Who else FEELS like social media is getting harder?!

I'm not sure if it's just me, but it feels like social media takes more work than it used to. I've been creating content for myself and for clients for over 14 years, and I remember when social media was truly about connections. (You know, being SOCIAL.)

Now, it seems like there's so much pressure to be perfect, to have the most likes and followers, that it's just not enjoyable anymore.

Maybe I'm getting old(er), but I miss the days when social media was about sharing your life with friends and family—even for brands looking to use social media platforms to sell something.

Nowadays, it feels like social media is changing every few weeks. New features, new trends, new algorithms, new competition. It's becoming more difficult to stand out from the crowd and get your content seen by your target audience.

There are so many different platforms to choose from, and each one has its own algorithm that dictates what content is shown to users. Trying to keep up can be overwhelming, and it's easy to get discouraged when your hard work isn't paying off.

Help with social media burnout

Don't get me wrong, I still think social media has a lot of benefits.

And even though it may be more challenging than ever before, I still believe that social media can be a powerful tool for businesses and individuals alike. If you're willing to put in the time and effort, you can still find success on social media. 

You just have to be strategic about how you approach social media marketing.

If you are a small business owner or marketer like me, you understand that it takes a lot of time and creative energy to produce ongoing content for social media marketing. I'm here to help make it a little bit easier.

Back in June, I taught a class for Outshinery about how to take one idea and turn it into ten different pieces of content. This helps YOU (a small business owner or social media marketer) to save both time and energy so you can focus on other aspects of your business.

Getting started with creating content with one idea: answer your customers’ questions

One of the best ways to get started with something both informative and interesting is to answer your customers’ questions. 

You know, those questions that you get over and over (...and over) again.

Really dive into the frequently asked questions about your products. Look at what people ask in the tasting room, online, through social media, or even through events you participate in.

1 - Start with frequently asked questions from your customers.

If you don't have customers yet, or are drawing a blank, here are some to get you started:

• How does your product work?

• What are the benefits of using your product?

• How can your product improve my life?

• Is your product safe to use?

• What are some tips for using your product?

• Can you tell me more about your company’s philosophy?

• Where do you source your ingredients/products from?

Write all of these questions down or any others that pertain to you. 

2 - Circle the top questions

These are the questions that come up the most (or honestly, the ones you get the most excited about). Try to start off with between five and ten. 

3 - Now answer each circled question

Ideally in one sentence. If you don't have the answers, ask people at your company who do. Don’t feel bad about not knowing. 

Ask the people closest to the products, or those who talk to customers the most. Bonus points if you talk to both and possibly notice differences in how they answer the questions. 

Come to an agreement with your team on the best answers. (KEY!)

4 - Create a shared Document for the FAQ

Take the questions and answers and create a Google Doc with all of them. Share it with every employee. 

In addition to being a launching point for content, this serves as a great place for keeping FAQs for all employees, new and old, to refer back to when customers ask these questions. That way, everyone can be on the same page. 

5 - Dive deeper into each answer.

Take each answer and break it down into three different types of content you could create: educational, inspirational, and entertaining. The most popular content on social media falls into one of these three categories, so if engagement is your goal, you should try to adhere to one of them.

Educational content teaches something new; inspirational content motivates people to reach their goals; entertaining content engages people and keeps them coming back for more.

When it comes to educational content, people are always looking to learn new things, whether it's through a tutorial on how to do something or an informative article on a topic they're interested in. If you can teach your audience something thought-provoking, you're sure to get some great engagement.

This can include blog posts, infographics, and articles that provide information on a variety of topics. This type of content can be helpful for people who are looking to learn more about a certain subject or who want to stay up-to-date on current events.

Examples of educational content:

• Go into detail: Provide step-by-step tips for your customers, or you could have an employee make a behind-the-scenes video of the wine-making process.

• Live stream: Host a live video on Facebook, Instagram, or YouTube and invite everyone, or go in-depth with wine club members on a Zoom wine tasting specifically centered on one FAQ. 

