Looking for Facebook content ideas?
We’ve got 32 for you to try.
These are the content types that’ll improve shares, likes, and comments.
Plus, give you a chance to pitch products and services.
Sound good?
Let’s get to it…
1. Humblebrag by sharing an accomplishment
There are many accomplishments worth sharing:
- New product launch
- Reaching sales goals
- Userbase milestones
- Partnerships
- Media mentions
People associate with the brand and ride along with its accomplishments. Followers are rooting for your success. They feel they’re on the ‘winning side’ because of their brand favoritism. Much like how we support sports teams and stir trouble with the rivals.
The shares are perfect for building brand awareness to those unaware of your success. This could be their first introduction to the brand; it shows growth and may convert their business.
2. Tell your stories
This is expanding your humble brags.
We all have stories to tell:
- How the business idea came to be
- Finally tying the knot with your loved one
- Travel experiences and meeting interesting people
You wouldn’t think followers would like this stuff… but they do.
Stories let followers get an inside glimpse of who’s behind the business. The stories are a powerful way to add personality to the brand voice. An inspiring or truthful tale of your ups and downs can be a major influencer why people decide to use your business.
Why?
It goes along the same lines as the brand favoritism we mentioned above. It makes people feel like they’re part of the experience. They grow with you. They can chime in to share similar experiences and suggestions, congratulations, or ways to cope with what you’re going through.
That, and it’s something fresh to share versus the normal onslaught of promotional posts.
3. Live blog an event or activity
Live blogging lets you share real-time updates – Facebook is the perfect platform for this.
What could you provide updates on?
- Industry events or conferences
- Big meetings and presentations
- Product or service development
This Facebook content is a clever way to keep your followers engaged with the brand. The updates can hint at new developments or double-down as talking points to show off your offers. It’s also a wonderful way to connect with influencers such as tagging them in the updates or pulling quotes to share.
Live blogging is stellar for getting live feedback, too, which may shape the product development or service process. Gauge the audience reception of what you’re doing and make changes based on how they react – or, incorporate those suggestions from the get-go to appeal to followers.
4. Share your blog posts
This one’s easy… create great content and post it on social.
I’d leave it at that but there are a few ways to boost engagement:
- Create an attractive post image that’ll pull to Facebook (or swap when you’re posting)
- Use a strong headline to pique their interest while further doing so with the description
- Include hashtags and mentions, stats, or a call-to-action
Why should you share blog posts on Facebook?
Whenever.
There are best practices with social timing but it really depends on your following with what you’re sharing and when it’s going up. Some find better success sharing late night while others do superb during that 9/12/3/6 routine.
While you’re at it…
Funnel people coming from your Facebook posts to build an email list as this will give you full contact for when new posts and promotions go live. You could even direct people to a Facebook post instead of linking directly to drive likes, shares, and comments!
5. Tell their stories
Has the life a customer changed since using your products? Did your services save client thousands of dollars? Or, maybe you’ve noticed them using your items in a unique way you didn’t think of?
Share it.
Telling user stories is a half mix of case study and self-promotion.
You’re putting followers in the spotlight.
People love reading about themselves. They’ll love it when they’re featured on your page especially if they’ve been a vocal follower and making a name for themselves within the community. This is their 15-minutes of fame… it’s something many get excited about even if it’s being featured by a small brand.
Likewise, their experience and story are a great vehicle to show off what you offer. User stories increase the perceived value of the product.
Better yet:
Use video storytelling via Skype recordings since viewers are 64-85% more likely to buy when they see a video versus reading a post.
6. Share user-generated content
You’d be surprised at the wonderful talent lurking in your community.
Encourage brand interaction with user-generated content.
Like:
- A customer review found on their personal blog
- Sharing a piece of art made for your brand by a follower
- Including a jingle or song the music-types wrote for you
The user-generated content fulfills that topic we’ve covered about putting people in the spotlight. It lets you sell products and services through their voice. It also helps build credibility and authority since it’s given to your brand from a third-party.
