“I never know what to post” usually means “I’m looking for something special to post”. Nothing special happens most weeks, so nothing gets posted.
The fix is to stop looking for content and start noticing it. Every business has the same handful of moments repeating all the time: a job finishes, a customer asks a question, a delivery turns up, something goes wrong and gets fixed. Each one is a post. Below are prompts grouped by those moments, with a rough example for each so you can see how ordinary the starting point can be.
Keep a note on your phone called “Post this”. When one of these moments happens, take a photo and write three words. That note is your content plan.
When a job or order is finished
This is the richest source for most service businesses, and the most underused. Customers want to see the work.
Prompts:
- What did it look like before, and what does it look like now?
- What was the tricky part nobody would notice?
- What did the customer want, in their words?
- What’s one detail you’re quietly proud of?
Example (tradie): A photo of a switchboard upgrade, before and after. “Old ceramic fuses out, new board with safety switches on every circuit. Took most of the day because the old wiring had been extended three times by three different people. House in Wollongbar.”
Example (practice): A photo of the treatment room set up for the day. “Six new patients this week with the same thing: lower back pain after a weekend in the garden. If that’s you, this is the stretch we gave all six.”
Always ask before showing a customer’s home, face or business, and don’t show anything that identifies an address. Our guide to reposting customer content covers getting permission properly.
When a customer asks a question
If one person asked, twenty others wondered. Every question you answer on the phone or at the counter is a post.
Prompts:
- What question did you answer three times this month?
- What do people always get wrong before they call you?
- What’s the question people are embarrassed to ask?
- What do people ask about price, and what’s the real answer?
Example (café): “Someone asked today why our almond latte costs more. Fair question. The milk costs us a lot more than dairy, and we use a brand that doesn’t split in hot coffee. That’s where the extra goes.”
Example (accountant): “This week’s most common question: can I claim my phone? The answer: the work-use portion, if you can show how you worked it out. The simple way to keep a record is below.”
Questions also make the best captions for Reels. Film yourself answering it in 30 seconds. Our guide to filming Reels on your phone covers how to make that look good.
Behind the scenes
People like seeing how things work. What’s boring to you is interesting to someone who’s never seen it.
Prompts:
- What happens before you open?
- What does a delivery or stock day look like?
- What tool or piece of equipment do you rely on most?
- What’s on your whiteboard or job board this week?
- What does it take to make one of your products?
Example (restaurant): A short video of the kitchen at 3pm, prepping for dinner service. Venues like Saltbush Bar & Grill have this built in: the kitchen, the produce coming in, the bar being set up. A ten-second clip of that is more appealing than a designed graphic announcing the specials.
Example (builder): A photo of the site at 6.45am with the coffee on the ute bonnet. “Slab pour today. Concrete truck’s booked for 7, so we’re setting out the last of the formwork.”
When something goes wrong
This feels risky. Done well, it builds more trust than anything else you post, because it shows how you handle problems.
Prompts:
- What went wrong this week and how did you sort it out?
- What did you learn the hard way early on?
- What’s a mistake customers make that you can help them avoid?
- When did you have to tell a customer “no”, and why?
Example (retailer): “We ordered 40 of the blue ones and 4 of the green. Should have been the other way round. Green’s sold out, blue’s on special. Lesson learned.”
Example (tradie): “Called back to a job this week because a tap we fitted was dripping. Our fault: a washer seated wrong. Fixed in ten minutes, no charge. That’s what the warranty’s for.”
Keep it light and keep it about the fix. Don’t post about a specific customer’s complaint, and never argue in public.
The team
People buy from people. In a regional town especially, customers like knowing who’ll turn up.
Prompts:
- Who’s new, and what did they do before?
- Who’s been here longest?
- What does each person do all day?
- What does the team do on a Friday arvo?
- Who’s finished a course, a qualification or an apprenticeship?
Example: A photo of your apprentice with their first solo job. “Jordan’s first switchboard without me standing over his shoulder. Passed the test, passed my inspection. Proud boss.”
Ask before you post anyone, and respect it if someone would rather not be on social.
Suppliers and the people you work with
Tagging local suppliers and partners helps them, and their followers are often your customers.
Prompts:
- Who supplies your key products or materials, and why them?
- Which local business did you work alongside this week?
- Who do you refer customers to when it’s not your thing?
Example (café): “Our beans come from a farm about 25 minutes up the road. Here’s the bag that arrived this morning.” Tag them.
Example (landscaper): “Plants for this job came from the nursery in Alstonville. If you’re doing your own garden, ask for the coastal tolerant range.”
Local events and the calendar
Your town has its own year. Use it.
Prompts:
- What’s on locally this week or month?
- Are you closed, open late or doing something different for a public holiday?
- What changes in your business with the seasons?
- What’s the weather doing to your work?
Example (pool or roofing business): “First big storm of the season last night. If you’ve noticed water where it shouldn’t be, this is what to check before you call us.”
Example (retailer): “Markets on Sunday. We’ll be at stall 14 with the end-of-season stock.”
Things you already have
On a completely empty week, look at what’s already sitting there:
- A Google review you can thank someone for (screenshot it, with permission if it names them)
- A page on your website that answers a common question, rewritten as a short post
- An old project photo with a “two years on” update
- Your hours, location and how to book, for the people who still don’t know
- A photo from your last professional photo shoot you haven’t used yet
Your website is a good source here. The service pages and FAQs on a well-written site are full of answers that make good posts, and posts that send people back to your site support what a small business website should actually do: bring in enquiries.
The one rule that makes this work
Post the ordinary thing. Most of the prompts above produce posts that feel too small to bother with. That’s the point. Your followers don’t need a campaign. They need to see, regularly, that you’re real, you’re busy, and you’re good at what you do.
Start the “Post this” note today and add one thing before the end of the week. If you’d rather hand the whole job over, our social media management service turns those moments into posts, using templates designed by our graphic design team to match your brand.