Using social media is a great way to reach out to people, but what do I say on your posts?
Here are 10 types of posts that people respond to who may be in your target market.
Create and Curate Valuable, Engaging Content
The secret to growing a base of loyal, raving fans is to provide valuable, entertaining content.
After all, the whole purpose of social media is being social – hanging out with people we know, like, and trust, and sharing things we find useful, entertaining, or inspiring.
Before you start posting, boosting your skills at making quality post is essential. Canva is a tool that is easy and really helpful for putting together quality pictures with content on the picture or making collages. You will love it.
Don’t lead with your wallet!
If you barge right in on your social media platforms with constant messages of “buy my stuff” or “join my team,” you’re going to fail. Fast. Not only that, Facebook will lower the boom faster than you can say “Ban Hammer of Doom.”
The reason so many people burn through their “warm list” of friends, family, neighbors and colleagues is that they start seeing them as sources of income – not as valuable relationships. Don’t be that person.
In other words…
Don’t lead with your wallet!
Nobody wants to hang out with “that person.”
Think of yourself as a “data collector,”
not a “salesperson.”
Your social media strategy is a long-term strategy. You’ll start slow. You’ll build gradually. And you’ll promote softly.
That’s what makes relationships work.
Instead of thinking of social media as a way to make money, think about it as a way to gather information about your target market.
Your social media tribe is like a group of people hanging out at a coffee shop or book club or cocktail party. Be social. Share about yourself. Ask them to share about themselves.
The more you engage your followers, the more likely they are to tell you exactly who they are and what they want. Your job? Give it to them!
The way to do that is to create your own valuable content, and curate or share other people’s valuable content.
While you can use text, audio, infographics, or video for your content, you should know that the kinds of posts that get the most engagement and reach on Facebook are video posts.
Your posts can be entertaining, educational, delivered as stories, or just plain interesting facts. Just make sure you share what’s appropriate for your niche and make it valuable and relevant to the people you are targeting.
1. Ask Questions
Questions are automatically engaging. They create curiosity. They get people thinking. They’re the most likely type of post to generate comments and start conversations.
Not only that, they’re the primary way you can collect data about your visitors and engage them at the same time.
The best questions are short, light-hearted, and based on yes/no or A, B, C multiple choice.
· What do you think is the #1 reason people are afraid to get on camera?
· What’s your favorite way to get information online? A. Video, B. Audio, or C. Article? (Please let me know!)
· What kind of training would help you more, closing sales over the phone or closing sales using Facebook Messenger?
· Just curious…________________?
· If I showed you______________, would you_______________?
2. Ask for Opinions
In our experience living on this planet, when you ask for people’s opinion, you’re going to get it.
That means you had better be prepared to hear it!
The value, though, in asking for your follower’s’ opinion is that they’ll share information that can help you create products, prepare posts, or provide additional value to them. Opinions are gold – especially to a data collector!
Here’s how you go about it:
· “In your opinion, what makes a person successful at losing weight?” (Or creating supplemental income? Or managing their money? Or whatever your product or service is.)
· “Need your feedback: which logo (or picture, or headline, or layout) do you like best – A, B, or C?
· “Which drives people most: A. fear, or B. vision?”
3. Inspiration
In the interest of being social and creating shares, look for ways to inspire your followers.
· Post motivational images, quotes, memes, or audio messages.
· Post your own motivation videos, or share other people’s videos (Les Brown, Steven Covey, or TED talks, for example).
· Post links to inspiring articles from Forbes, Entrepreneur, Success, or your own blog articles.
4. Vulnerability
The most refreshing and impactful kinds of interactions people can have with one another is to share themselves — warts and all.
After all, the world is full of people posturing and pretending that everything is 100% fantastic 100% of the time.
And it’s not. Not by a long shot.
The truth is that everyone screws up. Everyone makes mistakes. Everyone falls down, cops out, or hides under the covers at one point or another.
And more and more often, in this cynical age, people are starving for vulnerability, authenticity, and consistency.
When you openly admit your mistakes, ‘fess up to your shortcomings, and own up to your own less than sterling behavior, you give other people permission to be who they are.
And when people feel it’s okay to be who they are in your presence, they become incredibly loyal and supportive.
