19 Engaging Social Media Post Ideas (With Examples)
Need some inspiration for your next social media post?
A successful social media strategy requires a diverse and frequent publishing schedule.
In this post, we’re breaking down the most engaging social media post ideas to incorporate intro your strategy.
Let’s get started:
1. Tease a product launch
Brands make announcements about their business all the time — and there’s nothing wrong with that. But where some marketers fall short is in the execution. If there’s something big coming down the pipeline, use the opportunity to post a teaser or two.
Teasers do more than help generate interest in a product or event. It gauges public anticipation. And if your followers decide to share your teaser with their followers, you can get more eyes on your business.
There are plenty of reasons to post a teaser video. They’re not just for announcing new products. You can tease the return of a fan-favorite product.
You can do teasers for events too. It’s also not that uncommon to find brands doing social media posts about collaborations that they’re working on.
And you don’t have to be a big content creator to use teasers. Even small business owners can tease in-store or online promotions that they’re about to launch.
Giving customers a sneak peek of a project you’re working on is also a good strategy.
2. Ask for user-generated content
The best content often comes from a brand’s social media followers. Businesses like them because sharing user-generated content is more effective than traditional advertising. You are, after all, getting content from actual customers. It’s a more organic way of promoting a product.
That’s why businesses should ask their followers for photos or videos of themselves enjoying the product.
What’s great about this approach is that you can be as creative as you want with regard to the execution. You’re only limited by your imagination. It could be as simple as asking fans for content or you can do a full-blown campaign around it.
Just a couple of things to remember. Have a dedicated hashtag that people can use to submit their entries. Alternatively, you can post an email address that people can use to share their media files.
Some brands will incentivize users by offering a reward.
There are also those that run contests — in which case, submitting photos and videos become part of the mechanics. Giveaway tools like SweepWidget can make it easier to manage these contests across multiple platforms.
3. Share tips
Sometimes people just don’t know the best ways to use a product. So it’s in your best interest as a company to let everyone know how it can help them. That’s why most brands will share helpful tips if they have them.
You can even try crowdsourcing information since you likely have customers who have found different ways to work with your product. And these customers will be happy to share these tips if you’ll let them. That’s a surefire way of generating engagement in the community.
Tips aren’t just about how to use products. You can also talk about which of your products would complement each other. Tips can also be about when’s the best time to buy from your website.
Your product tips can be serious or you can have some fun with these.
4. Use short-form videos
Different social media networks now use short-form videos. This is in response to most people’s decreasing user attention span. The king of this format as of this writing is arguably TikTok but Facebook and Instagram have Reels. Snapchat’s daily active users are still in the millions. YouTube is also getting in on the action with YouTube Shorts.
With short-form content, you can play with many content ideas. You can tell jokes, do Q&As, highlight products, give business updates, promote an event, or just have fun in general.
The best part about short-form content is that the barrier to entry is so low. You don’t need fancy camera equipment to shoot a video in this format. Most Reels and TikTok videos are shot using a phone camera. You don’t need to pay for music licensing either since most platforms will allow you to select a song from their library.
5. Celebrate your customers
The secret to having loyal followers is celebrating them. You want to have a more personal connection with your fans. So if you find customers that love your brand as much as you do, talk about them across your social media channels.
There are plenty of ways you can do this. If you have a physical store, you can take photos of them while they’re there. Or you can share photos they share with you through your social media account.
If a customer published an old blog post talking about how your product helped them succeed in life, share the link with your followers. People do like reading success stories as these motivate them to find their own.
6. Talk about your advocacies
Brands will often talk about the advocacies that they’re involved with. And these resonate with old and new followers alike. If you want to shed light on an issue and boost engagement, there’s nothing wrong with talking about it on social media.
Of course, you’ll have to show that you actually believe in whatever advocacy you’re highlighting. Otherwise, people might call you out for using a cause to build up your brand. And the best way to show that you care is by taking action.
Can most small business owners use this strategy? Yes, they can. Even small businesses, especially those run by younger entrepreneurs, will associate themselves with advocacy. So it’s only fair that they are given an opportunity to express themselves through their social media content.
There are businesses that work directly with non-profit organizations and special interest groups. And when social media followers see how genuine these businesses are in their efforts, they will engage them on their social channels.
