The biggest gripe marketers have these days is that they don’t know what content to post on social media. Well, maybe not actually the biggest, but it’s certainly up there with the best of them. Twitter is particularly challenging because of its 140-character limit, which forces you to be as succinct as possible while still making use of the hashtag, a URL (preferably unshrunk) and sometimes even tagging another user. 
It appears, however, that it’s finding the content to post that presents the biggest challenge, and using a microblogging site to promote your products is the quickest way to lose followers.
We put together these suggestions to help you attract website visitors through social media:
1) News ‘n Stuff
Telling stories is top of the pops at the moment, and if you spin it right you can turn anything into a story. Think of your role as being to make sure your target audience knows what’s going on in your industry on a day-to-day basis. Stop worrying about whether it fits with your mission and vision, whether it promotes your products or your competition's and whether it shows your industry in a positive light or not. Just share it; after all, your readers can find it elsewhere if they look. How much more on the ball will you seem if you actually tell them about it first? It doesn't matter if you don't sell any products, because that isn’t what it’s about. It’s about sharing relevant stuff with your audience.
2) Website Content
Ok, this one only works if you publish fresh content regularly, such as a blog, articles, infographics or other material that’s keyword-rich and search engine optimized. Post links to presentations either on your website or SlideShare, publish the URLs of video clips and podcasts, and anything else that could qualify as content. Use your primary keywords as hashtags for a bit of additional “oomph.”
3) Announcements
We think this is pretty self-explanatory, but threw it in because businesses don’t always realize it when there's something announcement-worthy. It doesn’t have to be a merger or acquisition—leave those to the big corporations. Things you can announce include:
- New products or services
- Business events
- New marketing collateral
- New staff members
- Changes in your structure
- Amendments to your business practices
- Successful financial periods
- Exciting new customer agreements
- Completion of projects
- Start of new projects
It doesn’t always have to be big, it just has to be something that might interest some of the people, some of the time. You gettin’ the drift?
4) Educational Stuff
If you’re in any industry that relies on customer education, then Twitter is a fabulous medium for spreading your message. Whether you’re launching educational booklets, a resource website or a discussion forum, get the conversation going using your hashtag and mentioning other stakeholders with Twitter accounts by adding their handle with the “@” in front of it.
5) Cute and Funny Stuff
Everyone loves a little relief now and again, so give it to ‘em! Research has shown that photos of cute puppies and kittens get more engagement than any other form of content on social media. Don’t think you can’t tie that to your product offering—at least on occasion. Anyone who saw Budweiser’s Super Bowl puppy ad can figure that out.
6) Staff Profiles
Personalization doesn’t only apply to customers. It applies to you and your team too. Especially in the small business environment, clients want to know who they are dealing with. Showcasing your staff profiles on your website is a great start, but unless users come looking for them they aren’t likely to see them. Tweet the URL of a staffer every now and then and let the world get to know them like you do.
7) Stats
Nothing succeeds like success, so the saying goes. And statistics show the success (or lack of success) of whatever it is you want to present. Compile your stats into a list or report and publish it on your website, then tweet the URL so your target audience can find it easily. Alternatively, take each statistic individually and make it a story tweet. Explain what the numbers mean and how they impact your market or audience. Intersperse stat tweets with others so you don’t become boring.
8) Engagement
Twitter is a great method of handling customer service issues and getting feedback from clients. Ask the questions you really want to know the answers to and offer an incentive for retweets and responses. Or use the tweet to direct your followers to a web page where they can enter a contest in exchange for collecting the data you need from them.
Pay close attention to your tweets, retweets and mentions so you can determine what resonates with your audience and generates a response. Then you can implement more of their favorite things.
*Meme courtesy of zogdigital.com
