Tackling 3 common content obstacles

When it comes to small business social media, the struggle can be real on so many levels. The usual suspects: time, budgets, where to start. We tackled some of our “favorite” social media content struggles for you this month via Facebook Live (yes, that’s me in my unfiltered video glory!). Not only are these common ones that we hear from businesses we work with, but a two of them were super timely for events in March (St. Patrick’s Day and Daylight Saving Time).

Let’s dig into three:

1. Too Salesy: This one has two typical angles: Either you feel compelled t to sell all the time, or you’re aware of the boundaries and aren’t quite sure how to balance it out. Whether you’re of the over-seller or balancing act camp, it can help to take a step back, see what your audience is reacting to and see how you can pair messages together. For example, if you own a pizza shop, you could post the obvious “come on by for a delicious slice of pepperoni pizza today with your family.” Or, to take a more balanced approach that still accomplishes the same purpose, but in a more subtle, human-interest way, you could post a photo of a family enjoying dinner at your restaurant. Don’t get me wrong: Direct calls to action can be a good thing, but so is balance.
2. Timing: For many, March marked one of your least favorite times of the year: Daylight Saving Time. Not only are you still smarting about that, but now you’re probably also wondering how in the world that applies to your social media strategy. (This one even applies to non-changing locations, such as Arizona.) Well, your best posting times on social media might also be impacted by the time change. For example, if you’re in Arizona and you’re hoping to reach an East Coast audience with your social media posts, you’ll want to adjust the timing potentially if they’re now three hours ahead of you (so if you want to reach them at 5:00 p.m., you would now need that to deploy at 2:00 p.m. Arizona time). Give this a little bit to sift out and use social media analytics data to understand if your times have shifted.Bonus tip: If you’re using any type of social media scheduling software, you’ll also want to double check that posts scheduled prior to Daylight Saving Time are still following best practice for your intended audience.
3. Being Part of the Conversation: The good news: There’s no shortage of days to celebrate some type of holiday or daily observances (Eiffel Tower day, anyone?). The bad news: There are a lot, and they don’t always apply to you. First things first: Don’t try to do them all. In the case of March, St. Patrick’s Day was the holiday in question. If you didn’t have a direct connection to serving corned beef and cabbage, it may have seemed like a lost cause. When popular days like this come up that you’d like to incorporate into your social media efforts, but aren’t quite sure how consider a few starting points:Do you have an extended connection? For example, with St. Patrick’s Day, do you have Irish family roots? Did you visit Ireland recently? Another option is to show a behind the scenes visual of how your business may be celebrating. Did you decorate rainbow cookies or take your team out for green beer team building? And as a last resort, maybe you were just subtly supporting the day by wearing a green shirt. Bottom line: There are creative ways to be included in the conversation if you think outside the box.
4. Bonus: Live video! It’s here, there and everywhere, so chances are, it’s not going anywhere. If you’re standing on the edge of the pool wondering if and how you dive in, give it a test try. Your technology can be as simple as your smartphone. Topics can run the full spectrum of frequently asked questions, how-tos and live event showcases. You won’t know what works (and on which social media platform!) until you try.

For more about these tips, check out the videos, or drop us a note in the comments below!