Social media is undoubtedly a great way to react to current events in real time, like trends, causes and particular movements. The ice bucket challenge became a virally charged movement in the year of 2014 and encouraged everyone to take part for a good cause. With just a phone and a bucket of icy water, anyone would participate and share with the world instantly. This is reactive marketing. Taking note of current trends and doing something to be a part of it.

But what about the rest of the year?

Your social media feed should provide people with an insight into your business. Not just your take on current events. So it's important to plan content for your social media all year round. When you start to plan your social media, it quickly becomes apparent that a lot of work is needed. You need to think about:

• What are you going to post?
• Do you need to take photos or videos?
• Do you need to create graphics?
• Do you need any special equipment or resources to create the content?

For many of our clients, the first point is often the initial stumbling block. "What am I going to post?" One of the key aspects of social media is to identify what you can share to social media. Many non-traditional social media businesses find it hard to visualise how they can be represented on social media.

So for example, a non-traditional business may be a small mechanics garage. To begin a social media campaign we must think about what we can communicate on social media. It's not just about pictures of cars and tools, but more of what is applicable to 'that' garage and why people on social media may value that information.

• What services does the garage provide?
• What are the CORE VALUES? (Affordability, Friendly Atmosphere, Clean etc)
• Unique features i.e. courtesy car, pick up, drop off service, digital receipts

It's this type of information that builds a unique profile for a business that can separate them from competitors. Some garages may focus on performance and tuning, whereas another garage is all about providing a friendly, reliable service.

After we have identified WHAT we can communicate on social media, it's time to think about HOW to communicate it. Let's look at some particular CORE VALUES and think about how we this can be communicated via social media.

Friendly Atmosphere
Photos of the mechanics, receptionist, happy customers and any quirky elements of the garage would help communicate this point.

Clean Environment
Photos of the garage, reception and waiting area that show a clean, warm environment that makes a customer feel comfortable. Not a greasy, oily second-hand sofa out the back.

Affordability
If the garage offers low prices, or payment plans with 0% finance to help customers manage their bills, this can be communicated through graphics.

Taking just these three samples of what can be communicated, we have identified that a range of photography is needed, as well as some graphic design to effectively communicate these CORE VALUES. Not only is planning for the content creation needed, but the distribution is also important as they need to be communicated via social media ALL YEAR ROUND to maintain an ongoing message.

This can be quite a daunting task to plan and schedule when you're going to do this, including the execution. So if you want to self publish your social media content, we advise preparing a content calendar to do so. The best way to do this, and avoid additional stress is to work with a social media manager. Like us :)

Some businesses have an easy product or service they can promote on social media. For example, a coffee shop can post endless photos of gorgeous looking coffee in posh cups and fancy surroundings. AND, people who visit there love to take photos of their gorgeous coffee in their posh cups and fancy surroundings.

But what if your business is a small barber shop. It's a small space and how many photos of a haircut can you post, realistically? There are many barbershop social media profiles that show endless photos of skin fades, haircuts and beard trims. But what does that say about the business? It's not negative, but it shows they cut hair... great but what separates them from another barbershop and why should you care?

That's where we come in.

We see social media as an insight into a business. A window for a social media user to get a glimpse of a business through their preferred social media platform, be it Instagram, Facebook or Twitter.

A company's social media channel is a huge opportunity to show people so much about your business, that you can control and curate. So, taking into consideration a social media profile for a Barbershop, here are a list of ideas for content that we can use to create a social media profile:

• What kind of establishment is it? What's the decor and atmosphere? Is it friendly, laid back or serious?
• Is it child friendly? Dog friendly? Is their plenty of room for parents or friends to wait?
• What services do they provide? How much do they cost?
• What products do they sell?
• What times are they open? Who works what days?
• Are the barber's male, female or both?
• Do staff look friendly and happy?
• Do customers look happy and satisfied?
• Advice on hair care and management.
• Limited offers, discounts and loyalty incentives.
• Does the shop look clean, tidy and respectable?

All of these queries can be answered and presented through well taken photos and editorial content. See a few examples below:

These 6 simple images provide an instant insight into Bell's Barber Shop. From these social media posts, a user can immediately see that:

• A barber and customer are close and friendly
• They offer a wash, cut and dye service
• The decor look very alt/rock and chique
• A list of prices
• A photo of a customer and barber
• Some helpful advice for hair care during winter

If you're a barber running a small shop and cutting hair, it's very difficult to create this content and maintain ongoing social media distribution on a regular basis. Sure, anyone can snap a haircut on a mobile phone and push it to Instagram, but what about Facebook, and Twitter?

We not only take care of the distribution, we take the photos, create the content and manage all 3 social media profiles.

Never worry about your social media profiles again.