Marketing Content Framework for Service-Based Businesses
Creating marketing content for your service-based business can be stressful if you don’t know what to post and when. There’s more to marketing content than just posting what you offer. Your branding, messaging and overall strategy have to align to convert followers and subscribers to clients.
When I started my brand photography business, I thought only posting one form of content would be enough. But as online marketing has evolved over the years, and there is more demand for trendy content, the foundation of what your ideal client wants to know is still important.
The goal isn’t necessarily to go viral, especially as a service-based business. You can only take on so many clients at a time, even with a team. But, you can increase your visibility, connection and conversion with a content framework.
Let’s discuss 12 posts you can create today to market your services online, and grow your business.
Introduction: Share fun facts about you, how you got started in business and who you serve. You can post a photo of you, video of you doing something with text overlay.
How to work with me: Share your packages or current offers for the year, quarter or month. Create a carousel with the name of the service and a short description.
X Steps to (solve a pain point): Share how your offer can solve your ideal client’s pain point, and the steps to get there. For example, 5 Steps to Level Up Your Marketing (one of the steps can be to invest in your brand visuals).
How to know when you’re ready for (service): This can be a qualifying post, to encourage your ideal client to examine if they’re ready to invest. Use bullet points or carousel slides to make the content more digestible.
Client case study/before and after (portfolio work): Sharing client work is essential to converting followers to clients. Whether it’s a collection of the final photos from a shoot or a system you setup for them to streamline their workflows, share what you’re doing for clients with real examples. It gives a potential client a peak at what you can do and how you can do it for them.
Client Testimonial: We can promote our services until we’re blue in the face. But the most powerful proof that you can deliver what you’re promising in your marketing are testimonials. We check reviews before we purchase, right? It’s the same for our services. User generated content is also a form of testimonial. If your client tags you in a post, reshare it.
Motivational Quotes: No one wants to be sold to 24/7. You can sell your services without being direct everytime. Share written thoughts and sound bites that inspire, challenge and motivate a potential client to act. This is also content that clients will want to reshare and increase your reach.
Behind the scenes/day in the life/photo dump: This is my favorite type of content to share. It gives potential clients a peek into what you do and how you do it. You can also get more personal with them but sharing parts of your day such as your morning routine, daily walks in the afternoon or what you like to do on the weekend. Share BTS often and watch your social media engagement soar.
Quick hack using a business tool: How can you give your ideal client a shortcut to make their life easier? Share tools or strategies you use in your work to increase productivity. This can be tutorials, quick before and after videos with the steps in the caption or lists of things you use to streamline your processes.
Promote Lead Capture: If you don’t have a lead capture, it’s time to create one. This is the first step to building your email list quickly and efficiently. Create a checklist, guide, worksheet or tutorial that your ideal client can download for free by giving you their email address. You can then create a nurture sequence that provides even more value and sells your offers. Be sure to create consistent content that encourages your social media followers to download your lead capture and add a link to sign up in your link in bio link tree.
Announcement: People love good news! Whether it’s a birthday, business anniversary, website launch/rebrand, new service, new lead magnet, spots open for your service, etc, share announcements often to capture attention. Bonus points if the announcement is tied to something on your website where they can go to learn more about your services. Be sure to include a call to action to go to your link in bio to check it out.
Promote Digital Product: I believe every service-based business should have a digital product or some type of passive income product. Yes, your service is your bread and butter, but not every client is ready to fully invest just yet. Create a lower-priced introductory product that will allow them to get familiar with your process, learn how you work and get on your email list to be the first to know when you announce open spots for your service. It’s also a great way to create ongoing income from something you created once and can get paid over and over again. This can be a mini course, preset, e-book or masterclass.
If you create these content types consistently, your social media growth and client bookings will increase. These are the types of content I share on my profile every single week, and it works.
Create a content calendar that you can fill in these content types, set a date on the calendar each week to create the content and schedule it to go live. I recommend IG’s in-app scheduler or an approved third party like Later or Planoly. Scheduling your content will allow you to show up consistently, even when you don’t feel like posting or your knee deep in busy season.
Repurpose your top-performing content by creating it in a new format or reposting it in the exact same format 3-6 months from now. If a post doesn’t perform well, it may just be the timing. Also, some of my lowest engagement posts are my highest inquiry days!
Which content types resonate with you the most? Which will you incorporate in your content strategy?
