How to Develop Content Ideas for Facebook
7 Minute Read
Maintaining a relevant social media presence should be a critical aspect of your company’s marketing strategy. However, consistently coming up with engaging content that generates interest and builds your business can be challenging. There are times when anyone can run out of ideas.
Inspiration may occasionally fall in your lap, but interesting Facebook posts are often the result of thought, planning, and discipline. You don’t need to be a non-stop creative genius in order to have a great social media presence; you just need some tools to help nurture the talent and creativity you already have.
Below, we’ve listed some methods to help trigger ideas and fuel inspiration for compelling and engaging Facebook posts. If you’d like to learn more about cultivating your business’s online presence and increasing customer engagement, the social media experts at Twelve Three Media are standing by to help you bring your Facebook game to the next level.
8 Ways to Generate Fresh Facebook Content Ideas
Writer’s block? No problem. Consider some of these tips to help you come up with world-class Facebook posts that will grab your audience’s attention and build your business.
1. Know Your Audience
The key to creating an engaged audience is to post content that genuinely interests your clients or customers. By understanding your audience, you will be able to provide valuable information that will build stronger relationships and greater interaction.
- Create marketing personas: A marketing persona is a composite sketch of a primary segment of your audience. These personas help you create content that is useful and relevant to your market. Without a clear picture of your target customer, you may be just guessing what content your audience wants and be more likely to only develop content around what you know best – your company and its products or services.
- Use your analytics: One of the best ways to understand what your audience wants is to use your analytics. Facebook offers insights into what posts generate the most reach and engagement and which ones fall flat. By studying your top-performing posts, you can assess what characteristics they have in common and use that information to maximize the effectiveness of future content.
2. Brainstorm with Your Team
The collective creativity of your team is one of your organization’s greatest assets – so use it! Brainstorming sessions are an ideal way to tap into the experience and imagination of multiple members of your team and come up with fresh ideas. There is an energy that builds during brainstorms. As that energy builds, more ideas start to flow. While some ideas may fall by the wayside, others will blossom and develop.
Megan Thielen, Lead Social Media Strategist at Twelve Three Media, recently explained some strategies for brainstorming when coming up with fresh and engaging Facebook posts:
“One thing we do is encourage everyone to openly share during brainstorms. You never know what can come from something that may not seem good in your head or that you’re afraid to share. Some of the best ideas we’ve executed on have come from something that, at face value, doesn’t seem all that great or fully baked. Another thing is to disrupt how you approach your brainstorms – think of an idea, then think about how to execute on that idea from a tactical perspective. A lot of people get stuck or immediately jump to tactics and miss out on the bigger idea or thing you’re trying to accomplish.”
3. Consider a Variety of Content
The best Facebook content strategies utilize a varied mix of content types. By including a rich assortment of different content in your marketing strategy, you can drive a more engaging experience for your audience. Some of the most effective content types include:
- Blog posts: Sharing your new blog posts and re-sharing old blog posts are ideal ways to bring readers to your website and build authority with your audience.
- Videos: People love videos, especially brief videos that answer pertinent questions. Limit your videos to between 15 and 90 seconds and use captions.
- Photos: Visual content can capture attention and stop people from scrolling. You can show people enjoying your product or service or share images of your staff and community involvement.
- Infographics: Not only can they be fun, but infographics are strong tools in any marketing strategy. They make sharing information easier and more attractive. To avoid getting your infographic cut off in the feed, take a screenshot of part of the infographic that is more Facebook-friendly, add a brief description, and link to the full version on your website.
4. Follow Trends
Trends on Facebook, and social media in general, are constantly evolving. When marketing on Facebook, you need to stay on top of new and emerging trends to rise above your competition. When you post about topics that people are talking about, you can increase your chances of people liking, sharing, or commenting on your post.
It may go without saying that the best place to find trends on social media is on social media. But don’t limit yourself to just Facebook; see what’s happening on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Twitter. You can build Twitter streams that follow general topics and specific social media hashtags.
Additionally, some podcasts can offer a wealth of insights into emerging trends and tips on how to maximize your Facebook presence.
5. Learn from Your Industry Peers and Thought Leaders
Competitors and thought leaders within your industry can provide inspiration for Facebook content and give you an idea about what topics are generating engagement with your potential audience.
If your page has at least 100 followers, you can create a Pages to Watch list in your Facebook Insights. You can add competitors’ pages to your watch list and find useful information about them, such as their total page likes, number of posts each week, amount of engagement during the week, and the percentage increase or decrease in likes over the week.
6. Go Behind the Scenes
Your company can get on a more personal level with your audience by pulling back the curtain and sharing behind-the-scenes photos, videos, and stories of your business. By presenting this type of content, it allows your customers to know you better and what you have to offer. It helps establish your authenticity and the trust customers give your brand.
Go behind the scenes to look for inspiration in the day-to-day life of your business:
- Give a peek into your daily activities: A glimpse of your production line, QC process, team meetings, or other day-to-day processes that occur can help to build a connection.
- Highlight team members: Put the spotlight on your team members from time to time. Your company will feel more relatable when your audience can see the faces of those who work behind the scenes. You can make separate posts about individuals to allow people to get to know them better. Explain your team members’ positions, how they approach their jobs, and what they love most about what they do.
- Share interests and hobbies: You are more than just a business, and your team has interests and hobbies outside of the workplace that your audience may find relatable or even inspirational. Perhaps you are learning a new instrument, reading a great book, or embarking on a personal fitness journey. Facebook is a great place to share these activities and start conversations around them.
- Show community involvement: Maybe your business is sponsoring an event or engaging in volunteer work. Highlight these activities to convey your dedication to helping others and your commitment to the community.
7. Interact with Your Audience
More than a catchy tagline or attention-grabbing graphic, an authentic story can touch your audience on a human level and tell something real about your business. What is your company’s history? What inspired its creation? What hardships did you overcome to make your dream a reality? Why is your company’s mission different from the competition? What is your vision for the future? Your story is important, so tell it!
By asking questions and responding to your audience’s answers, you can develop genuine conversations and natural interest. Think creatively about the questions you want to ask. Ask about topics that are relevant to your industry or check for opinions about emerging trends. These interactions won’t necessarily act as scientific surveys, but they can generate compelling discussions and demonstrate your interest in the thoughts of your customers.
8. Consider Contests and Giveaways
A well-planned contest or giveaway can increase your company’s reach, brand awareness, engagement, and followers. When developing a contest or giveaway, make sure that it is relevant to your audience. If you simply give away a new laptop or cash – something everyone wants – you won’t build relationships with your target market; keep it specific to you and your customer base.
A great prize for a contest or giveaway could be one of your products or services. Of course, that may not make sense for some services, so try to think of what could relate to your offerings and appeal specifically to your target audience.
Need Help with Your Company’s Social Media Presence?
Your social media presence requires constant thought and attention. When you’re trying to handle the thousands of responsibilities that come with running your business, it can be extremely difficult to stay on top of social media best practices. It may be in your best interest to hire outside expertise.
The experienced team at Twelve Three Media handles every aspect of digital marketing with in-house industry experts. From website development and SEO to social media marketing and paid advertising, we know what works and we are committed to helping your business reach its goals.
If you need help with your social media strategy, contact Twelve Three Media today and give your company the unfair marketing advantage!