You’ve managed to squeeze a little time out of your day to write your social media posts.
You sit down, but within minutes you’re being tormented by the Magic Roundabout playing in your head.
You’re drawing a blank, left staring at the blinking cursor of death!
Knowing what to post on social media is one of the most common questions I’m asked as a social media expert.
And it’s why over the years I’ve developed my own system to break down social media content into 8 handy categories I call content pillars.
They’re the pillars I use in my own business and teach my clients.
And it’s just a small part of what members learn inside the Pet Biz Thrive Online Club.
I’m here today to give you a taster of what these pillars are, so you too can simplify your content creation and get better results for your efforts on social media.
Story posts
Yes, you run a business. And yes, you should share posts about your business. But there’s a real human being behind all of that.
A human people want to know more about.
In amongst all the curated business talk, you must give people a glimpse of your real life.
This includes posts about your backstory and past experiences.
Your unique quirks and flaws.
The things that happen to you in your day-to-day life.
People buy from people. And this is what helps people come to know and like you for the person you are.
Tips posts
Your top tips are what help your audience see you as the expert they need.
It’s where you share content that helps your audience get a step closer towards solving the problems and challenges they face in their lives.
Here you’re creating content to educate.
You’re showing them you’re an expert on a particular topic and you’re the perfect person to help them with that problem.
That way when they’re looking for a solution to their pain points, you’re the only person they think about.
Connection posts
This is content you share that speaks directly to your audience’s current situation.
You paint the picture of what life is like for them right now.
You’re talking about the problems they’re dealing with in their emotional and physical world.
This shows you understand your customer. It helps your audience feel seen and heard.
Opinion posts
Opinion posts are what sets you apart from a sea of sameness.
It’s where you talk about your standpoints in your industry.
The values you stand by.
The causes you stand for and things you stand against.
It’s anything that’s going on in the world that gets your goat.
I know it might feel scary to share these opinions with the world out fear of being criticised or pushing people away. But I promise you, this is what makes your business shine brighter than everyone else.
People value passion and honesty, and those people that stand for the same things you do, will only be drawn more closer to you.
Testimonial posts
These days people need proof. They need to know you can deliver what you promise. And that it’s not just coming from your own mouth.
You need to have your own weekly bragging ritual. Where you share wins and case studies that demonstrate the results you’ve achieved for your customers.
Share kind words from happy customers, so anyone seeing those posts feel more confident in buying from you.
Engagement posts
You should also be sharing content specifically to ramp up the engagement on your posts.
They’re often entertaining, inspiring, light-hearted, short and snappy. Requiring little effort from your audience to participate.
These might be simple questions.
It could be a poll.
It might be a funny meme or an inspirational quote.
They should align with what’s going on for your ideal customer so they’re pulled to interact with your content.
List building posts
I talk a lot about the importance of growing your email list. And you can read more about that here.
But in order to grow that email list, you need to give people plenty of opportunity to become a subscriber.
And that means regularly sharing the benefits of signing up to your lead magnet as a post on social media.
Promotion posts
Ask for the sale. That’s right my friend. It might feel icky. It might feel sleazy.
But you absolutely must share content that specifically asks people to buy your thing.
Many business owners resist this. They don’t want to come across as too pushy or salesy.
Whereas some completely overdo it. I’ve seen many businesses that only share sales posts.
You need a balance of all the 8 content pillars if you want to grow an audience of raving fans that can’t wait to buy from you.
When you start categorising your social media content like this, suddenly it’s not so daunting. You set a standard for the type of posts you’ll share each week, then it’s far easier to think about individual topics under each category.
Is it time to stop whiling away the hours, days and months trying to figure out how to grow your pet business online?
Join the Pet Biz Thrive Online Club today and get all the support and resources you need to grow your audience, engagement and customer base.