7. Announce deals and sales events
Do you know what always gets a reaction? Sales events. Who doesn’t love saving money, right? So if you’re going to start selling products at reduced prices, make sure you announce it on Twitter, Instagram, and any other platform you’re using.
Businesses have no problem posting images to announce their sales events. But some have found more creative social media post ideas to let everyone know what’s happening.
To get people to comment and share your announcements, you’ll want to talk about it more than once. You can create an entire campaign promoting the event especially if it’s going to be a big one. A series of video content on top of live videos to promote the sale will create the type of buzz you’re looking for.
If you’re doing more of a local event, you’ll still want to do the same thing but on a less grander scale.
8. Promote a lifestyle
Some brands are so good at what they do that they’re able to associate themselves with a certain lifestyle. If your business is one of the lucky ones, you should capitalize on it. Post your own content showing what kind of life your followers could have if they buy your product.
People who are able to relate to the lifestyle (or those who strive to) will like, comment, or share the post. So it will generate more engagement for your brand. And it will get even better if you have a creative caption to go along with every post.
You can use photos from your community but sharing photos you took yourself might be better since you’ll have more control over them. If you have the budget for it, you can hire someone to create a series of photos or videos for the project. But you can do it yourself especially if you have basic editing skills.
9. Post recipes
This content idea will mostly apply to those that are in the food business.
Those in the food industry should post recipes since they are engaging content for social media users. If you posted a recipe in your latest blog post, you can take the same recipe and create content for specific social media platforms. Have a cooking video on your YouTube channel. Then post a shorter version you can upload as a Short or a Reel.
People love free stuff — and recipes are no exception. What’s great is that you’re not only engaging users through relevant content but you’re also boosting your sales by demonstrating how your product can be applied.
Recipe videos are even more relevant around the holidays since people are looking for new ways to spice up their favorite meals. So make sure that you have recipes planned around those dates.
10. Answer fan questions
Are your followers asking a lot of questions about your brand and products? Then why not answer them through a post on social media?
Select a couple of questions that the community keeps sending you and upload a video of yourself answering them. You can do a long video answering several questions all at once. Or you can split it up into several short-form videos and post one a day.
You can even do a podcast episode and upload it on YouTube and share it on other social platforms afterward.
And what if you don’t get a lot of questions? You can do a sponsored Q&A instead. Work with an influencer or celebrity and have them answer fan questions. Then post the video on your social media sites.
You can also do Q&As around trending topics or industry news. What questions you answer will be entirely up to you.
11. Publish reminders
Social posts don’t always have to be about you. You can publish content for the sole purpose of helping out your followers. Publishing reminders is a great example of simple things brands can do for their fans.
These reminders don’t need to look all fancy. To be honest, you don’t even need the greatest graphic design skills to pull them off. You can even use a free template if you want. That’s why this strategy is a good fit for people who aren’t comfortable working with complicated design software.
But what do people need to be reminded of?
Important events such as local and national elections are good examples. Daylight saving time is another.
If the country is celebrating a milestone, you might want to give a simple shout-out to get people talking about it. Just be sure to include at least an inspiring photo with every post so your social media posts get noticed.
12. Work with influencers
If you have the means, working with celebrities and influencers is a good way to get ahead of other brands and drive traffic to your social media channels. The posts you end up publishing can also pave the way for new audiences to discover you.
How do you work with influencers?
There are plenty of social media post ideas that you could use. It could be as simple as having influencers join you in a live video. Or you could do a social media takeover event which is especially popular on Snapchat.
Publishing YouTube videos explaining the purpose of the collaboration will definitely help promote the partnership. Make sure your influencers promote the event with their audience as well.
You’ll want to work with an influencer that has the same core values as you do. You don’t want someone that goes against your company values.
13. Ask questions
Social media is not only useful for answering questions but asking them as well. Getting the most engagement on social platforms is only possible if there’s a conversation worth having. Asking questions will get the ball rolling.
There are two ways you can play this. You can ask questions using a serious tone or you can have fun with it. It will all depend on how you’re presenting your brand to the public. If you have a playful image, then sticking to the latter option would be ideal.
What type of questions can you ask on social media?
You can try fill-in-the-blank questions. Or you can ask users how their day went. It can also be fun to post questions that your followers can answer using a photo or video. You can ask about their plans for the future. Some brands even post seemingly random questions every now and then.
