You’ve created your social media profiles and you are ready to go!

Now all you need is your content plan so you know what to post to those social media profiles.

Why Original Content is Critical to Social Media Success

There are different types of content you’ll want to use to ensure you have a well-rounded presence on your chosen social media platforms. You definitely should plan on a mix of both promotional and non-promotional content. You will want to mix up the formats with photos, videos, and links. You’ll want to identify content that appeals to your ideal customer type in a relevant and complementary-to-your-business sort of way. And you also really want to publish a mix of curated and original content to your profiles.

Content Creation Challenges

Of all of the above examples of social media content, quite often it’s the original content part of that content plan that small business owners find most difficult.

And the most common reasons given by small business owners as to why they are unable to create their own content (or not enough of it) are:

• Don’t have enough time to create content
• Don’t have the know-how to create content
• Don’t have the creativity to create content

Or some combination of these 3.

Why Curated Content Only Won’t Be Successful

Yes, it’s absolutely true that you can populate your social media profiles with 100% curated content (meaning, content created by other people). However, your online marketing isn’t going to be nearly as effective as it would be if you were creating your own content to share on your social media channels that spoke in your voice, showcased your talents and expertise, told your story, highlighted your customers, and represented your brand.

That’s why it’s also critical that you consider what it takes to be successful on any and all social media profiles you are considering using for your small business. 

Social Media Platforms by Content Created

Will you blog? If so, you’ll be able to…

• Share that blog post on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Google My Business, and resize your blog post image for Instagram, and then direct people to visit your link in your Instagram bio (especially if you are using Linktree) to read your blog post in full. You also can create quote images to use as additional content on these same social media platforms from the “nuggets of wisdom” or sound bytes found in that same blog post. Your blog post can also be used as newsletter content.

Will you take photos? If so, you’ll be able to…

• Share single or multiple photos on Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest (with a link back to your site), LinkedIn, Google My Business, and Instagram. Facebook allows for single or multi-photo uploads, photo albums, photo carousels, and photo slideshows. Instagram is set up for photo sharing of 1-10 photos to the main feed, to Instagram Stories, and to be used in Instagram Highlights.

Will you podcast? If so, you’ll be able to…

• Embed podcast episodes on your website or blog, share podcast episode links to Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, Google My Business, and Instagram (directing people to visit your link in your Instagram bio to listen to your podcast in full), and share links to your podcasts as newsletter material.

Will you create videos? If so, you’ll be able to…

• Go Live on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, or Instagram, upload already-made videos to Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn, Google My Business, Pinterest or Instagram, embed videos on your website or blog, and share links to your videos on Facebook, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Google My Business and Instagram.

No one can write your brand’s story or showcase your expertise the way you can. Creating content is one of the very best and most worthwhile ways to do both. Even online, a potential customer needs to move through the Know, Like, Trust process with you and your small business before they are going to decide to buy from you. Relying too heavily – or completely – on other people’s content to populate your social media feeds will make it so your social media platforms aren’t nearly as effective as they would otherwise be.