Content Ideas for Businesses: January 2024
It’s time for the post-holiday hustle! January is an infamously slow month after the rush of the holidays. Businesses spent the last months pushing sales for the holiday season. Now's the time to build the brand, and strengthen customer relationships. If you’re struggling to come up with some content to keep your stats up through January, look no further. The team here at Anthology Marketing has compiled a list of the top 10 content ideas for businesses to use in January 2024. Whether you’re a social media maverick or a business trying to stay visible online, these topics are sure to help your socials perform well through to Valentine’s Day.
Here are our top suggestions for content ideas:
1. New Year’s Goals
Engage your audience with a conversation about New Year’s resolutions. Businesses on social media often struggle to humanize their brand to followers, but being open and honest in what your business is aiming to improve on can help build trust between you and your audience. Remember to ask what your follower’s resolutions are, and reply to all your comments for maximum engagement and connection.
2. Winter Sales
This one depends on the nature of your business, but nothing gets people excited quite like a seasonal sale. Even 15% off winter-related products can get audiences pumped about seeing your company pop up on their Insta feed. We often see website traffic spike when businesses post beautifully designed sale promos to their social media. This is especially important if your business has a strong brand identity; avoid spammy tabloid designs that look too desperate for attention. A thoughtful and visually appealing design can add value to your profile’s aesthetic while still getting the attention you’re aiming for. Need help coming up with a beautiful design? Tell us what your vision is– we’d love to help you get on the right path.
3. Year in Review
Help new audience members catch up with what your business had going on last year with a ‘year in review’ post. Take your followers on a journey that shows them how your business grew, what new products were launched, any re-branding initiatives, and charitable causes that your business supported through 2023. This post should showcase your company’s values and what’s truly important to your team.
Wondering what the best format for this could be? We suggest you either go for a carousel post or an Instagram reel. If you have enough video footage to put together an inspiring reel, go for it. Use a trending and upbeat audio, and summarize your story in the caption. Alternatively, using beautiful and relevant images in a carousel post is also a great way to get your audience to follow along with your story.
Struggling to scrounge together good content for this one? If a resolution for your business this year is to improve your branding or have more quality photos and videos for your socials, let us know. That’s kind of our thing. Let your 2024 year-in-review post be your best yet.
4. Winter Survival Tips
When in doubt, add value to your audience. Build rapport with your followers by giving them free advice and tips. January can be a hard month with the excitement of the holidays already behind us. What are some things you like to do to keep the winter fun?
We suggest being as genuine as possible with this one. Some people might find it useful to take vitamin D supplements to help with the lack of sun (Canadian readers know what we’re talking about!) or participate in cold-weather activities like ice-skating and tobogganing. Others find comfort in staying in, sipping tea, and making their home a cozy winter getaway.
A good idea is to highlight how your products or services could help. For example, home decor businesses can emphasize making a space extra cozy. An art supply business can suggest staying creative and using art as therapy. Whatever the case may be, don’t push your products or services too hard. Just throw it in there as a way to make your post still relevant to your business. The most important thing is to provide real ways your audience can better enjoy the tough winter months.
5. National Holidays and Observances
There’s always a day for something, and January happens to be chock-full of fun holidays that could be relevant to your business. Did you know that January is National Hobby Month? It’s also National Hot Tea Month! If you’re not in Canada or the US, double-check to make sure it’s still relevant to you geographically.
Here’s a list of January observances and holidays that could be useful:
National Soup Month
National Spaghetti Day
Apple Gifting Day
National Oatmeal Month
National Clean Up Your Computer Month
National Buffet Day
National Bubble Bath Day
National Science Fiction Day
International Creativity Month
World Introvert Day
National Bagel Day
National Hat Day
See a full list here.
6. Behind-The-Scenes
Photo by Jacklyn Barber
There’s a reason why the show How It’s Made was such a success. People love getting a peak at how things are done, how things work, and what it’s like to be involved with processes that aren’t part of their everyday lives. Offer your audiences a look into how your business does what it does. Introduce the members of your team, what a day in the life looks like, and fun facts on different aspects of the work.
This works well with product-centred businesses, like candle makers, furniture manufacturers, decor stores, handmade goods, clothing, and more. Services can make an impact, too; if your business is person-centric, introduce some of your clients if they're comfortable with making an appearance. This could be a good opportunity to throw in a positive review or a kind word from your clients, too.
The beautiful part of this content idea is that it doesn’t have to be super polished. In fact, sometimes, the content that performs the best is unplanned, off-the-cuff clips. Of course, a little editing goes a long way even with impromptu content. (Psst… We do video editing, too!)
7. Educational Content
Ideally, this is one you should be doing year-round: provide educational content in your niche! This is a major motivating factor for people to follow your account. If you give away free advice that’s relevant to your business, you build a relationship with your audience and present your company as a leader in your field. Audiences are more likely to do business with companies that consistently prove their expertise and provide free value to them.
8. Customer Appreciation and Reposts
Show your customers some love with a customer appreciation post. Feel free to get more personal with your audience, and emphasize how important their support is to your business. This is also another good chance to showcase a positive review from a customer.
Another approach to this idea is to share some posts that your followers have made! Build a sense of community and foster relationships between your audience members by sharing photos from followers that contain images of your products or mention your services in the caption. Hint: search through your “tagged” photos to find content from the past that your followers have tagged you in. Always be sure to credit the person who created that photo.
9. Throwback Thursday
This one’s an oldie but a goodie. Pick any Thursday in January to feature either you (presumably, the owner) or the team from when the company first started and put it side by side with a recent photo. This is especially impactful when the before and after effect is strong. Maybe you have a dedicated space for the business, or maybe you have a big team when a few years ago it was just you. Either way, choose photos that tell the story of how your business has evolved over time.
For the caption, talk about how things have changed for the business. Open up about any challenges you had to overcome, and what you learned from those experiences. There’s always an opportunity to provide value, and imparting some wisdom is a great way to do that.
10. Employee Spotlight
January is a good time to introduce a few team members your audience might not have heard from yet. Have each employee make a short introduction for themselves, and post a selfie of them. Include fun facts like music taste, hobbies, and one thing they love about their role at the company. This is a fun piece of content that helps your audience connect with your brand, and build rapport by letting them get to know each person that helps your business thrive.
TL;DR
For those of you quickly scrolling through, we condensed our blog to save you some time! January is full of opportunities to put out great content. Here’s a summary of our top 10 content ideas:
New Year’s Goals: Share your business’s goals for 2024, and ask your audience about their own resolutions.
Winter Sales: Keep the momentum from the holidays with a January sale.
Year in Review: Share your story of the last year and highlight your company's growth.
Winter Survival Tips: Give advice relevant to your business that can help your followers enjoy the rough winter months.
National Holidays and Observances: Find a holiday in January that’s relevant to your business!
Behind-The-Scenes: Share your processes to give your audience a sneak peek at how things are done in your company.
Educational Content: Offer free value and position your business as an authority in your industry by providing content that educates followers.
Customer Appreciation: Give thanks to your customers and share a positive review for social proof.
Throwback Thursday: A great way to show company growth over the years. Share a never-before-seen picture from the early days of your business.
Employee Spotlight: Introduce each member of your team to help audiences get to know the people who make what you do possible.
From New Year’s resolutions to educational content, there are plenty of ways for businesses to provide value and grow online audiences. We’re passionate about helping you do exactly that. Follow us on Instagram for more tips on growing social media for businesses.
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