YouTube Shorts can be made from repurposed Instagram Reels. Photo by Sheila Scarborough.

The world of Main Street social media marketing is constantly changing - which is exhausting enough - but it also demands regular, consistent posting and content creation.

Who has time for all that?

You do, but only if you’re smart about re-purposing the stories you tell through the content you create.

At Main Street Now 2022 in Richmond, I talked about using social media marketing for economic development, including some blog post topic ideas. The 2022 conference app has the downloads from my session, so grab them while they’re still available (through early May 2023.)

What Can Your Main Street Blog Do for You?

Remember . . . the only digital assets that YOU control are your website, blog, email list, and opt-in SMS texting list.

Everything else like Facebook, Instagram (owned by Facebook,) Twitter, YouTube (owned by Google) etc. is controlled by someone else. They can change their Terms of Service or take down your account at any time.

Your blog that YOU control is a powerful communications tool to help with:

• Online visibility and search engine discovery
• Talent attraction
• Reputation management
• Building relationships and networking with business prospects and your current community, including local entrepreneurs.

Use your website and Main Street blog as content anchors, to tell your story your way. It serves as a hub. Social media platforms are the spokes.
Let’s look at one important blog post topic idea and see what else we can create in addition to the post.

Blog Posts That Answer Your Most Commonly Asked Questions

This is a priority for your blog. If people are asking these questions in your office or on the phone or via email or in social media comments, they are Googling the question, too. Give them what they’re Googling for!

These posts can bring you evergreen traffic for years without a lot of extra effort on your part other than initially writing the post and then keeping it updated.

Here are some ideas for turning your FAQ blog post into additional social media content – make sure to spread the various social posts out over several weeks or even months to reach different audiences and people who missed it the first time.  

Create a short video answering the question. Try the AI (Artificial Intelligence) in Lumen5 to create a video from the text. Embed the video in your original blog post.

Upload the video to your YouTube channel, with a link back to the original blog post in the video description. YouTube helps a lot with your Main Street’s SEO (Search Engine Optimization.)

Upload the video to Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.

Make a short, snappy vertical version of the video to post to Instagram, TikTok, and/or YouTube Shorts.

Use Canva to create a series of graphics that answer the question. Post it as a carousel on Instagram. Bonus – carousels are coming to LinkedIn, too.

Answer the question as an IG Story, then pin it as a Highlight, then convert that Highlight into an IG Reel video.

Take the IG Story and turn it into a Pinterest Idea Pin.

Use a free platform like Podbean to record an audio answer to the question. Embed the audio playbox into the original blog post.

More Ideas

See how easy it is to generate lots of content? Of course, you will also share the original blog post links across social media, and in your email newsletter.

Here are some more blog post topic ideas below – how would you make additional social media content from these? 

• Entrepreneurial assistance and news.
• Infrastructure and transportation assets, including downtown broadband and accessibility.
• Available Main Street buildings and facilities, with video and photos.
• Business success stories, project wins, awards, and recognition including media coverage.
• Community spirit, arts, and cultural assets. Places that feature locally made handicrafts, foods, beverages.
• Workforce development and school/education opportunities.
• Virtual/360 tours. Walking tours. “Follow the historical markers” walking tours.

Never make a piece of content for just one platform. Always think about how you can re-purpose your hard work to get more content in less time.