You're convinced... Whether you've attended a local marketing seminar, read about the trends online or can simply feel it in your bones... Social media - if done right - plays a vital role in helping businesses thrive, but what exactly should you and your business post about? For many, the thought of sitting down to write their next social media post can fill them with dread, but with a little time and planning, writing for social media doesn't have to be so bad. Of course, you could always talk to an agency such as Actuate about handling this for you, but you may find with the right ideas, social media marketing isn't too bad after all. Below we've compiled a list of social media post ideas designed to make your life easier the next time you log in to Facebook, Twitter or Instagram to connect with your followers.
<h2 class="list-heading">Promote a competition or giveaway</h2>
A recent study revealed that Instagram accounts which held regular contests seemed to grow 70% faster than those that didn't, a great reason to make a monthly competition a staple of your social media marketing plan. You don't need third-party plugins or tools, choose something to give away, ideally something that represents your business, make sure you've got some written terms and conditions that you can link to and finally think of a creative idea for entry, and you're all set to go! Some popular examples include like this post, follow our account or tag three friends, but the options are truly endless.
<blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-captioned="" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/CGPJ2wwgoLU/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="12" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);">
<div style="padding: 16px;">

<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CGPJ2wwgoLU/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style="background: #FFFFFF; line-height: 0; padding: 0 0; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; width: 100%;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> </a>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"></div>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"></div>
</div>
</div>
<div style="padding: 19% 0;"></div>
<div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"><svg width="50px" height="50px" viewbox="0 0 60 60" version="1.1" xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"><g stroke="none" stroke-width="1" fill="none" fill-rule="evenodd"><g transform="translate(-511.000000, -20.000000)" fill="#000000"><g><path d="M556.869,30.41 C554.814,30.41 553.148,32.076 553.148,34.131 C553.148,36.186 554.814,37.852 556.869,37.852 C558.924,37.852 560.59,36.186 560.59,34.131 C560.59,32.076 558.924,30.41 556.869,30.41 M541,60.657 C535.114,60.657 530.342,55.887 530.342,50 C530.342,44.114 535.114,39.342 541,39.342 C546.887,39.342 551.658,44.114 551.658,50 C551.658,55.887 546.887,60.657 541,60.657 M541,33.886 C532.1,33.886 524.886,41.1 524.886,50 C524.886,58.899 532.1,66.113 541,66.113 C549.9,66.113 557.115,58.899 557.115,50 C557.115,41.1 549.9,33.886 541,33.886 M565.378,62.101 C565.244,65.022 564.756,66.606 564.346,67.663 C563.803,69.06 563.154,70.057 562.106,71.106 C561.058,72.155 560.06,72.803 558.662,73.347 C557.607,73.757 556.021,74.244 553.102,74.378 C549.944,74.521 548.997,74.552 541,74.552 C533.003,74.552 532.056,74.521 528.898,74.378 C525.979,74.244 524.393,73.757 523.338,73.347 C521.94,72.803 520.942,72.155 519.894,71.106 C518.846,70.057 518.197,69.06 517.654,67.663 C517.244,66.606 516.755,65.022 516.623,62.101 C516.479,58.943 516.448,57.996 516.448,50 C516.448,42.003 516.479,41.056 516.623,37.899 C516.755,34.978 517.244,33.391 517.654,32.338 C518.197,30.938 518.846,29.942 519.894,28.894 C520.942,27.846 521.94,27.196 523.338,26.654 C524.393,26.244 525.979,25.756 528.898,25.623 C532.057,25.479 533.004,25.448 541,25.448 C548.997,25.448 549.943,25.479 553.102,25.623 C556.021,25.756 557.607,26.244 558.662,26.654 C560.06,27.196 561.058,27.846 562.106,28.894 C563.154,29.942 563.803,30.938 564.346,32.338 C564.756,33.391 565.244,34.978 565.378,37.899 C565.522,41.056 565.552,42.003 565.552,50 C565.552,57.996 565.522,58.943 565.378,62.101 M570.82,37.631 C570.674,34.438 570.167,32.258 569.425,30.349 C568.659,28.377 567.633,26.702 565.965,25.035 C564.297,23.368 562.623,22.342 560.652,21.575 C558.743,20.834 556.562,20.326 553.369,20.18 C550.169,20.033 549.148,20 541,20 C532.853,20 531.831,20.033 528.631,20.18 C525.438,20.326 523.257,20.834 521.349,21.575 C519.376,22.342 517.703,23.368 516.035,25.035 C514.368,26.702 513.342,28.377 512.574,30.349 C511.834,32.258 511.326,34.438 511.181,37.631 C511.035,40.831 511,41.851 511,50 C511,58.147 511.035,59.17 511.181,62.369 C511.326,65.562 511.834,67.743 512.574,69.651 C513.342,71.625 514.368,73.296 516.035,74.965 C517.703,76.634 519.376,77.658 521.349,78.425 C523.257,79.167 525.438,79.673 528.631,79.82 C531.831,79.965 532.853,80.001 541,80.001 C549.148,80.001 550.169,79.965 553.369,79.82 C556.562,79.673 558.743,79.167 560.652,78.425 C562.623,77.658 564.297,76.634 565.965,74.965 C567.633,73.296 568.659,71.625 569.425,69.651 C570.167,67.743 570.674,65.562 570.82,62.369 C570.966,59.17 571,58.147 571,50 C571,41.851 570.966,40.831 570.82,37.631"></path></g></g></g></svg></div>
<div style="padding-top: 8px;">
<div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div>
</div>
<div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"></div>
<div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;">
<div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"></div>
</div>
<div style="margin-left: 8px;">
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"></div>
<div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"></div>
</div>
<div style="margin-left: auto;">
<div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"></div>
<div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"></div>
<div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"></div>
</div>
</div>
&nbsp;
<p style="margin: 8px 0 0 0; padding: 0 4px;"><a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CGPJ2wwgoLU/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style="color: #000; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none; word-wrap: break-word;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">*COMPETITION TIME* Happy #ChocolateWeek. To celebrate we’re giving away one of our NEW Signature Cabinets. With 147 chocolates, it’s definitely big enough to share. To enter, simply tag who you’d choose to experience this with in the comments. Competition ends midnight Sunday 18th October. T&amp;Cs apply. The winner will be announced the following week.</a></p>
<p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;">A post shared by <a href="https://www.instagram.com/hotelchocolat/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px;" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"> hotelchocolat</a> (@hotelchocolat) on <time style="font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px;" datetime="2020-10-12T08:28:36+00:00">Oct 12, 2020 at 1:28am PDT</time></p>

