Knowing what to post on social media can be stressful for a new or a struggling business. While social media marketing can be complicated, you don’t have to bow down to the algorithm to be successful — you just have to post in a way that’s consistent and useful. You might not get 1,000 views immediately, but you will build a feed that creates trust and converts customers. Below are dozens of ideas for social media marketing posts, with a little background on why they are effective. This list was created especially for Instagram, but these types of posts can be used across social platforms (Facebook, TikTok, Linkedin, etc.) Most of these can be used for both feed posts and story posts. Just make sure to tag anyone you reference — regardless of where you post.

Getting to know you

I’m always surprised at how many small businesses fail to share who runs the businesses, and why they’re involved in the business, to begin with! This is one of the key benefits of social media: you can share information with your potential and current customers, which creates a more trusting relationship. Some people avoid “personal” posts because they think it makes their feed look less professional. While that might be true in a visual sense, it’s important to remember that if your feed looks professional but doesn’t help people make buying decisions, it’s useless as a marketing tool.

1. Introduce yourself. Who are you? Where are you from? How long have you been in business?
2. Introduce your staff. Who are they? What makes them special? What’s their favorite coffee drink?
3. Share why you started your business in the first place. Was it a product or service you, or someone in your family, needed?
4. Share about mistakes that you made. Yes — mistakes! Sharing about the mistakes that brought you to today can be useful on many levels — engendering trust, showing how diligently you’ve updated and improved your product or service, and showing how far you’ve come.
5. Share how your product or service has changed over time. Knowing how a product has changed can answer questions for past customers, prevent miscommunications, and even bring back customers that didn’t like old versions.
6. Share old products or prototypes. Showing how far you’ve come, and how your products have evolved with technology and client needs, is pre-emptive customer service.
7. Share about partners that have positively impacted your business. Who do you get your materials from? Who makes your business cards or packaging? This level of depth provides context for your business and creates a base of trust with your customers.
8. Share about collaborators who inspire you. What client or community member gave feedback that impacted new versions? What staff member came up with key product features? Sharing successes is not just the right thing to do, it creates community connections.
9. Share about your shop dog, cat, or parrot! Seriously — this little bit of info about your animal coworkers makes people happy and encourages trust in your brand.
10. Share little-known facts about your brand. Did you start in your basement? Move 3 times in the first year due to growth? Have 100% of your staff members gone on to start their own businesses? Your business is unique — pull those interesting stories from the archives and share them online.
11. Share about sales records or year-end numbers. You don’t have to share your revenue goals, necessarily, but if you have a goal of selling 100 units and you meet it — share that! It not only makes people vicariously happy, but it also shows proof of concept and trust in the brand.
12. Share about non-monetary successes. Was your goal to get into 10 stores this year, and you did it? Or did you speak at 5 conferences this year? Share that! Again — it’s a way to share your success with the community, at the same time encouraging trust.
13. Share behind the scenes of your business. Some ideas: product creation, initial product sketches, writing an outline for a speech, setting up for an event, or even how messy your desk is!
14. Share about books that helped you become who you are today, whether it’s about finances, business, self-help, or poetry! These kinds of personal anecdotes are awesome because they share helpful information while also helping customers feel like they know you well (a key for solid customer relationships as well as converting potential customers to actual customers.)
15. Share about places (e.g. buildings, parks, views) or items (e.g. plants, colors in nature, patterns) that inspire your product or service.

Getting to know your neighborhood

Sharing about your location and city is one of the most overlooked, effective tools on social media. Most consumers want to shop locally. Creating a “neighborhood story” through wayfinding is a great way to remind them where you’re located.

