What should I post on social media for my business? A guide on how to get more engagement on social media
Updated: 2 days ago
The short answer to both questions is the same: a mix of content types, each serving a specific purpose, backed up by a strategy that turns engagement on social media into actual clients. The long answer is this blog post.
Most small businesses either post randomly and hope something lands, or they post nothing because they can't figure out what to say. Neither works. What does work is understanding what each format is actually for and using them with intention. Here's how.
See also: Why isn’t my social media getting me clients? Here’s the honest answer from a Creative Strategist
If you keep opening Instagram, staring at the post button and wondering what you are supposed to say this week, you are definitely not the only business owner doing it. One of the biggest problems with deciding what to post on social media for your business is assuming every post needs to attract new people, demonstrate your expertise, entertain them and somehow generate an enquiry at the same time.
I find social media much easier to plan when each piece of content has a clearer purpose. Some posts help new people discover you, while others give somebody a reason to take your expertise seriously or remind existing followers that you are still there and give them something useful to respond to. That gives you a much better starting point than posting whatever occurs to you that morning and hoping Instagram rewards your bravery.
See also: Why isn’t my social media getting me clients? Here’s the honest answer from a Creative Strategist
So, what mix of content should a business post?
You need enough variety for somebody to understand your expertise, get some sense of the person or business behind the account and see evidence that other people already trust what you do. That does not mean creating every possible type of content each week, because you are looking for a mix that makes sense for your business and that you can realistically keep making.
I tend to think about carousels as a good place for deeper information, while reels can help you reach people who do not already follow you. Stories give you a more casual way to stay connected with your existing audience, and static posts are useful when the subject simply does not need a more complicated format. The exact balance can change, but the important part is knowing why you are creating something before you start designing it.
What should you use carousels for?
Carousels are where I tend to put information that needs enough space to be properly useful. Think of them like a small zine, where you have several slides available to take one specific subject and explain it without trying to squeeze the whole idea into a tiny graphic.
The useful bit there is choosing one specific subject. A carousel called “five random marketing tips” gives somebody very little reason to care unless those tips happen to solve a problem they already have, while a post explaining why people keep reaching your pricing page and disappearing gives the reader a much clearer reason to swipe through.
This is also why carousels can be useful for businesses selling expertise. Somebody can see how you think before they ever enquire, because you have enough room to explain part of your process, answer a question customers repeatedly ask or break down something happening in your industry. If you regularly struggle to turn your knowledge into something people will actually want to read, that is something I can help with through my social media marketing services.
What are reels actually useful for?
I tend to use reels very differently from carousels because they give me more freedom to make something entertaining, observational or personality led without needing every post to become a miniature lesson. That distinction matters because I have had reels reach a lot of people without producing anything remotely resembling the same number of customers.
One of my frog reels reached around 133,000 views and brought me 17 followers on a personal account, and I have had similar experiences with similar content. They were lovely numbers to look at, certainly, but I was not suddenly fighting off 133,000 branding enquiries.
That does not make the content useless because it introduced me to people who would never have found me otherwise and gave my account a chance to reach outside the audience already following me. The important thing is not confusing attention with conversion, because somebody can enjoy your video without needing what you sell, and a huge number of views can still have very little effect on the business if there is nothing useful waiting for the people who do become interested.
If video is something you want to use but creating it is the part you keep avoiding, my Reel Support can help you plan and create content without having to work everything out alone. It makes more sense for businesses that want to use video but need help turning their ideas into something they can actually post.
Stories are useful because people already know who you are
Stories are where I would usually relax the presentation a bit because somebody watching them already has enough interest to be following you. You can give them the bits that would feel unnecessary as a polished feed post, such as something happening behind the scenes, an update from a project or a useful link you found while working.
They are also useful for finding out what people actually care about. If you are choosing between two subjects for your next carousel, ask your audience, and if customers keep mentioning the same problem, put a question box up and see how other people describe it. You can learn a surprising amount by letting people tell you what they are interested in instead of trying to invent their problems on their behalf, and those responses can feed directly into the content you make next.
Static posts still have plenty to do
Static posts are easy to overcomplicate because people sometimes assume a single image is too basic now, but plenty of subjects work perfectly well that way. A photograph of you can support a personal story that helps people understand who they would actually be working with, while a testimonial can sit alongside the context behind the result and an award badge can show that somebody outside your own business has recognised your work.
Visible proof matters because people eventually need something beyond your own claims that you are experienced or good at what you do. Reviews, client results and external recognition can give them something concrete to base that judgement on, and none of those things automatically need to become an elaborate carousel or reel to be useful.
How do these different posts actually work together?
Imagine somebody finds your business through one reel and enjoys it enough to click your profile. Once they arrive, the rest of the account starts giving them more information, so they might see a carousel answering a question they have been struggling with, notice a client testimonial and then watch a few stories where you talk about what you are currently working on.
