What Do You Post on Social Media When The Work Has Slowed Down?
I was recently asked this question by David Bellin of SUBS Altrincham in their fantastic networking meetings. I thought it would be useful to share to a wider audience, as I imagine many businesses are experiencing similar issues right now
None of us know where we will be as we head into 2021. For many, work has slowed-up considerably. Though as many of us use the work we do for our clients as source material for our digital marketing, how do we remain visual and keep posting, when we’ve no discernible content to use?
As you said, normally you’d use clients as source material for your digital marketing
Your day to day life underpins everything you do
Social Media is part diary and part the best library in the world
The best social media users are inspired by what they do day to day, so I can understand when it goes quieter people may find it harder to post on Social Media
1. FIRSTLY, LOOK AT YOUR CONTENT PILLARS
In normal times you might have what you call 4 or 5 content pillars
Content Pillars form the basis of what you post on social media and make it easier to post consistently
In my case my content pillars are as follows
– What Am I up to today (the client stuff)
– Social Media Tip Of The Day
– Blog
– Sales Post
– Trend jacking or something news based
Broadly speaking whatever type of business you’re involved in you could adapt and change the above to your own business
It’s worth noting though that I don’t sit down and be as prescriptive as making sure I write down a social media post for each of the pillars above
At different points in the week I’m inspired by different things. The key is to keep your social media interesting. It just happens that broadly all my posts will fit into the above
If you’re struggling with what to post on social media, I used to be a journalist and ideas tend to flow very easily. Email me on alex@altrinchamhq.co.uk and we can help you with a social media inspiration and training session
2. SECONDLY – WHEN IT GOES QUIET HAS THAT MUCH REALLY CHANGED IN TERMS OF CONTENT?
If you think about the above the only thing that has potentially changed during the pandemic and lockdown is the What Am I Up To Today
So what you need to do is look at your content pillars
What Am I Up To Today could turn in to
– Case study of old client work
– Interview with a client or someone in the industry
– More casual / personal updates. SUBS Altrincham Member Susan Leigh posts photos of her daily walks and exercise. Martin Hambleton similar takes photos on his walks / home shoots
– On this day / memories / nostalgia
You still have value to give
You still have years and years of experience to draw from
You still wake up in the morning and go to bed at night … and interesting things happen in between
3. REMIX YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA COMMENTS
Another tip is what I call remixing comments
As well as thinking about what you’re posting you should also be focused on engagement and the 2 areas can work together
Whichever social media platform you’re using, you should also be engaging with your audience and turning up regularly in the comments section
I’m using LinkedIn as an example as most SUBS members use the platform. One of the easiest ways to produce content is look at your LinkedIn Activity feed and look back at what you’ve commented on the previous day
Expand your most insightful comment into a lengthier status update the next day
Often 20 minutes of engagement and comments can inspire a whole weeks’ worth of posts
4. FUTURE PROOF YOURSELF AGAINST FURTHER QUIETER PERIODS
Use this time to future proof yourself
Every single business has quieter periods. If you’re a solopreneur it could simply be the 2 week family holiday
One thing that will never not be important ::: Blogging
The number 1 reason I never worry about quieter periods and content is I have a back catalogue of 535 blogs at the time of writing (this will be blog number 536)
When you have a huge catalogue of content to draw from and are regularly producing new content, then days or weeks of quiet time isn’t an issue
Everything you’ve ever done in your business is a content opportunity
DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING TO ADD?
What Do You Post on Social Media When The Work Has Slowed Down?
Let us know in the comments below …
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