Be aware, though, you can’t fake vulnerability. Vulnerability posts work best when they are spontaneous, timely, and honest.
5. Rant/Straight Talk
Think of ranting as one-step beyond vulnerability. It’s you being your most stirred-up self.
When you rant, you’ve got to do it with a purpose, and you’d better be ready to annoy, offend, or stir up controversy with your followers.
A rant or “straight talk” post can also be perceived as “tough love” when you already have relationships in place.
It can also be inspiring, especially if you use it as a teaching moment.
6. Fill in the Blank
Get your fans to participate in your data collection efforts by filling in the blanks. You’ll end up with lots of ideas for products, courses, webinars, and related posts based on what your followers tell you!
Here are some examples:
“Freedom, to me, means ____________________”
“The first thing I do to kick off my morning is ______________”
“_________________________inspires me!”
“If I could have one superpower, it would be ____________________”
“The best thing I ever did in my life was ___________________________”
A similar, light-hearted, and outrageously engaging fill-in-the-blank is the “Caption this Photo” post. People love to participate, comment, like, and share posts like those.
7. Lifestyle
Facebook is social. Share your life with your fans.
Whether it’s the camping trip with the kids, the white water rafting tour with your extended family, or just you working in your garden, or waiting to pick up your daughter from ballet, share your life with your fans.
You get bonus points if you face planted while learning to water ski or found a huge weird bug in the garden!
A lifestyle post works well as a video, if possible, because it gives your visitors real insight into your life and helps them know, like, and trust you.
8. Sneak Peek/Curiosity/Preview
This is a great way to pre-test ideas for products, courses, articles, or webinars to see if they would be of interest to your followers.
Here are some examples of language you might use:
· “If I put together a video series on how I _______________…would that be of interest to anyone?”
· “I’m thinking about doing a webinar on ___________. If I put it together, would you like to know about it?”
· “I’m creating a course about how to ________________. Is that something you’d like to know about?”
9. Announcements
Use announcement posts to introduce your fans to anything new you are doing.
Announce your webinars, courses, contests, giveaways, events. Use video, with a text teaser for maximum impact.
If your fans need to register or sign up, you can include a link or banner call to action.
10. What’s Hot?
Stay current with what’s hot, based on what your people want.
For example, right now, Livestreaming is hot. Go ahead and ride that wave and Livestream events for your fans.
And for fun, stay current with popular culture – movies, arts, entertainment.
What’s hot also refers to paying attention to your posts that create the most engagement, the most likes, shares, and comments. When you’ve got a winner, capitalize on it!
Vary the Kinds of Posts You Create to Keep Your Fans Engaged
You are definitely going to want to “mix it up” a little as you engage with your fans. You won’t post the same way three times a day, or 5 days in a row. To get—and keep—their engagement, remember value, entertainment, education, and relevance.
And for fun, stay current with popular culture – movies, arts, entertainment.
What’s hot also refers to paying attention to your posts that create the most engagement, the most likes, shares, and comments. When you’ve got a winner, capitalize on it!
Vary the Kinds of Posts You Create to Keep Your Fans Engaged
You are definitely going to want to “mix it up” a little as you engage with your fans. You won’t post the same way three times a day, or 5 days in a row. To get—and keep—their engagement, remember value, entertainment, education, and relevance.
Curate and Share Valuable Content and Resources You Find Online
When you’re just starting out, curating and sharing other people’s content is a great way to begin building your own credibility and authority.
That means you should follow groups, authorities, and resources who are on the cutting edge themselves. Subscribe to their newsfeeds. Gather relevant information and be the first to share it with your fans – while it’s hot.
· Schedule time every day to look at content from people you follow regularly, so you can be one of the first to share or comment on it.
· Highlight the best of the week’s news in your industry or niche.
· Pick the best available content to share – and include your own opinion on it.
· Plan a weekly piece of curated content into your calendar. For example, “Wednesday’s Good News” or “Feedback Friday” or “Weekend Wrap-Up.” That will help you develop a reputation for consistency.
· Get your fans involved. Ask them what they read, where they go for solid information and who they trust for facts and advice.
Now that you’ve got some ideas for content creation and post types, it’s time to answer the raging question: when…and how often…should I post?
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