I often hear people say they get overwhelmed with how to come up with content ideas for social media. The beauty entrepreneurs who I work with tell me things like:
“I don’t know what my audience wants to see”, or “I have a hard time finding content ideas”.
When I was a Beauty Editor at Essence.com, I knew that every season, I would be writing about the exact same topics. For example, every single summer, I wrote about SPFs for brown skin, and every spring I wrote a gift guide for Mother’s Day. I think you get where I’m going here…I had to come up with content ideas that were timely and relevant. And yet they were the very same topics we had written about the year before.
It might seem like this information could become repetitive, but our audience was always looking for refreshers, or updated takes on trends. We were also always attracting new readers who hadn’t seen those posts before on our site.
And it is the same for your brand! If you are consistently bringing new people to your online platforms, then there is someone who has not seen this information before! I always remind people in my social media community of this when they say they’re worried about being redundant.
There is no such thing as redundancy on social media when you are positioning yourself as an expert.
So I want to help you learn how to use your expertise, and that repetition, to come up with content ideas! Here are three easy ways to come up with content to post for your audience, no matter what category your beauty business falls into.
How to Come Up With Content Ideas:
- Promote Your Sales Events
- Answer Your FAQs
- Provide Your Clients / Customers With Next Steps
Let’s break down how you can use each of these methods to come up with content ideas.
Content Idea #1: Promote Your Sales Events
You are in business to generate revenue first and foremost. When you’re trying to come up with content ideas, you should be looking for ways to guide your clients and customers into taking actions that help you to grow your business. Start with your own sales and promotional events.
Whether you sell physical products or you have clients who book with you, getting the information out about your sales events is your top priority when deciding what to post.
The goal is to keep it super simple, and be clear about what you want your potential customer to do! If you are trying to get people to purchase products from your website, post an image of the items you are promoting, and then use what is known as a call-to-action, or a caption that asks your audience to do something specific, like visit your website and click “buy!”
If your goal is to get additional booking for a particular service, such as a mani/pedi or lash refills, you can show a before and after of your work to get your followers excited. Then be sure to share about your promotion or sales event in the caption, along with a description of the service. You want to make sure they know exactly what you can offer them.
I like to make sure I have batches of photos ready to use for my social media offers at all times. I have a digital camera (this is the one I use), but you can create beautiful imagery using your iPhone as well! Just make sure you have really good lighting so that your subjects appear bright and well lit (here is one of the lighting kits I use that’s especially good for product photography).
Content Idea #2: Answer Your FAQs
Answering your most frequently asked questions is a surefire way to come up with content ideas, while making sure you provide value for your following. If you don’t know what your audience wants to see, start by answering the questions people are always asking. Those questions you’ve gotten more times than you can count like, “How do you keep your skin so clear?” or “How do you get your lash extensions to last for so long”. Those are your content gold.
Remember, you’re the expert in your niche. Things that may feel easy or come naturally to you may not be things your audience knows or thinks about. The key is figuring out how you can break down each piece of your process into digestible nuggets of information for someone who is not immersed in your business. These snippets are your content ideas!
To take it a step further, your social media and digital content should always answer questions that help your audience make a decision to buy from you or to book with you.
Here’s a quick way to brainstorm content ideas: Start by taking out a sheet of paper or opening a memo on your iPhone and ask yourself, “What are the basics that someone needs to know about my business?”
For example, if you have a lash studio, the first thing someone needs to know is where you are located. Then they’d need to know how to book an appointment, and if you have specific booking policies. We are still in a pandemic so they may also want to know about your COVID business protocols. These are answers to FAQs that you can post over and over and over again. Bonus for posting them multiple ways on your social platforms (i.e. on your Instagram or Facebook feed, and in your Instagram Stories).
Still wondering exactly how you can apply this method to your beauty business? I did a deep dive into this very topic in my 2021 Content Workshop. You can watch the replay and get the content ideas workbook here!
Content Idea #3: Provide Your Client or Customer With Next Steps
Let’s break down how to come up with content ideas from next steps, based on whether you sell beauty products, or you provide beauty services.
Content Ideas If You Sell Products
If you sell products, you have a chance to come up with content ideas every time you make a sale! After someone gets your products in their hands, you should still be nurturing them and educating them on the benefits and next steps of using your product. And you can do this with your content and social posts!
Let’s say you are a representative of a direct sales company, and you sell skincare products that have Alpha Hydroxy Acids in them. Your customers need to know that anything with AHAs needs to be used at nighttime. No one should be using Alpha Hydroxy Acids on their skin in the morning, especially if they will be out in the sun. That’s a content idea!
Or maybe you sell hair extensions or wigs. That customer is going to need all the details on how to care for her unit. What shampoos should she be using? Where should she store her unit when she’s not wearing it? What hair sprays or moisturizers or gels should she avoid using at all costs? The answers to these questions all make great content ideas.
If your customer is using your products wrong, or out of order, or does not see their desired results, this can make it difficult for them to provide you with a positive review. And reposting your positive reviews is yet another way to come up with great content ideas!
Content Ideas If You Are a Service Provider
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As a service provider, your follow-up may look slightly different, but it’s no less important of a step. You can request a few pieces of information from your clients that will help you come up with additional content to share.
Asking your clients for direct written testimonials not only provides you with ideas for content to post, it also gives you something that you can use indefinitely on your website or in your media kit (with their permission, of course!).
Having your clients write public social media reviews about your services can give potential clients a sneak peek of what it’s like to work with you. It’s also content that you can repost! It can even help to maintain an ongoing relationship with your current client when you tag or quote them.
Getting professional photos from your clients that feature your work can give you more content to use in your social media posts, as well as in your portfolio. This would be especially easy for say, a bridal makeup client, who would absolutely have professional photos from her big day.
The key takeaway here is that after you service a client, you want to ensure they can be a repeat client. And each step you take to provide follow up on your product or service, can create valuable ways to get content ideas for your content calendar as well.
And There You Have It! Coming Up With Content Ideas is As Easy As:
- Promoting Your Sales Events
- Answering Your FAQs
- Providing Your Clients / Customers With Next Steps
You want your clients, customers and followers to always come to you for the best advice to help them take better care of their hair, skin or nails, or to help them to better use your products! You do that by positioning yourself as an expert on social media and posting the information that’s most relevant to them, before they even know they need it.
And that’s how you continuously come up with content ideas for what to post!
Are you looking for support from other beauty entrepreneurs as you work on your posting strategy? You can join my free Facebook group here. And don’t forget to grab your 2021 Content Workshop Replay + Workbook below!