User-generated content is somewhat difficult to cull, but you can encourage it through contests or direct contact with your best customers. It’s simply taking extra time to find their talent and maybe commissioning a piece or two which will get others wanting to share what they’ve created, too.
7. Pose a question
There’s a limited scope you’ll have as a business owner because you’re always short on time.
There’s a good chance a customer knows more than you.
Why not get those responses in the open by posing a question as one of your Facebook content ideas?
It could be:
- What do you think about X?
- Who do you think would like Y?
- What would you do if Z?
Follow the who, what, when, where, why, and how with crafting these questions. Rotate them and maybe set a regular feature where you take and pose questions each week. Sort of like a discussion roundtable for feedback and fun.
Want some great questions to ask on your Facebook page? Have a look at these 50 questions by Adrienne Richardson or these 30 social media prompts by Eric Siu to get things going.
I’m sure you have tons of ideas already popping up in your head… write them down! No question is too silly. You may get some incredible insight from the community used to make better offers. Or, it could really stir the pot and have the conversation going for hours!
8. Newsjack what’s happening
Newsjacking is taking whatever’s hot and adding a spin, angle, or opinion.
You’d do this:
- Go over to Google Trends to find hot topics
- Form your opinion or kick around ideas how to incorporate the topic
- Post the news article and include whatever you had in mind
Be careful with what you post, though, since sometimes it could tick off the community if you’re on the wrong side of the hivemind. Despite this, sometimes it’s good to go against the grain. It gives you a unique voice that’s vocal about happenings – something a lot of big businesses won’t touch – which is enough to create a strong bond to those customers that agree.
Check out this post by Samantha Barnes about Newsjacking and how it’s done if you’d like to give it a go.
9. Run a poll
Polls are helpful two ways:
- You get awesome feedback
- It’s a quick and easy way to create engagement
It’s not exactly a thrilling Facebook content idea, but it’s perfect for when you’re having trouble thinking what to share. Facebook has polling tools built into the platform to make all this even easier.
Having followers like, comment, and/or share is a clever way to create an engaging Facebook post because it adds a layer of interactivity. Followers get to compare how the community stands while you get a good mix of responses all around. Having all three really extends your social reach.
10. Share industry news
I’d suggest following at least 3-5 major industry news sources to get a good, unbiased mix.
What’s worth sharing?
- Major shake-ups at a leading business
- Recent developments or future innovation
- Interviews, stats, and case studies
You’d be surprised at how many followers stay up-to-date on this stuff especially if your community is directly aligned with related industries likely impacted by the news. You could also double down efforts and add opinions to do a bit of newsjacking and self-promotion.
This is what I like to call branding by association.
Essentially:
- People see you’ve shared industry news
- They tie the well-known brand to yours
- You now have an equal voice in the matters
It’s a bit like news reporters – they aren’t making the news… they’re just telling it. Yet, we often associate huge respect for the anchors because we tie them into the story.
11. Get sappy with inspirational quotes
It’s been done to death but let’s keep beating the dead horse.
People love inspirational and motivational images and quotes.
It’s kind of a psychological mind game with these inspirational quotes and imagery. You’re projecting a lifestyle people want to own; they’ll nod in agreement. Who doesn’t like a little bit of hype in their day?
It’s kind of odd because a study found people sharing these inspirational posts are generally unhappy.
I’m sure Facebook and other social platforms will try to show these less since they’re a low-hanging fruit for creating engagement. But, until then, lift quotes you find inspirational, tack them on an image of who said it, and post the image to the page.
Want to extend the reach?
- Turn the quote or image into a cinemagraph
- Use Snappa to add some nice designs
Facebook has a thing for video – same for its users – so doing this small tweak can get it out there. All that’s needed is a bit of motion and you’re good to go.
12. Just ask them what they want
It’s so simple it’s silly…
I asked a friend what they liked from the pages they follow and got some great insight.
Yeah, makes sense and covers others we have in this post.
