5 Social Media Post Ideas for your Small Business

According to The HubSpot Blog's 2024 Social Media Marketing Report, 82% of social media marketers reported that social media marketing was effective for their brand in 2023. However, 17% reported that creating engaging content is the biggest social media challenge they expect to face in 2024. We've rounded up 5 engaging social media post types to reach for when you're coming up empty on new content ideas for your small business's social media pages. Bookmark this post for easy reference (and for extra credit, create a template for each post type!).

Customer Testimonial

Customer Testimonial Instagram Post Template, Canva

Simple yet effective, posting a quote from a real customer promoting your business’s product or service is a quick way to build credibility while keeping your social media content fresh. The beauty of this post type is that you can let your customer’s words speak for themselves. Display the quote in your brand’s preferred font and color palette and keep the design clean and easy to read.  

Promotional Giveaway or Contest

Giveaway Instagram Post Template, Canva

Launching a promotional giveaway or running a contest can be a highly effective growth strategy, with one caveat. Keep in mind that the most effective giveaways and prizes are closely related to the product or service your brand offers. Ideally, you will be giving away:

• Your brand’s product

• Discount on your brand’s product or service

• Free trial of your brand’s service

If you select a prize that is unrelated to your brand, such as a free iPhone when your brand offers tax preparation services, you run the risk of creating artificial engagement. While you may see an increase in followers or a boost in engagement while the promotion is running, you run the risk of those numbers dropping off once the shiny prize is no longer up for grabs. By making the prize related to your brand, you are more likely to retain those new followers after the promotion ends.

Short Video Showcasing Your Product or Service

Product Video Template, Canva

There’s a reason that 91% of businesses have reported using videos as a marketing tool—it’s highly effective and engaging! In fact, 81% of consumers say they want to see more short-form video content (typically around a minute or less in length) from brands. Common objections to incorporating video content into a brand’s social media strategy include:

• Expense

• Lack of production knowledge

• Simply not knowing where to start

But the good news is that even low-tech video content filmed on a phone camera can boost engagement! And almost any post type can be easily converted into short-form video content:

• Instead of posting a static graphic displaying a customer testimonial, try shooting a quick video of the customer giving their testimonial.

• Shoot a short video demonstrating how to use your product.

• Cut together a series of product beauty shots set to music.

The great thing about short-form video content is that it doesn’t have to be Oscar-worthy to move the needle with social media engagement. The more entertaining the better, but you’d be surprised at how many likes a quick, simple video can garner with little or no expense to your marketing budget. Tools such as Animoto can help even novices create impressive video content in no time.

Listicle Related to Your Industry

Listicle Instagram Template, Canva

Ah, the multi-faceted power of the listicle. The combination of a “list” and an “article,” a listicle is just the bite-sized type of content that our modern, short attention-spanned brains love consuming. The beauty of incorporating listicles into your social media strategy is that they kill many birds with one stone:

• They’re short and easy to produce

• They can help to establish the brand as a subject matter expert

• They stop the scroll with attention-grabbing headlines

• They can be easily repurposed for an email marketing campaign or developed into a longer blog article

The most effective listicles are typically comprised of 3-5 points and grab the reader’s attention with a catchy title containing the number of items in the list. For example, “5 Social Media Post Ideas for Your Small Business.” (Why does that title sound familiar?) Design a visually appealing static graphic laying out the items in your list, or create a short video with title cards clearly defining each list point. However you choose to display the content, listicles are primed to be shared, which helps expand your brand’s social media reach.

Calendar Event Commemoration

Labor Day Instagram Post Template, Canva

For many busy social media managers, holidays and other calendar-based events often become the bread and butter of filling blank spots in a social media content calendar. With a plethora of designated days to choose from (Lost Sock Memorial Day anyone?), it’s easy to see why reaching for a wacky holiday or two can be a tempting way to fill up your brand’s feed. However, the most successful calendar event commemoration posts feel intentional and genuine rather than random and arbitrary. A few ways to lend weight to your holiday posts include:

• Pair it with a promotion. Offer a time-limited discount in celebration of the holiday at hand and suddenly your calendar event is a conversion event.

• Celebrate with sensitivity. No one wants to be accused of trying to profit off a sensitive occasion. If posting in celebration of Veterans Day, for example, make it clear that your intention is to honor the veterans, not to make a quick sale.

• Lean into the laughs. While you wouldn’t want to fill your grid with tributes to every silly holiday you can find, if your brand sells gourmet fried chicken sandwiches, posting a funny meme in honor of Dance Like a Chicken Day would be a great choice. Humor is engagement gold, just make sure it makes sense for your brand.