A member asks

When chatting with celebrants recently I heard again and again that most celebrants aren't really that interested in following the general Instagram "best practice" advice that you see on social media blogs/podcasts. Most people a) don't want to invest the time and energy to go down the Pinterest-style heavily-curated aesthetically-pleasing path, and b) think it's bullshit anyway. They don't want to follow a posting schedule, they may not even post very regularly. I think most celebrants just want to post photos that they like, when they have them - but want to maximize the appeal/reach of those posts and spend the least amount of time on them. Can you share any practical little hacks to shave a few minutes and a few headaches off your posting/planning time.
There's a reason Facebook and Instagram have personal and business accounts. There's a place for you to post what you like, and a place for you to post content that has a positive on your business.

This is part one in a three part series, part one on why, part two on what and part three on when.

What content should we post on social media?

I mention in part one that my posts, and hopefully any good posts, do one of the following for my couples:

Hopes and dreams are great, but they need to work themselves out into actual content, so what follows is my content-creating brain looking at that list and giving you a bunch of content ideas I hope you steal, repurpose, and post for your own good.

Here’s the important thing to remember as you post: most people see about 30% of your posts. So don’t assume they do and say things like “as you saw in my last post” or imagine that they care enough to go back. Each post needs to live on its own. Secondly, generosity will go so much further than greed. So offer up all of the industry insight, expert advice, recommendations and truth you can muster up.

The three different types of posts

I like to start by categorise my content into three different types of posts:

With those three categories down, I start breaking it out into actual content ideas.

Content ideas

Helpful and value-adding posts

Basically, be useful to people. Think even about the reason you're a member of this institute, hopefully it's because we bring you value through these posts. Bring value to people, with actual help, not another bloody free e-book, social media marketing is one place where if you give away the cow the right people will still buy your milk.

Posts about others

Remember, most of your couples have never planned a wedding. So help them not only understand your role and value, but others as well. I've never met a person on their death bed who hoped they were less generous.

Posts branding me

Inform your followers about who you are, do it regularly, do it with variety, do it with pride in yourself - you're awesome!

In the next part of this series I’ll give you a hint on what your next six social media posts could be, and also some insight as to when to post.

Share any other posting ideas in the comments, I’m sure my list is only the tip of the iceberg!

Originally published on the Celebrant Institute: https://celebrant.institute/marketing/social-media-part-2/.