The memes/funny pics and giveaways are easy to pin down because they’re fun and who doesn’t like free stuff? The other, seeing behind-the-scenes, makes it feel like they’re having an actual discussion and interaction with the brand. Like you’re making connections through these updates.
13. Do a giveaway
Two sides to this one:
- Limit it to the community
- Open it to everyone
Keeping the giveaway among the existing community members is sort of like rewarding patronage. You avoid the freebie hunters (those that probably won’t stick around and buy afterward). This selective giveaway is fantastic for getting feedback from those using your products or services.
Alternatively, you can open the giveaway to everyone and list it on one of the many giveaway aggregators and blogs. This type of giveaway is great for building brand awareness. Make sure you’re funneling new leads to a proven landing page to increase your odds of conversions.
What should you give away?
- A free month of service
- A couple of the lower-end products
- One, big prize featuring everything
You could find related offers, too, on Amazon for “what people also bought” for easy ideas.
14. Do a contest
Contests take the giveaway and add a layer of interactivity.
For example – entry could include:
- Liking your FB page
- Following your other social accounts
- Subscribing to your email list
- Submitting something like a picture
- Having them make a “why should I…” type video
Have a look at what Alex Shamy recommends for Facebook timeline contest ideas, and then make sure everything adheres to Facebook contest guidelines.
Unfortunately, you’ll get a lot of freebie hunters with this one, too, which aren’t good for building overall engagement. However, people like to join big groups since they expect activity – having big follower numbers can entice new, real followers.
15. Post a fill in the blank
Adlib the conversation by posing a fill in the blank.
Want some ideas?
- “__________ is what I’m looking forward to today”
- “I can’t wait to __________ this afternoon”
- “The toughest problem I’m facing is __________”
- “What I love most about [your brand] is __________”
- “I can’t live without __________”
Pose it by asking “Fill in the blank:”.
You’d be amazed at how well these are received with an active community. People love to chime in, fill in the blank, and then talk about the choices of one another. This keeps the conversation going especially if you come back and ask “why” they chose that one thing.
16. Repost viral media
Find it stupid. Find it charming. Find it whatever…
… viral posts are an easy win as Facebook content ideas.
Remember:
Not everyone spends all day on the Web, seeing these posts.
You could be the first exposure to these viral posts for a big chunk of your community.
Viral posts latch on because they play with our heartstrings and humor. Some are so hilarious you can’t help but pass it forward. Others? They’ll make you sob but you’ll want others to see. These posts spin off extra memes and posting; they start big discussions and tagging.
Try this:
Use one of the SEO tools to type in keywords, phrases, or domains to find popular content. Look what’s being shared across social. Then, get it up in your newsfeed.
Otherwise…
Spend a good amount of time on Subreddits finding good content worth sharing.
17. Show off a product or service
Want people to know what you offer? Show it to them.
Better yet… partner with brands and get them to show it off for you…
You can use this opportunity to talk about the benefits and features. Or, link a pretty picture to a helpful tutorial listed on your blog. Try turning the expose into a video, too, for visual impact.
You could get the community involved by having them show off the product. Rating and reviews will certainly help with building engagement, too. Or, simply reward Facebook followers with a discount code attached to the image to spur sales and get people sharing.
18. Start doing live video
I doubt a lot of your competitors are using video to promote their business. I think this is doubly so when it comes to using live video.
A lot of us are camera shy.
We don’t want to break this persona by showing our face and projecting our voice.
Forget all that.
Try doing Facebook live video sometime:
- Hold a Q&A
- Do an interview
- Show off a product
- Talk about industry news
- Share a personal update
- Handle tech support
Take any of the items included in this list of Facebook content ideas and use video.
Make sure you have:
- A high def webcam for good image quality
- A good microphone for sound
Your phone can handle this no problem if it’s not too old. Otherwise, $100 in equipment will get you set up and broadcasting. Your community will get an alert when you’re live. Or, plan and post telling people when the broadcast is happening a week in advance for added engagement!
