PostEaseThe short answer
Never start from a blank page. Pick a content pillar (teach, show the work, prove it, be a person), pick an idea from the list below, and make it in the format your platform rewards. Keep most posts useful or human and a minority promotional, mix evergreen posts with timely ones, and keep a swipe file of ideas as you come across them. Each platform’s own ideas guide, linked below, has twenty more made for it.
People stop for real people. In Signs.com’s survey of 1,000 US consumers, reported by Net Influencer in December 2025, customer testimonials were the content most watched for at least 10 seconds (35%), followed by personal stories (31%) and funny or relatable hooks (29%), and testimonials and reviews were the most likely to influence a purchase (52%).
Forty ideas, by pillar
Ten for each of the four pillars that suit nearly every account:
| Teach | Show the work | Prove it | Be a person |
|---|---|---|---|
| The most common mistake and the fix | How it is made, start to finish | A before and after | Why you started |
| A checklist people will save | A day of the work | A customer’s result, with permission | A mistake you made |
| A myth, corrected | Your tools and why each is there | A review and the story behind it | Something you changed your mind about |
| A beginner’s guide in five steps | Behind a launch or a big job | A number from your year | A day off, or what keeps you going |
| Answer a question from your comments | Packing, prepping or setting up | A customer’s own post, shared with credit | The team, one person at a time |
| A comparison: this or that | A work in progress, then the finish | Results a month or a year later | A recommendation: a book, a tool, a person |
| A tip in one sentence | What changed this week | A testimonial on video | An opinion on your field |
| A glossary term explained | A problem you solved today | A case study with details removed | A question for your followers |
| A template or framework | Your workspace | A milestone and what it took | Where you work from |
| Seasonal advice | A time-lapse | Press or a talk you gave | What is next for you |
The right mix of value and promotion
A feed that only sells gets scrolled past. A common rule of thumb, often called the 80/20 rule, is that most posts, around four in five, should be useful or human, and about one in five should promote. Treat it as a guide, not a law: what matters is that every post gives the viewer something, even the promotional ones, such as a demo, a result or a clear offer.
Evergreen and timely
Evergreen posts (how-tos, stories, results) stay useful for months and can be batched and scheduled ahead. Timely posts (news, trends, seasons, what happened today) earn attention now and fade fast. Plan mostly evergreen posts so the calendar is never empty, and leave one or two slots a week for timely ones, so the feed still feels alive.
When you have nothing new to announce
Most weeks have no news, and that is when the pillars earn their keep. Teach something you already know, show the ordinary work, share a customer’s result, or answer a question from your comments. None of these needs an announcement, and they are often what people stop for: in the Signs.com survey, real people and personal stories held attention better than polished brand content.
Keep a swipe file
A swipe file is a running collection of ideas: posts by others you admire, questions customers ask, things you learn, phrases people use. Save them in one place as you find them, tag each by pillar, and pull from it when you plan the week. Never copy a post; use it to see a format or an angle, and make your own version.
Make it in the right format
The same idea earns differently by format. In Buffer’s 2026 engagement report, carousels earned the most on Instagram, document carousels on LinkedIn, images on Facebook, text on X, and video on TikTok, Pinterest, Threads and Bluesky. Make the idea once, then the version each platform rewards.
Ideas for each platform
Each platform has its own guide with twenty ideas made for how it ranks posts: Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook, X, Pinterest, Threads and Bluesky. They are linked in the related reading below.
Questions
What should I post when I have no ideas?
Pick a pillar and an idea from the table: a common mistake and its fix, how something is made, a customer’s result, or why you started.
What is the 80/20 rule for social media?
A rule of thumb: about four in five posts should be useful or human, and about one in five promotional. Treat it as a guide, not a law.
What kind of posts get the most attention?
Posts about real people. In the Signs.com survey, testimonials were the content most watched for at least 10 seconds (35%), then personal stories (31%).
What is a content series?
A run of posts on one theme in a repeating format, such as “Tip Tuesday” or “part 1, part 2”. Series make ideas easier to find and give followers a reason to come back.
What is a swipe file?
A running collection of ideas, posts you admire, customer questions and phrases, saved in one place and used for inspiration, never copied.
Sources
- Net Influencer, UGC tops trust rankings as AI posts face consumer skepticism, survey shows, December 2025.
- Buffer, The state of social media engagement in 2026, March 2026.