For many small business owners, the hardest part of using social media – and here, we’re talking about your entire suite of options, including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest, YouTube, Vine, your company blog and more – is creating and finding content to share with your audience.

When faced with a platform to step up and share your company’s message, it’s easy to become overwhelmed. There’s tons of advice out there that says all you have to do is present interesting, informative content – but how, exactly, does one do that?

The trick is remembering the 3 S’s!

S is for Strategic

Every piece of content you post should have a sound business reason for existing. Ask yourself, “What do I want my social media presence to do for me?” For example, you may want to spotlight a particular line of merchandise in your store, or drum up business for your restaurant during a particularly slow day – let’s say Thursday nights. Use that goal as your focus point when you’re deciding what type of messaging you want to share on social media. At least half of your content in any given time period should be moving you closer to achieving that goal.

For the retailer, that means devoting half of your postings, for example, to discussing the new merchandise, showing pictures of it in your store or in use, and information about any price incentives or special deals you may be offering. If you’re a restaurant owner, the same idea applies: devote at least half of your content to all the great reasons your customers should come see you on Thursdays!

S is for SO MANY PICTURES

Social media is intensely visual, and it’s becoming more so every day. The very best thing you can do to populate your social media platforms is to create and collect images that remind customers why they want to come do business with you. This can be direct imagery – think pictures of your merchandise, for example, or even of your building or logo. This can also include indirect imagery that doesn’t necessarily feature anything you actually sell, but speaks to the emotional experience your customers can connect with. That’s why a custom cake baker might share pictures of a happy bride embracing her groom, while a luggage retailer might show shots of beautiful tropical destinations.

Ideally, every post you make should have a visual component. For many business owners, it’s much easier to think in terms of collecting pictures rather than creating content. To post one picture every day for a month, you only need 30 images. Reach out to your vendors and business partners to see what images they can share with you; get very familiar with your camera.

S is for Stockpile

Small business owners are busy people. Part of the challenge of creating social media content is finding time, on a daily basis, to identify images and create copy to share with your customers. Avoid the stress by scheduling a short period of time each week – think an hour or two – to gather all of the content you’re going to share in the coming week. This streamlines the process tremendously.

Are You Having A Tough Time With Your Social Media?

We’re here to help! Put our team of expert marketers, copywriters, and design pros to work managing your social media marketing. Our campaigns are designed to help you achieve your business goals. The process is simple, stress-free, and totally painless. Ready to find out more? Call us today!