Social Media Content Ideas for Creators

Social media content gives creators a chance to show off their ingenuity and creativity. However, a beautiful picture or information-packed video tutorial can have a big impact beyond being entertaining or catching the eye of people scrolling through your feed. Your creativity can help you grow an audience, build a brand and, eventually, monetize your content.

Read on to learn more about social media content ideas for creators, including filming video tutorials, conducting interviews, developing a content series, sharing behind-the-scenes videos, and collaborating with other creators. No matter what kind of content you find engaging, there’s an intriguing idea for you to try.

Brainstorming ideas for social media content

Social media post ideas come from many different places. Inspiration can strike at any time, but it doesn’t hurt to do some focused brainstorming either. If you’re looking for inspiration or different types of content ideas for your social media accounts, here are some ways to spark your creativity:

• Look at what your favorite creators are doing. You can often get the best social media ideas by looking at what other people are already doing. Examine the types of content someone you admire is creating and that you love seeing (e.g., a video unboxing or an online interview) and put your own spin on it.

• Experiment, experiment, experiment. The best and most original content creation ideas can arise accidentally, when you are trying to do something else. That’s partly because social media channels are constantly introducing new functionality or creator options, which means you might have new editing tools (e.g., additional filters) or ways of presenting your content. You never know what kind of content you might produce by trying out a new filter or editing tool.

• Think about your goals. People start creating social media content for a variety of reasons. Maybe they’re looking to promote something (like a new product or event), trying to launch a small business, or testing out ways to expand an existing follower base. Your social media strategy should be aligned with your desired goals and the type of brand you’re looking to cultivate.

Social media content is an ever-evolving, fluid thing. The social media content ideas popular this year might not be popular next year and beyond. The popularity of social media channels fluctuates as platforms come and go, which affects what kind of content you might produce.

However, you can’t go wrong by finding your own voice and style—and focusing on developing social media content that nurtures your target audience and what makes you unique.

Creating a video tutorial

Video tutorials are one of the best ways to share your unique knowledge and expertise with the world. You can use video content to explain how to solve a problem or teach viewers a useful skill step by step. These tutorials help you build brand awareness and position you as a trusted expert, which can lead to career and earning opportunities.

Before launching video tutorials, it’s best to identify your niche. To figure this out, embrace the old saying, “Go with what you know.” Identify the areas where you have the most experience and insights, and create tutorials around them.

To find your niche, ask yourself questions like:

• What are my strengths?

• Do I have unique knowledge or training?

• What are my goals for the tutorials?

• Who is my audience?

 The focus of your video tutorials depends on your goals and your own individual preferences.

Your video tutorial can be promotional in nature, a how-to video, or a teaching opportunity. As a creator, you’re probably familiar with introductory videos, which give your followers an inside look at your story and brand, and casual clips where you check in with your audience and tell them about new products or services. These types of videos can work hand-in-hand with video tutorials, especially as you start to release a steady stream of relevant content.

Squarespace offers multiple tools for people looking to create and share engaging videos. Unfold's Reels templates are designed to help you create shareable teaser clips and posts for social media marketing, with beat-synced, trendy video templates to maximize engagement with your Reels, TikToks, and YouTube Shorts. Squarespace also offers hundreds of customizable website templates that are optimized to host videos from a third-party platform or videos uploaded directly to video blocks.

Learn more about how to develop a video tutorial

Hosting an AMA (Ask Me Anything)

An AMA is an interview where someone answers questions of all kinds posed by fans and followers. These conversations are great for sharing good news or promoting a launch, and they are an easy, direct way to get to know your followers better. AMAs can be written out in advance of publication, via video or audio live streaming or recording, or a text conversation.

When doing an AMA, it’s best to map out the goals of your session in advance. These don’t have to be overly specific or tied to a special occasion. In fact, some creators feel more connected to their followers by having regular check-ins. AMAs can also be used to share specific news or give background on a product or content launch.

You might see a public figure with on-camera experience—like a musician, actor, or celebrity—doing an AMA. However, not everyone is comfortable being interviewed on live video, so it can help to do a test conversation in advance or do a practice run of your AMA via your social media platform of choice. Other people prefer to approve questions ahead of time or set boundaries around time or topics to ease their nerves.

Squarespace makes it easy to turn your AMAs into a premium content feature in a fee-required Member Site. You might do a real-time Q&A session in this area for paying subscribers, or record and post a Q&A in this paywalled website area.

 Learn more about doing an AMA

Creating a content series

A daily, weekly, or monthly social media content series is a great way to build your audience and influence. This could be as simple as a weekly “get ready with me” video or follower shoutout featuring user-generated content.