These videos get saved on your FB page making them on-going lead magnets for the page. You could rip the video, too, and post it on YouTube for extra points!
19. Ask for an opinion
You shared your opinions… why not theirs?
This can sometimes backfire if you’re posing the wrong question or if you’ve got a very ticked off audience. But, most of the time everything goes over well so don’t dismiss opening the platform to the voice of your community.
Try this:
- Start with a question or fill in the blank
- Find the best answers and responses
- Ask if they’d like to elaborate
- Share that longer feedback as a post
You could tack on some media (like their picture (with permission)) and see where it goes.
Why does it work?
It’s the same as when you put them in the spotlight – you’re giving them the podium. People usually don’t have this access to the limelight. They want to get their voice heard by as many people as possible much like how people love getting interviewed by the news or calling into a radio show.
You could use live video to get real-time opinions from people, too, like so:
A controversial opinion could get people really talking. Softball opinions have their place, too. Either way, keep a running list of followers you could get on board and maybe turn it into a regular thing.
20. Share a tip or strategy
Condense what you would have made into a blog and share that valuable tip on Facebook.
You have a few ways of doing so:
- A regular status update (full text)
- Added to an image (better option)
- Pose it as a gif or video (best)
I’d recommend going through your list posts and FAQ page to start since they have dozens of items, each viable to be that one thing you share. Imagine this post, for example, where we shared each Facebook post idea as an individual tip – we’d have 32 status updates easy-peasy!
You can do it one better by adding a link back to the blog post you pulled it from. Or, get a bit of feedback and response used to explore the topic further (they’re telling you they like the topic, so go ahead and make a blog post about it in full).
21. Copy the competition
Facebook lets you set up competitor pages to track and follow in the publishing tools.
Otherwise:
- Make a spreadsheet (with stats and links)
- Use social media tools to follow other brands
We talked a lot of this in our reverse engineering the competition series. Basically, you’re paying attention to what works for them, then replicating their success by putting a spin on yours.
Obviously, you don’t want to copy them word-for-word.
But…
If you’re noticing a trend getting good engagement, it’s worth exploring how they’re using it.
- Are quotes working well for their community? It probably would for yours.
- Are they producing videos a lot? Maybe you should, too.
- Are they doing giveaways and contests? Time to hop on the wagon.
There’s a lot of overlap with the communities and especially with the marketplace. The big players in the market have done their research (spending big bucks on building their following). Leverage their hard work and resources by developing a set of best practices and Facebook content ideas of your own.
22. Get them to caption
Check this out:
Look at that engagement!
Everyone thinks they’re a comedian. Everyone has something to say. A caption contest is awesome for having people share their opinions and have a bit of fun. All that’s needed is a thought-provoking image and the words “Caption this”.
You could try a variation of the FB caption ideas:
- Describe this image with an emoji
- Respond to this image with a gif
You could hold a caption contest to engage since this combines a giveaway with this form of Facebook post for a double win. The picture could be a funny meme, comic (with blanked speech bubbles), an event in progress, or really anything that made you instinctively respond with a quip.
23. Share interesting stats
Let’s talk about stats:
- They reinforce what you’re sharing and doing with the business
- You’re building branding by association because of the authority information
- Leverage it as a case study for using your products or services
- Pose yourself (and team) as thought-leaders in the industry
A stat is as powerful as a headline.
Don’t believe me?
What was your reaction? Surprise? Same here.
These are the type of shares that’ll stop people from scrolling through their newsfeed. They notice it and think “Woah”. You’ve caught them… bring them in by supporting it with a great blog post, open-ended question about the topic, or image/video.
Here are other ways to use it:
- Pull a stat from your blog post for the Facebook status
- Include it in the FB image with the blog post share
- Use it as a response to catch people off guard
Find industry blogs and dig around for stats or look into big research papers. You’ll find tons of great info there to fuel these Facebook content ideas.
24. Meme it up
I love /r/fellowkids…
… it’s a subreddit dedicated to Facebook pages and businesses trying to fit in by using memes and viral posts. Except, they try their take on it and usually come across as cringe-worthy.