• Repurpose content: Create long-form videos for YouTube, and then break them down into smaller chunks for Instagram Reels. This allows you to tell stories with more nuance than strictly short-form content permits, and it provides viewers with an opportunity to dive deeper into any specifics that they're passionate about. 

Inspirational content is all about motivating people to reach their goals. We all have things we want to achieve in life, and sometimes we need a little push to get there. That's where inspirational content comes in. 

When you're authentic with your audience, it builds a deeper connection with them. Telling the stories behind your business can help customers feel like they really know you and appreciate what you do. Being genuine is always the best policy!

Examples of inspirational content:

• Connect on a personal level: Create a video of employees talking about why a certain topic matters to them personally. Why did they become involved in the company? What keeps them motivated day in and day out?

• Tell a story: Find stories that relate to your FAQs. These can be about overcoming adversity, how you started your business, details about why you make the products you do, talking about your values, or other uplifting content.

• Create an inspirational quote: Take quotes from employees or customer testimonials to create inspirational quote images (and encourage customers to share).

Finally, entertaining content is what keeps people coming back for more. If you can make your social media posts fun and engaging, then your audience is going to stick around.

This could include funny memes and videos or interesting articles and quizzes—anything that is designed to make people laugh or smile. This type of content is often shared widely and can brighten people's days.

Examples of entertaining content:

• Have fun: Even if you are educating or inspiring customers, have fun with your content. If you are having fun, people will want to stick around and watch more.

• Create shareable content: Brainstorm ideas for creating relatable and funny quote images related to your FAQs (make sure to keep them on-brand!).

• Don’t take yourself too seriously: Think about the customer experience on social media like someone coming into your wine tasting room for the first time. The experience is really all about connecting with people. It's not all about the vineyards or the flavor profiles. Instead, it's about creating a rapport; this means being personable and engaging, and really listening to what they have to say.

6 - Now it's time to create content.

When it comes to content creation, even the best-laid plans often go out the window. But if you take a step back and focus on creating quality content around these eight core ideas, you'll be miles ahead of your competition who is aimlessly churning out content without a strategy.

One way to ensure you're consistently creating quality content is to utilize a content calendar.

A calendar allows you to sit down and plan out your content in advance so that you can focus on creating captions and ideas for your images and videos. It also allows you to track your progress and see how your posts are performing over time.

I have a 12-month content calendar spreadsheet for sale on my website that is specifically designed for businesses that have multiple people collaborating on social media. It breaks the year down into quarters so you can plan ahead, and it also has space for FAQs and brainstorming. This calendar will help your team stay organized and on track with content creation goals.

Block off time each week to sit down and brainstorm ideas and captions for social media. By utilizing just your FAQs and posting once a week, you’ll have a few months' worth of consistent content (assuming you only post once a week, which I don’t recommend). And since FAQs are designed to provide answers to common questions people have, they make for great evergreen posts that will continue to drive traffic and engagement long after they're published.

7 - Take a look at your analytics.

Pay attention to which posts are being most well-received. What gets the most comments, shares, or clicks? These metrics can give you some insight into what resonates with your audience.

Looking at the data can help you make decisions about what you want to create for social media in the future. If you see that posts about a certain topic tend to perform well, or that there's a type of post that isn't getting much attention, you can tailor your plan accordingly.

8 - Take actionable steps with your data.

Take this info, go back to the first tip, and start over by brainstorming new ideas or different ways to share your current FAQs! You can find new ways of talking about the same FAQ, or look at new ways to answer your customer’s most asked questions. Remember - your FAQ are a living document and as your business and the world changes - so do the questions from your customers.

… A lot of information about creating content for social media.

I know this blog post has a lot of info about creating content for your digital marketing efforts, so my recommendation is to save it somewhere and come back to it when you are ready to get started on your brainstorming.

Oh, and I will be creating several videos on my Instagram page about this, breaking down each step! :) Because the whole idea is helping YOU efficiently create content that connects with your audience so you can see your marketing efforts rewarded, even in today’s social media landscape.