Content marketing is one of the simplest ways small businesses can advertise. However, it’s not always easy to create new and engaging ideas. If you’re struggling to come up with fresh content, here are 10 suggestions to help get your creative juices flowing.

1. Video tutorial

Video is huge right now. Whether it’s on Facebook, Instagram or YouTube, posting a video is a great way to engage with fans. Try creating a tutorial that focuses on how to use your product or how to make something with your product. Think along the lines of makeup, hair or food tutorials. These tutorial-style videos are hugely popular on social media, yet fairly quick and easy to create.

2. FAQ 

An FAQ post is a great way to learn about your customers while also informing them about your business. Ask your followers to submit their questions in the comment section, by using a hashtag or via email. Once you have a handful of questions, create a post answering them. You could also turn this into a video, as well.

An FAQ is easy, but it’s informative. Before creating content, ask yourself: is this entertaining or informative? If it’s not one of the two, your followers aren’t going to take the time to engage with it.

3. Top tips 

As mentioned above, content needs to be either informative or engaging. Tips fit into the first category.

Is there a particular way your product is supposed to be used? Does one of the ingredients have extraordinary health benefits? Turn the tip into image, and voila! You have a great piece of content that’s informative, but super easy to create. Followers will appreciate learning a little more about your product or business, as well. Just remember: keep it short. This isn’t a paragraph of information; it’s just a quick tidbit.

4. Infographic

This one might take a little longer to create, but it’s worth it. Infographics are very popular, as they’re a great way to visually share information. Plus, they can be used over and over again.

Sites like Vennage or Piktochart make it easy to design and create your own infographics.

5. Customer photo

Everybody loves a little attention, even your customers. If a customer posts a photo of himself/herself with your product, share it! Repost it, retweet it — share it in as many ways as possible. You want the rest of your followers to see how much other people love your product. After all, happy customers are the best advocates for your business.

6. Product review

Customer photos are great, but their reviews are even better.

Approximately 92 percent of online shoppers take reviews into consideration before making a purchase decision. If you have a customer that’s been kind enough to give you a great review, share it. Turn his/her review into an image, and you have some excellent content. A product review is informative, and it also lets other potential customers know your product is worth investing in.

7. Behind the scenes

Product reviews, FAQs and infographics are all awesome ideas, but sometimes customers want to see more of you and less of a sales pitch. Create a little bit of content that has nothing to do with selling a product by posting something like a behind-the-scenes image or an office tour video. Something like this will give your followers a little insight into your life as a business owner, and remind them that you’re a real person, not just a company.

8. Quote  

Another not-too-salesy content idea is a quote. With something like this, you’re not trying to sell anything; you’re just trying to make yourself present on your followers’ timelines. Keeping your business top of mind is extremely important. Simple yet engaging content, like a quote, will help you do that. Find a quote that relates to your business and make it your own using something like Canva.

9. Blog post

If you just read that and thought, “my business doesn’t have a blog,” you need to create one ASAP. According to Hubspot, B2B marketers that use blogs get 67 percent more leads than those that do not. Blogging is a major necessity for every business — but that’s something for another post. For now, if you have a company blog, post it on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc. Share it everywhere you can. Blogs are excellent content.

10. Update or exciting happening 

Did something exciting happen to your business this week? Were you featured in an article, magazine or website? Did you launch a new product? You get the idea. Your customers follow you on social media because they want to know the latest information about your business, so share it with them! If your product was featured in a magazine, share a photo of the page, or post a link to the website that wrote about your product.

Not only will this be informative for your followers, but it will make other businesses more likely to share your content, as well. Make sure to tag anyone you mention in these posts to get as many eyes on your content as possible.