Small businesses know this struggle all too well. Where do you find the time and budget for creating social media content that actually works? Many business owners understand that quality content is essential these days, but they either run out of ideas, end up only sharing links to their own products, or maybe write a blog post once a month if they’re lucky.
Here’s the thing — you probably already have most of the content you need, you just don’t realise it yet. Today, we’ll show you everything you can use as content for your social media channels.
1) Don’t Just Share Product Photos
Don’t limit yourself to product shots alone — share behind-the-scenes glimpses of your business with your fans and followers. Tell them what you’re currently working on, introduce your team members, or show them where you find your inspiration. This kind of authentic content creation on social media builds genuine connections with your audience.
2) Videos Have Amazing Reach on Social Media — and They’re Easy to Make
Do you make toys or run a coffee shop? Show a quick video of your production process or how you craft the perfect latte. All you need is a decent smartphone. Phone videos are perfect for today’s most popular formats like Instagram and Facebook Stories or Instagram Reels. You don’t need fancy equipment to be a social media content creator — authenticity beats production value every time.
3) Reviews and Feedback
Whether you run an e-commerce shop, a brick-and-mortar store, a restaurant, or a service-based business, encourage your customers to leave reviews. You can then repurpose these reviews as social media content. Reviews can also answer potential questions from prospective customers. Are people worried your product won’t deliver? Share reviews from happy customers and don’t forget to tell your followers where they can read more. You can share reviews in feed posts as well as in Stories.
4) Your Customers Are Your Best Source of Content Ideas
I often advise my clients to have their customer support team collect questions in a Google Sheet. This works brilliantly for e-commerce businesses, freelancers, and even coffee shops. People ask about things that might seem obvious to you — what’s the difference between a latte and a flat white? What alternative milks do you offer? What gluten-free options do you have? For e-commerce stores, the volume of questions is even higher, and some can be quite surprising. Collect them all and you’ve got social media content ideas for free.
5) How to Create Beautiful Social Media Content
For photo editing, I recommend Lightroom. They have an excellent mobile version that’s completely free. If you need to create infographics for Pinterest, try Canva, which is also free.
Absolutely anyone can use it — they have ready-made social media content templates where you simply swap out the text and images. For statistics, you can find plenty of publicly available data from sources like the Office for National Statistics or similar government databases. Don’t be afraid to look for international sources and translate the data for your audience. If you’d like to learn more about Canva, I wrote a detailed review here.
There’s nothing easier than browsing Pinterest for beautiful infographics and then adapting them for your own audience. Just remember to always credit your data sources in the infographic.
6) Recycle Your Old Content
People don’t remember what they read on social media a year ago. If you work with a content calendar like most professionals do, simply look back at what you shared last year and what performed well. You don’t have to copy it word for word — use it as inspiration or just give it a slight refresh. And honestly, even if you reposted it exactly as it was, that’s perfectly fine too. Some social media content creators regularly recycle their best-performing posts. They’re actually afraid to change anything because even one small tweak can hurt the performance of a winning post.
Don’t forget to share your blog posts across your social media channels. You can even promote your blog on Instagram — just use an eye-catching image, pop the link in your bio temporarily, and mention it in the caption. If you blog regularly, don’t hesitate to recycle posts whenever the opportunity arises.
7) Translating Foreign Sources — Yes, But Be Careful
Drawing inspiration from international sources is perfectly fine. In fact, it’s encouraged! You’ll find plenty of fascinating articles in other languages, and there’s nothing more valuable than adapting that knowledge for your audience.
A rookie mistake is translating sources word for word. Instead, read multiple articles on the topic, read them more than once, and then write it up in your own words. There’s nothing worse than content that reads like it was run through Google Translate. Good social media content writing always sounds natural and authentic.
8) Share Relevant Articles
Don’t be afraid to share articles from other websites. And where do you find them? Have you ever tried the News tab on Google? Search for something you’re interested in — say, nanotechnology — and switch to the News tab. You’ll likely discover a goldmine of stories you could share with your audience.
9) X (Twitter) as a Content Source
X (formerly Twitter) is also great for finding content. Just type in a keyword and see what people are sharing. As Picasso said: “Good artists copy, great artists steal.” Don’t take that too literally though! As a trained journalist, I’d always recommend crediting your sources 😉
10) Events, Celebrations, Quotes, and Anniversaries
Almost every day of the year is a world or international day of something. For example, in July alone, 2nd July is World UFO Day, 5th July is International Day of Hugging, and right after that comes World Kissing Day. The list goes on and on.
Not everything can be turned into a post, of course. But if you sell books, you could absolutely recommend a great sci-fi novel for World UFO Day — something like The Martian by Andy Weir or Project Hail Mary. For World Kissing Day, suggest a beautiful romance novel. Books are actually a brilliant product category for this because every single day marks the birthday of some famous artist you could feature with a biography, or a beloved author. Bookshops can also tap into famous motivational quotes from writers.
You might also want to read our guide on building a successful Instagram or a strong LinkedIn profile. You might also be interested in how to boost your e-commerce sales by 10–60% through affiliate programmes.
Tips and Tricks for Your Vacation
Don’t Overpay for Flights
Search for flights on Kayak. It’s our favorite search engine because it scans the websites of all airlines and always finds the cheapest connection.
Book Your Accommodation Smartly
The best experiences we’ve had when looking for accommodation (from Alaska to Morocco) are with Booking.com, where hotels, apartments, and entire houses are usually the cheapest and most widely available.
Don’t Forget Travel Insurance
Good travel insurance will protect you against illness, accidents, theft, or flight cancellations. We’ve had a few hospital visits abroad, so we know how important it is to have proper insurance arranged.
Where we insure ourselves: SafetyWing (best for everyone) and TrueTraveller (for extra-long trips).
Why don’t we recommend any Czech insurance company? Because they have too many restrictions. They set limits on the number of days abroad, travel insurance via a credit card often requires you to pay medical expenses only with that card, and they frequently limit the number of returns to the Czech Republic.
Find the Best Experiences
Get Your Guide is a huge online marketplace where you can book guided walks, trips, skip-the-line tickets, tours, and much more. We always find some extra fun there!