Of course, you can always ask questions that are specific to your brand. Get people to rate your company. Let them tell you what they think about the changes you’ve made.
14. Highlight a product
Social media is a great place to talk about a brand and all the products sold under it. Product highlights give customers a better idea of all the things that make each product special.
Product highlights come in multiple forms. It can be as simple as posting a photo of a product. If you have the time and resources, you can post a video about it instead. Your post can go into detail about what makes your product great. Or you can let your photo or video speak for itself.
You’ll probably get a lot of questions in your comments section. Make sure you have someone available to answer most of them. When you answer questions, you not only drive engagement but also your potential sales.
If you’re going to show off your products, it’s important that you present them beautifully. That means if you’re selling a physical product, you’ll want to hire a professional to handle the photoshoot.
15. Produce behind-the-scenes content
If you’re looking for new content ideas, give this a try — posting behind-the-scenes (BTS) footage. Loyal customers are always curious about parts of the business that they don’t see.
They want to get to know the people behind the products they enjoy. Putting faces to the men and women responsible for your products helps them establish a connection with your brand. They want to hear their stories. So let them.
BTS content doesn’t have to be serious. And they don’t have to be long either. Some companies find that short-form videos are more than enough. You can do videos showing your people interacting with one another. You can do a virtual facility tour to show how products get made.
Having a surprise guest such as a popular influencer in the video can help boost your numbers. The guest can give out fun facts about the company. This should help your audience feel excited to shop.
16. Start a challenge
Yes, there are terrible social media challenges out there — far too many, some might say. But there are good ones too. And you can start a challenge that not only can contribute to a better society but also get fans to engage with your content.
Challenges don’t normally include product placements but businesses have found ways to incorporate them anyway. And there’s no reason why you can’t do the same.
You want to make your challenges fun and easy to replicate. That way, more people can join in and create content focusing on your brand. You can also make a contest out of it if you want. This would be a great incentive for your audience to participate.
17. Announce events
It is a good idea to announce upcoming events on social media. It lets people know about what’s about to happen and gives them a chance to talk about it.
So how do you go about making an announcement?
The simplest and fastest way is to create an image and upload it to your different social media pages. But using the same asset across all social platforms won’t cut it these days. If you want to get the most engagement, you’ll need several announcement images and videos.
For example, you might want to have a full ad that you can upload to YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. But you’ll also need videos specifically for TikTok, YouTube Shorts, and Instagram Reels.
You’ll want to post more than once so consider having more than one video.
Feel free to play with different post ideas. You can try making announcements fun by using different concepts that appeal to younger people. Having your finger on the latest trends on social media will definitely help you here.
18. Get people to tag you
Some businesses explicitly ask their followers to tag them. But this strategy will only work if you give your audience a good reason to do so. If you’re a big-name brand and have an official account, you’ll find that a lot of fans will ask you to follow them on social media. You can use that as an incentive.
However, you don’t want to do this for everyone. So find a way to limit how many people you’ll follow back.
Your call to action doesn’t have to be a tag though. You can ask your followers to like, share, retweet, stitch, or comment on your posts. It will depend on the social media content and where you’re posting.
19. Familiarize yourself with pop culture
Most social media post ideas that blow up online involve pop culture references. So there’s no other way around it. You’ll have to familiarize yourself with all the content that’s moving the needle at any given moment.
If you think this is going to be a challenge for you, then you might want to think about hiring at least one dedicated social media person. Not only can this person help you create a content calendar for all social media sites, but he or she will make sure that your posts are able to keep up with the times.
Businesses that try to jump in on a social media trend without understanding what it is will make people cringe. You don’t want your followers to feel that way about you. So it’s better to have someone on your team that truly understands pop culture.
Final thoughts
Statistics show that social media is a marketing channel that most businesses shouldn’t ignore. But, you’re going to need a strategy.
A successful social media strategy requires a diverse and frequent publishing schedule. These post ideas will help you do just that.
Once you’ve figured out the types of content you’ll be sharing, and created some posts, the next step is to get your content published.
Given that it’s not productive to spend all of your time on social media, we recommend scheduling your content in advance. That way, you can publish content at the best times for your audience, even if it’s not the best time for you.
Check out our roundup of social media schedulers to get started.
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