!  Just be genuine. Personally I have a whole page of things I personally use and wholeheartedly recommend (Recommendations).
15. Express gratitude: presumably, if you're reading this post you're alive and you can express gratitude no matter where you are in life. We are drawn people who are happy and we enjoy seeing the genuine expression of joy, peacefulness and thankfulness. Social media can definitely use more of this! When you experience a moment that makes you think "THIS is why I do the work I do," share that online as some simple text, a photo or a short video. That is the shining light that you bring to the world, and those of us following you want to see it. 

Be Guided by "What's In It For Me?"
Effective social media is about connecting with your followers in a useful, meaningful way. Keep in mind the guiding rule of promotions - What's In It For Me (WIIFM).  When your viewers see that you are giving them something valuable and appealing they will stick around, which leads to engagement, sales, donations, etc. The key is to cultivate a fresh perspective, be authentic, keep your eyes open and create a simple work flow so you can easily capture things. Feel free to leave your comments and own ideas below!