Why do you run out of ideas?
Every morning a business owner sits down and asks: what do I post today? That question alone is enough to make posting stop after two weeks.
The fix is not more ideas but fewer questions. When you already know that Sunday is for tips and Wednesday is for behind the scenes, the question becomes: what is this week's tip? That is a much easier question.
Step 1: Choose three to five content pillars
Content pillars are fixed themes that everything you post revolves around. Most marketing guides recommend three to five pillars for a small business: fewer than three boxes you in, and more than five scatters your audience.
An example for a small perfume shop:
- Teach: how to choose a perfume that suits you, and the difference between concentrations.
- Behind the scenes: where our oils come from, and how we wrap an order.
- Trust: customer reviews and photos of their orders.
- Offers: product of the week, and new collections.
Write your pillars in your brand's voice. If you have not defined it yet, start with our article on brand strategy.
Step 2: Balance selling with everything else
A common rule among marketers is the “rule of thirds”: a third promoting your product, a third sharing knowledge from your field, and a third engaging with your audience. Many specialists say it is a general guide, not an exact formula.
The idea worth keeping: if every post says “buy now”, people stop watching. Most guides suggest that one post in every four or five should be a direct sale.
Twenty content ideas in five groups
Teach: what your customer knows after you
- A common mistake your customers make, and how to avoid it.
- A buying guide: how to choose the right product for you.
- A comparison between two options people are torn between.
- A question you keep getting in your messages, answered in a post.
Trust: what reassures people who have not bought yet
- A customer review with their permission, in their own words.
- Before and after: the result your customer gets.
- The story of an order: from the first message to delivery.
- Your guarantee and policy on exchanges or returns, in plain words.
Behind the scenes: what nobody sees
- A day in your business from the morning to the last order.
- How your product is made or how your service is prepared.
- Your team or you, and why you started this business.
- A mistake you made and what you learned from it.
Engage: what makes people reply
- A two-option question: which do you prefer?
- Your pick? Two photos of a new product, and ask them to choose.
- Finish the sentence about a moment your audience knows well.
- This week's occasion: a national day, a season or an event in your city.
Sell: when you ask for the sale
- Product of the week with a clear reason you picked it.
- A time-limited offer, if it is real.
- A bundle that solves a whole problem.
- How to order: the ordering and delivery steps, clearly.
Openings that get the idea read
A good idea gets lost if its first line is weak. These four openings work for most of the ideas above:
- Pain point: “Tired of a perfume that fades after an hour?”
- Three steps: “Want a scent that lasts? Three steps before you head out.”
- Myth-buster: “The most expensive perfume is not always the longest lasting.”
- Question: “A daytime scent or an evening one: which would you pick first?”
One idea, five posts
You do not need twenty ideas a week. One strong idea is enough if you turn it into different formats. Take the idea “how to choose a perfume that suits you”:
- A short reel: three tips in three scenes.
- A carousel: one slide per tip, and a last slide with the takeaway.
- A single poster: the most important tip in one sentence.
- An engagement question: “What confuses you most when you choose a perfume?”
- A reply to a comment: take the best question from the comments and answer it in a new post.
Read how to make reels in Arabic if the reel is where you start.
A week's plan you can start today
| Day | Group | Example for a perfume shop |
|---|---|---|
| Sunday | Teach | Three mistakes that make your perfume fade fast |
| Monday | Engage | A daytime scent or an evening one? |
| Tuesday | Trust | A customer review with a photo of her order |
| Wednesday | Behind the scenes | How we wrap your order |
| Thursday | Sell | Perfume of the week and why we chose it |
| Friday | Teach | The difference between perfume concentrations |
| Saturday | Engage | Finish the sentence: I love my perfume when… |
If seven days is too much, start with three: teach, trust and sell. Consistency matters more than volume.
Common mistakes
- Posting only when you remember. Set fixed days, even if it is just two a week.
- Every post is an ad. People follow those who help them, and buy from those they trust.
- Copying a competitor's ideas as they are. Take the format, and change the angle with your own voice and experience.
- Ignoring comments and messages. Your audience's questions are the best source of your next ideas.
Your weekly plan in Engage Posts
The studio has a step called “Brand strategy and weekly plan”. You answer short questions about your business, and it writes seven days of ideas with the copy for each post, with the right tool for each day: a reel, a carousel, a poster or a presenter ad. You can switch each post's opening between the four types above. It is included in the free plan.