</div></blockquote>
<script async src="//www.instagram.com/embed.js"></script>
<h2 class="list-heading">Share, Retweet and Regram!</h2>
Let your audience do the talking by sharing, retweeting and regramming their content, with 88% of consumers trusting user reviews as much as personal recommendations; you have a pretty powerful reason to share share share! It goes without question that you shouldn't just fill your timeline with other peoples content, like all of our tips try and find a healthy balance of content to achieve social success.
<h2 class="list-heading">Link to company articles, blog posts and news content</h2>
Do you regularly post a blog article on your company website or find you have a constant stream of news sitting on your website? Leverage this content for social media and drive more traffic to your articles. Consider creating an eye-catching supporting image and picking out important information to connect with your audience. Finally, you should even think about scheduling several posts throughout the year for a particular article if it's not time-limited and is considered 'evergreen' content. (content that remains fresh and vital)
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">How can you prepare your eCommerce site for the upcoming holiday season? First find out the real “gifts” shoppers want - no socks or sweaters on this list. ? Take a look: <a href="https://t.co/y9xb1lHStw">https://t.co/y9xb1lHStw</a> <a href="https://t.co/ucA6qZIRoI">pic.twitter.com/ucA6qZIRoI</a></p>
— Magento Commerce (@magento) <a href="https://twitter.com/magento/status/1313961060249071616?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 7, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<h2 class="list-heading">Show off your lighter side</h2>
Remember that your followers don't want to see adverts every five minutes, they want to see your company principles, your quirks and some personality. If it fits with your company philosophy, why not schedule a few fun posts once in a while, do it correctly, and your users will stick around for the next one.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">BREAKING BREAKFAST NEWS</p>
57 problems but breakfast ain't one. We've teamed up with <a href="https://twitter.com/HeinzUK?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@HeinzUK</a> to make some new smoothies that are perfect for the mornings.

