You finally gave in and said it’s time to get busy with social media and created a Facebook page. Now what?

Creating original content for your Facebook page is not as difficult as you would think, as long as you have a plan of action and follow a strategy that will help you achieve your overall goals. The major challenge here is finding the time to do everything.

Start writing down a few objectives that you want your content to achieve. For instance, you may want to educate your audience about a certain topic, maybe you want to make them laugh and show them you’re a fun business or perhaps you want to touch them with motivational or inspirational content. Once you’ve determined the direction of your content, the next step is planning your editorial calendar for the month.

While you’ll want to have enough posts to regularly engage your audience, try not to post more that once every 2-3 days. Getting abusive with your posting can result in fans ‘Unliking’ your page or hiding your content from their Facebook. For this same reason, you’ll want to avoid getting overly promotional with your posts as well. It’s ok to promote your business in moderation, but try not to do it more that 2-3 times per month.

The best kind of content creates value for your audience, while helping you achieve your social media goals. Here are a few examples that we regularly use:

Fun Facts

Facts are a great way to educate your audience about a certain industry or product. Make sure to choose something fun that people will want to share with their friends. For example, a dentist could post: “Did you know a giraffe’s teeth are only on its lower jaw – but don’t worry, they have a 20-inch tongue to help them eat! #FunFact.”

Quote of the Day

People love beautiful and inspirational quotes and if you can find a way to tie it back to your business, this type of content can work like a charm. If you run a gym or a fitness-related business for instance, you can post a photo of a popular athlete and a motivational quote of theirs. Here’s a great example: “You have to believe in yourself when no one else does – that makes you a winner right there.” – Venus Williams.

Humour

The most viral content (most shared) on the web is by far the funny stuff. While humour is not always easy, there’s an abundance of funny comics, memes or photos that you can share or use as inspiration. If you run a plumbing business, run a quick Google image search for ‘funny plumbing’ and I guarantee you will find at least 10 hilarious content ideas.

News

Keep your fans in the loop with community news or updates happening in your industry. If you’re a real estate agent or a mortgage broker, you can post about trends in the housing market or major changes happening in certain municipalities. Anything your audience may find interesting to read about.

Staff Highlight

People like to see what’s going on behind the scenes on Facebook and generally respond well to internal photos of the staff. Give a member of your team a shoutout and explain why they are adding value to your customer’s experience.

Customer Highlight

If they’re ok with it, why not post about your best clients? For example, a hair salon can post a photo of one of their loyal clients saying how long he/she has been coming to see them. By showing how loyal people are to your business, you are helping to promote it.

PR

Are you involved in any charities? Do you sponsor community events or local sports teams? If so, there’s no better place to talk about it than on social media. This is a great way to humanize your business and earn yourself some brownie points with the local community.

Showcase Your Work

If you can show photos of what you do for a living, get your camera ready because you definitely want to share this on Facebook. For example, as a contractor, you can post a before and after shot of a job you just did.

Videos

Don’t forget to include video content, if possible 1-2 times per month. Video happens to be a great way to engage your audience and maximize the number of people your content reaches on Facebook. If you can, opt for uploading an internal video versus posting a YouTube link. If you’re in the automobile industry, you can record a video on your smartphone of a staff member explaining a quick car maintenance tip.

There are plenty more great ideas for Facebook content, but this should help get you going. To really make the most of your social media marketing, it’s important to be consistent. You can also benefit from using Facebook’s advertising options, even if you have a small budget.

Think this will be too much work for you to put on your plate? We offer end-to-end social media management solutions to help you achieve your marketing goals, while you stay focused on what’s most important, running your business.