Pixel Lava Interactive
  • Home
  • Websites
    • New Websites
    • Website Redesigns
    • Website Portfolio
    • Website Tune Ups
    • Website Updates  🔸
      • Easy Online Payments
  • Marketing
    • Virtual Tours
    • Video & Motion Graphics
    • Logo design and brand identity
    • Business Cards
    • Postcards, flyers, ads and more
    • Illustration & Infographics
  • Training
    • Weebly Training
    • Digital Summer Camp
  • About
    • Blog
    • Client List
    • Good Vibes
    • Review Me
    • Recommendations
    • Adventure Indoor Fitness
    • Remembering Mary
  • Mondo Bop
  • Contact
    • Support

Field Notes Blog

News and thoughts on UI/UX, web design, and more.

15 Social Media Ideas from Your Every Day Life

5/15/2018

0 Comments

 
15 social media ideas
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. 

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!
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Blog

    Ame Stanko, San Diego Web Designer

    About the author

    As the owner of Pixel Lava Interactive I've helped hundreds of small businesses and nonprofits with websites, graphic design and more. I hope you'll find this blog full of useful information.
    ~ Ame Stanko
    Mailing List Sign Up
    Subscribe

    RSS Feed

    Categories

    All
    Announcements
    Bop Squad
    Community
    Digital Summer Camp
    DIY
    DIY Marketing
    Email Marketing
    Featured Projects
    For Nonprofits
    Fun Stuff
    Happy Holidays
    How Tos
    HTML Is Not So Scary
    Industry Musings
    Interwebs 101
    LGBT Business
    Marketing Ideas
    Monday Motivation
    Mondo Bop
    New Products
    Newsletters
    Nonprofit Marketing
    Online Marketing
    Partner Program
    Pixel Lava Unplugged
    Product Updates
    Promo Ideas
    Reviews
    Scam Alerts
    Small Business Inspiration
    Small Business Marketing
    Social Media Marketing
    Tips & Tricks
    Training
    UI/UX
    Webinars
    Web Labs
    Website Workshops

    Archives

    November 2023
    February 2023
    June 2021
    September 2020
    August 2020
    December 2019
    March 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    August 2016
    June 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    October 2014
    April 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    July 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    September 2012
    April 2012
    March 2012
    February 2012
    January 2012
    December 2011
    October 2011
    February 2011
    December 2010
    October 2010
    December 2009
    October 2009
    February 2009
    December 2008
    December 2007
    December 2006
    December 2005

Home  |  Websites  |  Graphic Design  |  Marketing  |  Training  |  About  |  Shop  |  Contact

©2005-2019 Pixel Lava Interactive. All rights reserved. 🚀

  • Home
  • Websites
    • New Websites
    • Website Redesigns
    • Website Portfolio
    • Website Tune Ups
    • Website Updates  🔸
      • Easy Online Payments
  • Marketing
    • Virtual Tours
    • Video & Motion Graphics
    • Logo design and brand identity
    • Business Cards
    • Postcards, flyers, ads and more
    • Illustration & Infographics
  • Training
    • Weebly Training
    • Digital Summer Camp
  • About
    • Blog
    • Client List
    • Good Vibes
    • Review Me
    • Recommendations
    • Adventure Indoor Fitness
    • Remembering Mary
  • Mondo Bop
  • Contact
    • Support