What to Post: 16 Creative Ideas for B2B Social Media Content

Seventy percent of B2B marketers and business owners are posting more content this year than last year.

That’s great news for their incoming website traffic, blogs stats, and lead generation efforts, but it can be tough on their marketing teams. When businesses increase their efforts by such a high rate, they often face challenges about what to post on social media platforms. They use their best ideas in the first year of social updates. It can be difficult to think of what to post month after month.

Fortunately, you don't have to be a social media marketer to build an active community with your target audiences on social media without falling back on repetitive and ineffective updates. We're sharing some of our ideas to help you create a simple B2B social media strategy. The next time you’re stuck, refer to this list of 16 creative ideas for B2B social media content.

• Use Your Thought Leadership Blog Content. Your blog posts are an excellent resource for B2B social media content ideas. If you have a well-stocked archive, you can (and should) let your old posts work for you. Determine which of your old articles complement current trends and rewrite their titles to appeal to those interested in reading about the topic.
• Send Out Fill-in-the-Blank Social Updates. Social updates that ask for reader response are popular and simple to write. For example, post something like “if I had this new product, it would affect my business by _______”. It lets your audience be funny, serious, thoughtful, or whatever they want to be. The most important thing is that it drives engagement, all without much effort from you.
• Socialize Your Trade Shows. Trade shows are also powerful opportunities for social media. As you interact with people at trade shows, get permission to film them talking about your business or product, then edit and post these to YouTube or straight to your social media accounts whenever you wish.
• Use Branded Images. Your business probably has photography you use in brochures and publications, or even headshots of company leaders. They can be used for B2B social media content, too. Take or use images that relate to you and stand out in some way that is meaningful, inspiring, or educational. These are easy to create, popular, and you can post several of these that relate the your industry. An example might be a "quote card" that contains a product photo with a tip or advice that answers a common question.
• Share User Pictures. Personalization speaks volumes, especially in the social space. Ask that customers submit pictures of your products that they’ve bought or themselves using your products with the knowledge that you may use the pictures in social media. Then post them. This allows your B2B customers to feel that they are a part of a larger community that uses your products.
• Share Behind-the-Scenes Pictures. Speaking of personalization, B2B buyers might like a look at the interesting work that goes on behind the scenes in your business. Post pictures of you and your team hard at work. These are easy because you can take as many as you need, and popular because your audience wants to see what you’re up to.
• Create Original Infographics. You don’t need to read a Hubspot post about infographics to know that they are incredibly popular among B2B buyers. They could work for your business, too. Develop an informative, colorful infographic that goes along with your products and promote them through your social channels. You can also take screenshots of separate parts of each infographic to extend the promotion over time.
• Pass On Insider Information. What are some things that you know about your product, service or industry that most people don’t? Share these bits of information. This will drive reader engagement because the information is actionable. It will also encourage a sense of relationship and obligation among customers who use your information to improve their business.
• Unlock Your Past. Your posts don’t have to talk about the present or the future to be valuable. Share some of the funniest or most inspiring things that have happened in the history of your business. Your customers will be fascinated to read about times when you were near the edge or when you accomplished major goals, and they will likely be able to relate with what you share.
• Zero in on Customers of Distinction. You know your customers are special. But do they? Use social media to zero in on individual B2B companies and show your appreciation. Once a month, select a follower to be your Follower-of-the-Month. Let them and all of your followers know what makes them special and maybe they’ll return the favor.
• Share the Spotlight. Distinction works with partners and competitors, too. Share information about others in your industry and don’t be afraid to send your followers to check them out. The fact that you are willing to share the spotlight with others shows that you can move past competition to benefit the community, a trait that will appeal to many of your prospective customers and build trust.
• Share FAQs. Get double usage out of your website FAQ by posting abbreviated answers on social media. This is a great way to dispel misunderstandings about your business in a way that doesn’t require readers to visit your site. It also may catch a prospective customer who is in the process of researching the answer to that question.
• Dig Into the Present. There’s more to the present than simply today’s headlines. Talk about the current industry happenings, but dig deeper than you usually go. What are you doing today? What are your goals for this week? Post them to spark a conversation with your followers.
• Dream About the Future. Use your social media platform to encourage conversation about the future. Look at what people are predicting for the future in your industry and ask your followers to comment on how they see things going or what trend predictions they have.
• Tease New Products. Before you release a product, share pictures and new bits of information about it, how it will work, and how people will be able to use it on your social media channels. You can use this to have a conversation with people about how they plan to use it. This is a great way to spark interest in your new product at the same time that you easily create B2B social media content.
• Leverage Social Listening. There are many social listening tools that will help you be aware of when your brand or products and services are being mentioned on social media. If you're monitoring your brand mentions, you'll be able to use user-generated content to build social proof.

You rose to the challenge to create a dynamic B2B social media content strategy the first time around. Up the ante for this year’s strategy with these inspired content ideas. Then let us know in the comments which posts returned the most engagement for your marketing efforts.