Content is the backbone of social media, and it can make or break your account’s success. Do it right and you’ll establish yourself as the go-to authority. Do it wrong and you’ll just annoy people. So what do you do? You need to share a balanced mix of content which I’m going to show you.

Don’t make this mistake.

Most businesses blast how great they are, sharing nothing but their products and accolades. People go on social media to be entertained not to see ads! Don't just brag — you need to establish yourself as an authority while also creating a personal relationship with fans. Here are the 3 types of content you need…

• Authority content to show you’re a credible expert.

• Likability content to build a personal relationship.

• Promotional content to generate new business.

1. Authority content.

Educational how-to content.

Along with business updates, this should take up the largest amount of your content. You need to constantly add value and share expert advice to help your clients solve their problems. Think of your marketing as one big FAQ. There’s a hundred different ways to deliver the advice, just pick your fav!

Market News + Forecasts

This is another big one. Trends comes and go, but people will always want to know what’s going on, and what’s working right now. At least once a month I would do a wrap-up video. The key is to share data but also how it affects your clients (not just random numbers).

Weekly Updates.

This is easy, powerful and very few businesses do it. Once a week, share what you’re up to! Maybe 3 things that went well for the business or what you’re working on at the moment. Whatever it is… share what you’re doing! It baffles me how much great information and insights businesses have that they just don’t share online.

Awards + achievements.

These won’t come up quite as often but they are a great way to establish credibility. When you win an award or achieve a record-breaking accolades, share it! It’s also a good idea to pin this to the top of your Facebook page and make them prominent in your social media bios so people can see it easily.

In-the-moment advice

This is one of my favourite things to do on Instagram Stories. It adds value and it’s easy to do because you’re just share what you’re already doing. For example if you’re onboarding a big project, what did you tell the client? Share that. Basically you just want to share advice as you do it.

Interviews

Teaming up with other similar businesses is a great way to add value with expert advice, and build both of your audiences. Ask them questions that people want to know and either shoot a video or do a live stream.

2. Likability content.

Behind the scenes.

BTS photos + videos are a great way to build a relationship and show you’re in demand. It’s unique, it’s not generic and it shows you’re busy. Either take pics yourself or get your PA to take photos while you’re just doing what you normally do. In the office, at home, even business meetings… anything!

Fun stuff.

Have some fun and show your personality. Things like selfies, pets and light hearted stuff. For example one of our clients Darcy Lord, when it was his birthday his team gift wrapped his entire desk. Fun stuff like that is great!

Photos with people

This literally works better than anything else. Take photos with other people in it — whether it’s your clients, your team, locals, family etc. It works! People don’t just want to follow a logo, they want to follow you and your people.

Community

People love to know what’s going on in the community (like events and infrastructure upgrades) and great places to check out (new cafes, bars, restaurants etc). It shows that you care about the community and not just in it for the sale!

Personal Beliefs + Values

Sharing your values, beliefs and what’s important to you is a great way to connect with your audience. It doesn’t have to be always business related, it could be about being kind, caring for others, working hard… whatever matters to you.

Motivational quotes.

Who doesn’t love a bit of inspiration? They get you right in the feels. People love quotes — there’s literally pages that only do this and they are viral.

Random links.

This one is pretty self explanatory. This is where you can share interesting links or viral videos like house made of lego, a touching story about a dog being reunited with his owner. It doesn’t always have to be always be related to your business, just something that your audience would be entertained by.

3. Promotional content.

Testimonials

A very important part of your marketing strategy, obviously. The problem is that for most business this is the only thing they share. When you share a testimonial make it warm and fuzzy to show that you genuinely care about your clients. (Oh and create some nice artwork on Canva, don’t just share a boring link to Rate My Agent).

case studies.

Similar to sold posts is sharing case studies of what happened. The cool thing about these is that you can re-share a case study even if the project wasn’t recent, just so you can keep your content consistent.

Profile videos.

This won’t get shared all the time, but having a professionally created profile video does a lot for your image. You can re-share it from time to time, and even create shorter snippets to share as bite-sized content.

Why Work With You?

What makes you different? Why should people work with you? Occasionally it’s important to tell people what working with you is like, and how it’s different to other businesses/organisations out there. Obviously do this in moderation and make sure you share valuable content, because this by itself is just bragging.

Competitions

These are a great way to reach your local market. Pick a prize that’s worth $100 or more (often a good idea to make it themed around events like Christmas etc) and make simple entry terms (e.g ‘like and share to enter'). DON’T ask them to do too much or it won’t work. These competitions go off, boost it fo $50 and you’re going to reach 3000+ locals with ease!

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Integrate all 3 types of content into your marketing and people would know about you and your business. If you’d like a hand with your marketing, get in touch with our friendly team.

Mitch Hills @masteredmarketing