Say hello to our new breakfast super smoothiez. <a href="https://t.co/sLYqZhhNMa">pic.twitter.com/sLYqZhhNMa</a>

— innocent drinks (@innocent) <a href="https://twitter.com/innocent/status/1314468139237744640?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 9, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<h2 class="list-heading">Go behind the scenes</h2>
Does your company employ a few members of staff, have regular interns or even an office pet? Then go behind the scenes with a post or two about your staff members, fuzzy friend or new recruit. Your followers will enjoy getting a glimpse of day to day life in your office, and it also helps them connect with your company on a personal level.
<h2 class="list-heading">Industry facts and figures</h2>
73.6% of all statistics you read are made up! But there is a reason for their popularity, and that's because facts, figures and statistics make good reading and can help promote your products, services or business. Now we're not suggesting you make up your facts, do some research online and you're sure to turn up something that fits the bill for your next social post.
<h2 class="list-heading">Keep your eye out for trending topics</h2>
If you're really looking to gain traction and pull in new readers and hopefully followers too, then keep your eye out for trending topics. Keeping your finger on the pulse of what's popular right now could spark an idea that catapults your business ahead of your competitors overnight.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Power out? No problem. <a href="http://t.co/dnQ7pOgC">pic.twitter.com/dnQ7pOgC</a></p>
— OREO Cookie (@Oreo) <a href="https://twitter.com/Oreo/status/298246571718483968?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 4, 2013</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<h2 class="list-heading">Daily #hashtags</h2>
You're probably aware of hashtags such as #FollowFriday and #MondayMotivation. Still, you may be surprised to hear that there are literally hundreds of common hashtags for every day of the week. Jump on the bandwagon and join in with some of them. Here are just a few of our favourites: Monday #MondayMotivation #MarketingMonday #MusicMonday #MondayFunday #ManicMonday Tuesday #TravelTuesday #TipTuesday #GoodNewsTues #TransformationTuesday #TakeMeBackTuesday Wednesday #WayBackWednesday #WisdomWednesday #WinItWednesday #WellnessWednesday #WoofWednesday Thursday #ThursdayThoughts #ThrowbackThursday #ThursdayVibes #ThankfulThursday Friday #FashionFriday #FlashBackFriday #FollowFriday #FridayFun #FreebieFriday Saturday #SaturdaySale #Caturday #SaturdayStyle #SaturdayShoutOut Sunday #SundayFunday #SelfieSunday #SpotlightSunday #WeekendVibes
<h2 class="list-heading">Plan a poll</h2>
Thinking about launching a new product and wish you could get some feedback from your followers? Then think about planning a poll and get the information you're craving. Polls are available on many social platforms and take just seconds to set in motion. Whether serious or fun, they should certainly feature in your social media content plan.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr">Cosy season is here! What is your favourite thing to buy now that chilly days have arrived? ?</p>
— New Look (@newlook) <a href="https://twitter.com/newlook/status/1314525407060930560?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 9, 2020</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
<h2 class="list-heading">Celebrate a milestone</h2>
How many milestones can you think of? Business anniversary, 1,000th Facebook follower, the first customer through the door... One thing you can never be short of is a milestone, so why not celebrate them with your followers? Milestones are a great way to show your human side and have some fun with your social media followers

Over to you Social media shouldn't be challenging; social media should be fun, easy and rewarding. Enjoy your social media journey, and see where it takes you, and if you find you need a little help along the way, our experts here at Actuate Digital are always just a phone call away. Have any social media ideas of your own you'd like to share with us? Let us know by using the comments section below. Good luck!