It’s best to have a plan in place before starting to create a content series, so you have a clear idea of your goals and a path to achieve them. Here are some questions to consider as you formulate a content series strategy:

• How often do you want to produce content? Creating quality social media content takes time, so be realistic about your bandwidth and tailor a strategy to your availability.

• What kind of content are you producing? Decide in advance whether you want to create a visually oriented series (e.g., videos, photos, or graphics) or one that’s more text-centric.

• Which social media channels are you including? Some content creators prefer to develop a strategy for one platform because it’s easier to manage, while others prefer to use multiple channels.

• Are you basing your strategy off a content calendar? A content calendar is a good way to organize your posting and help you find ways to repurpose your work across accounts.

 Developing a content series and sticking to a posting schedule also requires planning and foresight. You might want to work ahead and have content ready in advance so you can focus on marketing once your series launches.

 Make sure your content series aligns with your brand values and aesthetic. From a design standpoint, marketing tools with templates make it easy for creators to maintain consistent branding and design across marketing for a social media content series. For example, Unfold has hundreds of templates for social media posts and stories, plus editing tools for customization and a Brand Kit to store your unique logos, stickers, and brand colors. Squarespace’s Email Campaigns makes it easy to bring brand assets from your website into your email marketing. 

 You can measure the success of a content series using your social media and website analytics, such as a follower count or new client inquiries. If you aren’t seeing the results you want, you can change your social media content strategy; for example, by focusing more on one channel or adjusting your posting frequency.

 Learn more how to create a content series

Sharing behind-the-scenes media

Behind-the-scenes media allows you to share insights into how your content came together, leading to deeper connections with followers and traffic to other pieces of content you’ve shared. Behind-the-scenes content can also be monetized by putting it behind a paywall in a dedicated Member Site.

People are naturally curious about what their favorite creators are like offline. They’re also interested in learning more about how a video, piece of writing, or photograph came together. 

Here are some behind-the-scenes content ideas to consider:

• Show a photo or video teaser that gives your audience an idea of what to expect from your next post or launch.

• Create blooper and outtake reels that show your fun side.

• Share a photo slideshow of you and your staff or collaborators creating or working together. 

Creating the kind of engaging, behind-the-scenes content that draws followers in requires some preparation. Here are some things to consider when creating behind-the-scenes content:

• Decide what kind of content makes sense for you. If you work primarily in video, you might want to focus on content that gives people insight into your clips. For example, create an exclusive video interview about a piece or take behind-the-scenes photos of a shoot.

• Plan ahead. Plan on shooting behind-the-scenes content while you’re actually producing content, so you’re not retracing your steps after the fact.

• Make sure your content is relatable. Think about what kind of exclusive social media content you like to see and keep that in mind when creating your behind-the-scenes media.

Behind-the-scenes content works best when it’s high-quality material that looks and sounds good, but still feels true to life. You can shoot professional-grade photos and videos on phones, but you can also choose to hire a freelance photographer or videographer to help document your working process.

Social media tools and apps also make planning and editing content easier. For example, Squarespace’s Unfold app can help with planning out your Instagram feed. You can choose post templates that match your brand and aesthetic while the Instagram Feed Planner allows you to see how photos will look on your profile. 

Learn more about sharing behind-the-scenes photos and videos

Collaborating with other creators

Working with other content creators is a great way to expand your reach and figure out new pathways to success. Social media partnerships can help you experiment with new content types and potentially find a new audience. 

Social media collaborations come about when people find partners with whom they share common hobbies, interests, and values. Networking with other content creators is a good way to find a partner or collaborator. You can also ask your friends or peers for recommendations, reach out to a potential partner yourself, or join online and offline groups where peers hang out.

Creating solid social media partnerships requires some advance planning. Discuss goals and content expectations with any partner up front so that you’re on the same page. Make a plan around who is posting what content and when, and whether you’ll reshare any of each other’s content. Getting to know your collaborator as a friend will also make for more genuine, entertaining content.

Collaborative social media content is one of the most exciting kinds of social media content because it’s the result of brainstorming between multiple creative people. Some social media collaboration examples include:

• Live Q&As or interviews

• Social media channel takeovers

• Filmed videos/collaborative photo shoots

• Video stitches/social media interaction

• Shared giveaways

• A joint infographic or collab post

Above all, keep your audience in mind when considering collaborations. Work with collaborators that complement your own values and brand, and create the kind of content you’d like to watch if you were them.

Learn more about the best ways to build relationships with other creators