I’m that person making those.
You know what? It works.
It’s funny because it’s meta-satire by doing this. I’m jumping on up-and-coming memes, adding terribly bad photoshopped versions of it to FB pages, and watching it come full circle to fellowkids irony.
It’s kind of like the viral thing.
You can’t expect every one of your followers to keep up with the stuff going around the Web. You could be their first exposure to the meme. They’ll associate that emotional response to the brand. This sticks with them and could callback the brand when they’re in the market to buy your type of offers.
25. Make and post a GIF
A couple of ways of doing this:
- Grab and trim a video
- Upload to Giphy
- Share directly to Facebook
Or…
- Try your hands at making a gif using Photoshop
- Try some of the other methods without Photoshop
Giphy is probably your best choice since Facebook lets the gifs autoplay. Or, you could always choose from the extensive selection already found on Facebook.
Combine the efforts, too, post the gif and:
- Have people caption it
- Use it as a reaction to a stat
- Share an interesting fact
- Or a quote
Tina on MailBakery.com has this list of 25 ways to use Gifs in email marketing. I think you could apply those same tactics on Facebook. Emails are promotional, so you’d get the same benefit – plus, you could double down the efforts and cross-post the two between the channels for added engagement.
26. Or make it a video
Skip the gif making and stick to video, to be honest, since 8 billion daily video views are happening each day on Facebook. That’s a lot of video.
You could:
- Shoot new video
- Repurpose old video
- Post outsourced videos
The video production process follows the same route as making them for YouTube. You need a good camera, microphone, and some editing tools. You could create screencasts as an alternative or make the thing entirely using slides and some captions.
Consider ripping old YouTube videos from your channel to repost to Facebook versus sharing a link.
Outsourcing video requires:
- Scripting
- Budget
- Direction
You can find tons of creators through content creation services willing to undertake the project. Some will offer to be on camera, too, which works out well if you make them a regular.
Overall…
Video is where everything is going so might as well get things started now.
27. Repurpose existing media
Why double the effort when a lot is already done for you?
Repurpose old content into new Facebook content ideas:
- Pull snippets from blog posts
- Share the video you’ve embedded
- Lift a quote from an old interview
- Condense series into a free ebook
- Rip and republish a webinar
- Turn data into a downloadable case study
Each of these pulls from content you’ve published on the business blog or on third-party sites (like Quora, Twitter, Medium, and more). They’re your content assets. Remix and reuse them for a new crowd.
Cornelia Cozmiuc put together a monster post on ways to repurpose content worth checking.
See what you can find and put it back into action!
28. Offer a discount
This one goes without saying:
- Grab a picture of the product or service
- Include some text with the discount code
- Post it to your FB page
- Boost the post to your page
Include the discount code in the text, too, in case people want to copy & paste.
Why is it effective?
Well… 56% of people follow brands for incentives like discounts and promotions for starters.
I like to think another reason is to help friends and family get good deals, too. Think of how many times you’ve @tagged someone in an ad or FB share to get their attention about something they could use.
You could combine this with a few other FB post ideas, too:
- Offer a bigger discount if a contest gets X amount of likes/shares/comments
- Have a caption contest where the top 3 winners get tiered discounts
- Get people to share their stories and slide them a discount for participation
These discounts will often get picked up by discount aggregators, too, if they’re not set to expire. This could send a bit of referral traffic your way without doing any extra work.
29. Share a quiz
It’s the same as doing a question or poll but with bits of info.
- Solve this problem…
- Which would you rather…
- What type of…
Look at how well Buzzfeed does with doing quizzes. I’m sure Facebook is doing away with these things because they were getting spammy. But, they’re still going strong – they’re great for engagement.
Double up efforts by creating the quiz on your business site and then linking to it in the FB post. This will get people visiting, taking the quiz, then sharing it back to Facebook. You could add an offer at the end of the quiz, too, like “You scored X… you get Y discount” or something like that.