By that point they know much more about the business than they learned from the first video. This is why I would rather look at a social media profile as a collection than judge every individual post by whether somebody bought something immediately afterwards, because different posts can contribute different information while still supporting the same overall impression.
If the profile itself is making that difficult, my Social Media Clarity Report and Refresh is designed for businesses that are already posting but feel that the account needs clearer direction. I review what is currently happening, identify the improvements that would make the biggest difference and provide refreshed branded templates that can be used afterwards.
What if a trend does not suit your business?
If a trend does not suit your business, you can leave it alone rather than finding a complicated excuse to make it relevant. You do not need to remake every audio, meme or editing style that crosses your feed simply because other businesses are getting views from it.
A trend can be useful when you can immediately see how it connects with something your audience would recognise or enjoy. If you are trying to force your account into a format that does not sound anything like you, the post may get attention while doing very little to help somebody understand the business. Cringe is still cringe regardless of how well the original performed, and your content becomes much easier to recognise when there is some consistency in how you talk and what people repeatedly learn from you.
What happens after somebody engages with your content?
This is the part I think far more businesses need to pay attention to because engagement only tells you that somebody interacted with the content. They might watch a reel, follow you and save a carousel a week later, but you still need to decide what should happen when they finally want to know more.
Your social media needs somewhere useful to send that interest. That could be a service page explaining exactly what you offer, a blog that explores the subject in more detail or a free resource that keeps somebody connected to you outside social media. What matters is that an interested person does not reach the point of wanting more information and then have to hunt through your profile trying to work out where it lives.
Look at your account as though you have never seen the business before and check whether you can tell what it sells, who it helps and where somebody should go if they want to enquire. Then follow the route yourself by clicking the link in your bio and looking at what happens next, because a strong social media account can still lose somebody if the website they reach afterwards is confusing or gives them very little reason to trust the business.
Where should your actual content ideas come from?
You probably already have far more material than you think if you pay attention to the conversations happening around the business. Listen to the questions people ask before they buy, notice what you repeatedly explain during consultations and pay attention to things customers misunderstand about your industry, because those are useful starting points based on what people are already asking rather than topics you invented because you needed something to post.
You can also use what is happening inside the business itself. A client project might give you a useful lesson to explain without sharing anything confidential, while an award could lead into a post about the work that was recognised or something you changed in your process could become an explanation of why you now work differently. Planning social media becomes much easier when you stop treating content ideas as something that needs to appear from nowhere every week.
What if you know you need a strategy but never have time to plan one?
Ongoing support can make more sense when your social media repeatedly disappears to the bottom of the list and you then have to restart it from scratch.
My Monthly Strategic Support is £250 per month and gives you ongoing strategic help with what deserves your attention, what you could be talking about and how your marketing can support what is currently happening in the business.
If the main problem is your existing profile rather than ongoing planning, my Social Media Clarity Report and Refresh is designed to diagnose what is getting in the way and give you a clearer base to continue from. You can compare those options and the rest of my social media marketing services to see which type of support fits what you are actually struggling with.
FAQs
What should a small business post on social media? Start with subjects that come directly from the business, such as questions customers ask, things you know particularly well and useful examples from your work. Then choose the format according to what the idea needs rather than trying to force every subject into the same type of post.
How do I get more engagement on social media? Give people something specific enough to respond to, save or share. A focused post answering one useful question often gives somebody more reason to engage than a broad collection of general advice they have already seen elsewhere.
How often should my business post on social media? Choose a frequency you can realistically maintain without creating posts simply to fill space. Two useful posts can tell somebody far more about your business than seven rushed ones created because you decided you had to post every day.
Do I need reels to grow my business on social media? Video can be useful when it suits what you want to communicate, but it does not need to become your entire strategy. If carousels, photographs or other formats let you explain the business more effectively, use them rather than creating video purely because you feel you should.
Why do I get social media engagement but no clients? Somebody can enjoy your content without understanding what you sell or knowing where to go next. Check whether your profile clearly explains the business, whether your links lead somewhere useful and whether the website gives interested people enough information to take the next step.
Your social media should give interested people somewhere to go
Getting more engagement is useful when the right people are paying attention, but the rest of the business still needs to support what happens afterwards. A good post can get somebody interested, your wider profile can help them understand you, and your website, visible proof and service information can then help them decide whether they want to go any further.
I would look at that whole route before worrying that every post needs more likes. A smaller audience that understands what you do and knows where to go next can be considerably more useful than a large audience that enjoys your content without ever understanding the business behind it.
Want to see what happens after somebody discovers you?
If people are finding your business through social media but you are not sure what they see once they start researching you, my free Business Visibility Playbook helps you look at the wider journey and find where missing information, weak presentation or lack of proof could be getting in the way. It gives you a way to look beyond the individual post and check whether the rest of your online presence is actually supporting the attention your content is generating.
