Social media experts, how do you brainstorm for post ideas?
Hannah S Kim
21 replies
I guess this question goes out to anyone who uses social media professionally/personally, but where do you get inspiration for post ideas?
I love the flexible and creative space I'm offered through social media and enjoy getting immediate feedback from people, but struggle with how fast paced this space can be. It can be hard to post multiple times a day while maintaining your account quality. Any advice is appreciated!
Replies
Aaron O'Leary@aaronoleary
Product Hunt
For the majority of my posts I just see what's trending and see how I can incorporate that into the brands voice. You have to be fast.
For larger content driven things, we have a regular weekly call for social and we brainstorm a lot of ideas there.
Share
Hi Hannah, I often find inspiration in things that are of their moment (recent events), or when someone points out that something I've done or find obvious could be useful to someone else.
@waynesmallman Thanks Wayne!
I am not an expert, but I got some inspiration in Pinterest and following other non-related accounts.
@anxo_armada Love Pinterest.
Hello Hanna,
we have seen a handful of marketers using the TrendLab.io Discovery tool to cover topics that are fast-growing. In the same platform, they can also find market intelligence and customer insights data for these topics. This way their content gets more attraction and it's easy for the marketing team to have all insights in one place.
Hope it helps,
Hector
@hectorvidal Hi Hector, thanks for sharing this great resource! :)
IMO, look for problems and gaps in the product/service you use or read or hear about, imagine the future, brainstorm, redo what's done.
@shrutika22lodhi Thanks Shrutika!
Content inspiration is everywhere. If you're worrying on a daily basis about keeping up a certain output, you lack systems.
Don't do only ad hoc posting, otherwise, you succumb to this "oh dear, what do I post today" mentality.
- Pay attention to the world
- Make note-taking a habit, and use Obsidian
- Curate others content whilst adding your 2 cents
- Use old content as inspiration for new content
- Set aside time to produce quality long-form content
- Break down long-form content into bite-size chunks and distribute that
- Reconstitute, recycle and recontextualise media and copy across platforms
- Use tools to batch schedule content in advance
If you know you've got a pipeline of scheduled content you free up mental headspace to engage creatively and flexibly with the platforms, as well as focus time and attention elsewhere. And remember that posting is only half of the game. Less than that even. Do not neglect outreach and engagement.
@bryandigitalio Thank you so much, this was really helpful! I agree, planning ahead is super important.
@bryandigitalio @hannahsuyun You're quite welcome 🙂 It's important to establish processes that empower you to engage with your creativity and unique perspective, not get overwhelmed by a sense of obligation toward our algorithmic overlords 😆
Always go for quality over quantity.
Hey @hannahsuyun
I would start to brainstorm and look for a niche. Lets say travel. Then I would look at at least 10 other Social Media sites which are operating in your niche to get a better understanding of what actually works. After that in mind I would use websites like unsplash, pixabay,... to look up for free pictures. Then I would use a tool like canva to implement the pictures into frames and to add captions:)
@hannahsuyun @mwobith This is very similar to my process; it's reassuring to hear that someone else is doing this as well :)
Hi Hanna,
Apart from trying to stay up-to-date with the trends, and reading the newsletters, I try to stay active from both my personal and professional accounts. This gives me a broader perspective as to what a reader would like to see. I regularly look for ideas that can add value to my company as well as our audience.