Quizzes do well because they’re fun. Plain and simple.
You may find them silly or stupid… but your audience may love them so give ‘em a try.
30. Celebrate a holiday
I’ve always found this engaging:
- Find a nice photo representing the holiday
- Write a nice, thankful blurb about the customers
- Tell them your plans and ask about theirs
Bonus points if that image is shot in-house with you and the employees (maybe dressed up?) to add extra spirit. Or, better yet, make a short video to share to the community.
Not everyone will celebrate the holiday but that’s okay.
You don’t have to be this cold, corporate entity that turns every holiday into a generic “happy holidays” type message. Followers know you’re a small operation – embrace having a voice while you’re agile.
We’ve got some other holiday promotional strategies you could explore, but the general idea is to enjoy yourself and pass that positivity to your followers. It could create a response that’ll get them buying.
31. Spotlight your employees
The business doesn’t revolve around you.
Show some gratitude by spotlighting the employees with your FB updates. This way your community can get a face with who they’re talking to when contacting for tech support, sales, and customer relations.
Or, the office pets do well…
Spotlighting the employee has several benefits as one of the FB post ideas – they’ll:
- Add a bit of personal branding
- Likely talk about things you don’t share
- Do some storytelling
Who best to talk about the benefits of your business than the people in the trenches all day?
You could make a series or keep it as a one-off thing like celebrating an employee milestone. In fact, you could give employees permission to post which could expand the fun and insightful posts reaching the audience. That’ll save you time and money.
32. Go along with the daily themes of social media
You’ve got stuff like:
- #MondayMemories
- #TipTuesday
- #HumpDay
- #ThrowbackThursday
- #FollowFriday
… and 50 other daily hashtags worth exploring to hop into discussions. It’s a bit like newsjacking.
People do monitor these hashtags to see what everyone is talking about. A great share with the hashtag could catch on and go viral. Going off trending and hot hashtags work too. Investigate the historical hashtag data to see what’s good for that day and ride the trend.
You can get technical by using hashtag analytics tools or just keep a list to the side when putting together your marketing calendar.
Adapt and evolve with the social channel
What marketers found effective just a year ago is no longer in vogue with Facebook today.
Social media is an evolving platform where memes and topics spring up overnight and die by the morning. New social media marketing strategies are explored daily.
How do you keep up with it all?
Simple:
Be a part of the community.
This means lurking your competitors and popular Facebook pages to see what they’re sharing and discussing. Or, following industry blogs about the latest changes and strategies. It could mean reaching out to younger folk to find out what’s “cool” that you may not know about, too.
I’m saying that some of these Facebook content ideas are likely on their way out. That’s the nature of social. You must keep up with trends to stay relevant and getting those likes, shares, and comments.
And last (but not least) … have fun
Social is meant to be fun.
I know you’re wanting to generate sales and interaction from using these Facebook content ideas. But, step back a second and look at how you’re using the platform. Are you really engaging the community? Or, are you spamming their newsfeed with endless promotions?
Facebook engagement is already on a decline and seen its first traffic dip.
Zuckerberg said:
“In 2018, we’re focused on making sure Facebook isn’t just fun to use, but also good for people’s well-being and for society. We’re doing this by encouraging meaningful connections between people rather than passive consumption of content.”
A big reason for this is how drastically the platform has changed and forced us to interact with our parents and people we don’t really know. The platform is becoming less fun and more commercial.
Bring back that fun!
Don’t take social media too seriously.
Not in the sense that you’re dismissing it for business – but that you’re not presenting your Facebook fan page as some cold, PR Newswire.
- Play around with the formats
- Try different postings times
- Have a laugh at your expense
This is what brought us over from Myspace and all the other social networks back in the day. We got to connect with the people we know and had a fun time interacting.
Add your Facebook Content Ideas
Handing it over to you…
Which Facebook content ideas would you share with the community? What’s work for the pages you manage? Or, let us know if one of these is garbage.
Comment.
And… be sure to share this around!