1. Share about your neighborhood’s landmarks, views, and your location within the neighborhood.
2. Share about the best places to get coffee or lunch, including photos of those businesses (and how far of a walk or drive it is, to your space!) Sharing about other businesses not only elevates those businesses (yay!) and sheds light on your neighborhood (woot!), it also reminds people to think of your business, when they see that coffee shop or cafe. This can be especially helpful for businesses that rely on foot traffic.
3. Share about where you shop for gifts, or get a massage or facial. (Note: tagging businesses in your posts or stories gives them the opportunity to easily share it. This can expose you to their clients as well, a wonderful bonus. Don’t expect this, however — it’s much easier to move from a place of supporting businesses and being surprised when they share, than posting for the purpose of getting shares, and being disappointed if it doesn’t happen. No one owes you a share!)
4. If you have a physical location, share tips and tricks for parking, or finding your entrance (if it’s tricky).
5. Share where your clients are located, whether it’s local neighborhoods, or which countries they live in (and which languages you/they speak!)
6. Share about community events you are a part of, that take place in your space, that you sponsor, or that you just want to support.
7. Share about organizations and efforts in your community. Sharing about mutual aid efforts, fundraisers, or community events helps elevate them and spread the word. (And right now, getting help from your community in sharing events and efforts is so crucial, because social media is making it harder to get “organic” — nonpaid — reach.) Sharing about mutual aid and/or community efforts is also a great way to contribute when you aren’t able to donate. Aim as local as possible with your time and donations — while all organizations need the boost, your local organizations and groups are much more likely to appreciate the time and support, and you can help your community thrive.

Clarifying your brand and vision

If you aren’t clear on your brand, chances are, your customers aren’t, either. And if your customers aren’t clear about the value of your product or services, they likely won’t refer people to you. Social media is a brave new world of “word of mouth” referrals, so getting clear on, and speaking clearly on, your brand is absolutely crucial.

1. Tell a story about what usually spurs people to purchase from you. What was the last thing they thought before they decided to purchase from you? That they were frustrated with other brands? Worn out and needed help? This helps your customers see themselves reflected in the purchasing process.
2. Share your brand vision. A brand vision isn’t what you make (e.g. sneakers), it’s your ultimate goal of what you want to influence (e.g. getting more people onto, and protecting hiking trails.) Think through what you’d like your legacy to be, not in revenue or numbers sold, but in tangible and intangible outcomes for your community.
3. Share your value proposition. What do you sell (or do), who is it for, and what makes it different from the competition? If you can’t answer this, stop everything and write down your “elevator pitch” — the one-sentence version of your value proposition. Practice it out loud until it rolls off your tongue.
4. Talk about the pain points your customers have shared with you. Why did they switch to your product? Why did they book you as a speaker? Their reasons will likely line up with potential customers! Share those pain points, and how your product/service resolves them.
5. Share about what types of clients you work with, including your favorite type of client. (Not sure about this one? Do a free or paid Ideal Customer worksheet, and take it a step further to think about who you absolutely adore working with.)
6. Post fun pictures that align with your brand colors. Don’t have brand colors? Pick 1–3 brand colors that both align with your brand’s visual look and also are ones you’d use naturally. If you love pastels and your brand colors are red and black, you will struggle with posting more than if you leaned into your favorites.
7. Do you have a very specific niche, but often get requests outside of that niche? Share about the companies you refer clients to.

Answering FAQs

One of the least-known secrets of social media is that potential customers will treat your profile and feed like a website’s home page. Many customers, especially younger ones, will rely on this social media “home page” for information about your brand, rarely ever clicking links or visiting web pages. Your feed should therefore answer the bulk of your customers’ questions. Think through about frequently asked questions you receive via DM or your “contact us” link — and start answering those questions ASAP!

1. Tell people about quirks on your website, e.g. what they need to know about your purchasing process or booking.
2. Update your customers on processing times (especially any changes.)
3. Share about natural variations in the finished product (size, color, texture, etc.) to prevent miscommunication and disappointment.
4. Share about real-life use through customer photos and yourself using the product or service.
5. Share about real-life outcomes through stories and customer testimonials.
6. Share photos and stores about you and your product or service “in the wild” — not posed studio photos but you in your natural environment, using your product, or working with clients.
7. Share about closures and/or vacation breaks.
8. Share shop or service updates like increasing prices, changing sizes, or delayed shipping times.
9. For a physical store or services with fixed hours, post open hours right in your bio! Also, remind people of your open hours in posts.
10. Tell people more about where people can purchase your product or service, whether it’s in stores, on other people’s websites, or part of a gift basket or service bundle.

A last word

If you get stuck on what to post, just ask yourself or your coworkers this simple question: what information can I provide for my clients? Sometimes posts can be as simple as repeating ordering information that you shared last month, directing people to your link in bio to purchase, or sharing a fun selfie to remind people who you are and why you’re here. Each of these informational posts contributes to a foundation of trust between you and your potential and existing clients — and that foundation is what gives them the confidence to purchase from you and refer to you.  For more information on how to structure your social media strategy - and how to make it as simple as possible - check out my course here on CPD Formula!