Here’s a shortcut to find what to say on social media

Good social media is partly about having the right mix of content:

  • Direct calls to action only some of the time, for example: “Today we’re selling cake to anyone over 4 feet tall, stop by Emmy’s bakery today!”
  • Subtle “I-see-what-you-did-theres”, for example: “Here’s a selfie of Margo & her new tarantula! We <3 helping our clients find the perfect pet!”
  • And fun / entertaining stuff that may or may not be related to your business but proves you’re a human.

But it’s not always easy to find good, non-sales related content for social media. So we present:

3 tips on how to use Yelp, Amazon or other review sites for content

1. Tell your audience the story behind the products and services your reviewers like the most

If your most mentioned product comes from a specific supplier, do they have a video / blog post / “About us” story that you can share? If tweeting, be sure to include their Twitter handle so they can retweet you! If on Facebook make a Page post that tags their page.

Or, if you’re making your product in-house can you talk about a key ingredient or other component? Can you share a recipe, or even better, a video tutorial? There’s an Italian shop in my neighborhood that knows draws a crowd of onlookers every day: it put a street-facing window onto their pasta making room. This strategy works just as well online! Here’s another good example of a reviewer picking up on a story idea that might interest more fans:

That teacup collection sounds like social media gold, especially for image-based networks like Pinterest and Instagram.

 2. Highlight any employees who might have been mentioned on for their excellent service

One of the best ways to impress a customer is with wonderful service. If you have someone on your team who’s regularly praised for their service you should: 1) hang on to them! and 2) if they’re comfortable with it, use social media to share their pictures, names, or some small insight into their personalities. It’s also a great way to give them a pat on the back.

3. Talk up anything you have that can go toe-to-toe with things for which your competitors are being praised or criticized

Imagine a pizzeria owner who has done her homework by checking out her competitor’s reviews. Suppose she notices the competitor has earned high praise for its tomato sauce. If our pizzeria owner thinks her sauce is as good or better, why not use tweets and Facebook posts to highlight it? She might share pictures of the ingredients, describe the long cooking time and careful process, or even share the recipe. (And remember, it’s alright to repeat some of the same tweets and posts over the span of several days: your audience will be checking their profiles and feeds at a variety of times.) But an even better strategy might be to use that competitive intelligence to compete on an entirely different dimension. Is it her sauceless white pie that’s die for? Then she has a great opportunity to make sure her Facebook and Twitter fans know all about it.

I hope these ideas will give a running start to anyone who’s been tongue-tied on Twitter or Facebook lately. If you still find yourself at a loss for ideas, or if you need to save time on social media so you can spend it on your business, then check out our affordable, do-it-for-you social media service.