What is General Content for the PAGER Method and How to Make It
General Content is the “G” of the PAGER method, and it can be the most confusing because it’s the most vague category. But these are the posts that show your audience that you understand who they are and you know how to solve their problems. Read on to understand what these posts are, see them in action, and learn how to implement them into your content mix so you can turn your audience into your community.
Quick Overview of General Content
In the PAGER Method of social media content, General content is the “G.” It’s the posts that you create that are designed to educated, inspire, or entertain your audience.
General content includes posts that are:
Holiday or Hashtag-holiday oriented
Industry event oriented
Rants / Raves
Beliefs / Values / Motivations
Memes / Humor
Problems / Solutions / Tips / Myths / Objection Crushers
Case Studies / Social Proof / Stories / Testimonials
The Issue With General Posts
Ever since social media began, critics have said that there is simply too much navel gazing. At first, people would lament how it seemed everyone was posting what they had eaten for lunch, and now people take umbrage with how much content is so self-absorbed.
General content, with the PAGER method, combats those criticisms.
When you publish posts for your brand or project, create content that revolves around your audience. Put out pictures, videos, or Stories that let them know instantaneously that your account is for them and is more than a bunch of selfies.
Remember, you have Promotional content as part of your PAGER system, so you do have another post throughout the week designed to help you hit your business goals. More on Promotional posts here.
Brief Review of the PAGER Method
I came up with the PAGER method as a way to vary the kind of content you publish on social media in a way that also drives engagement and revenue goals. The idea is that once a week you publish posts that fit in specific categories:
Promotional
Articles
General
Engagement
Random
To make putting out so much content easier and faster, I recommend creating those posts in big batches, storing them in a Content Stockpile, and then scheduling or automating them using your preferred scheduler.
Let’s dive in to General content for the PAGER Method.
Holidays and Hashtag Holidays
It’s important to acknowledge what’s going on in your audience member’s world. So when a holiday comes up that your audience would find relevant or celebrate, create a post around it.
Of course you want to think about your brand’s spin on universal holidays - like New Year’s Eve - for example. But remember that there are hashtag holidays too. Those are the those special days like National Ice Cream Day (July 17) and Siblings Day (April 10), which may help your brand get in front of more people by using its unique hashtag.
Whether it’s International Podcast Day (September 30) or the Fourth of July (um, pretty sure this one’s clear), creating content that taps into what is going on in the world at that moment, is great to add relevance to your Content Stockpile.
Rants / Raves
Another aspect to General content are posts that are about topics that your audience loves or hates - the kinds of things that they either can’t get enough of or can’t stand.
You want to show your audience that you get them. And one way of doing that is by creating content that you and your audience would rant or rave about.
ProTip: Come up with one concept that you want to rant or rave about, and then create three different posts from that one concept by switching up the formats. This way, you are mining one idea, and creating three pieces of content around it. Less brain work for you! Do this with all of the General content that you create.
Beliefs / Values / Motivations
Another way to show empathy for your audience is to create social media posts that address their beliefs and values. These are motivational posts that let them know that you care about what they care about.
They can be quotes, a quick video from you sharing why you’re thinking of them with that quote.
Memes / Humor
Another kind of general content to put out is stuff that is funny. Insider jokes only your audience would truly appreciate, memes that are circulating in your community, and funny observations. These can be original (but, be careful, that’s kind of tricky writing comedy) but often work well just by sharing someone else’s post. Make sure to attribute it to the original creator, though.
This shows your audience that you get what they get. That you’re in on the joke. And that your feed is run by people who understand them.
Rachel Miller’s $47 Social System is an absolute steal and will show you how to create dozens of General content posts in just a few days.
Problems / Solutions / Tips / Myths / Objection Crushers
It’s important to not only empathize with your audience, you also want to show them that you know what you’re doing in your arena. That’s where these posts come in. They are all about answering questions, addressing concerns, and assuring your audience that you are the best.
You know how social media people are always telling you that you need to “provide value” on your social media channels?
These posts do exactly that by proving you are an authority in your space who is equipped to handle questions and can even throw in some helpful tips in the process.
Case Studies / Social Proof / Stories / Testimonials
A continuation of posts that show that you know what you’re doing - while still giving valuable information to your audience - are with posts that show you’ve been around the block a few times. These posts share results that people have achieved thanks to you.
Note: Many of the ideas for these posts have been inspired by Rachel Miller’s Social System. It’s only $47 and I highly recommend it. You’ll get even more clarity around these kinds of posts.
How Often to Post General Content
General content is designed to be posted once a week as part of your PAGER content mix. Ideally, you’ll post five times in a week. This means that other times you post in the week will include:
Engagement posts
Random posts.
General content is the exception to the rule thanks to disappearing content. Because of elements like Stories that evaporate after 24 hours, you can add more General content that works with that format without overwhelming your audience’s feed.
Schedule and/or Automate Your Posts
Once you’ve created a whole batch of General posts, then upload them to your social media scheduler. My favorite is Meet Edgar, because it’s the only social media schedule that’s started by a mom and it works the best with the PAGER system. Meta has its own free scheduler for Facebook and Instagram. And many of my clients like Later, Lately, and Hootsuite. Use whichever works best for you and your workflow.
You can, of course, post the content that you make each day as well without scheduling it. But I am more of a proponent of creating posts all at once in a batch, scheduling it, and moving on.
Start Making General Posts Today
Now you have a simple method to create posts that will help you meet your goals for your business. To recap:
Commit to making twelve pieces of General content
Come up with four concepts from the sections above.
Create 2-3 social media posts for each concept
Schedule or Automate the content
Need help with your social media strategy? Schedule an Intro Call and we’ll get you on the path to creating, posting, and scheduling content that resonates with your audience and helps you increase your bottom line.
It’s time to simplify social media for small businesses and brands. The PAGER Method is a social media strategy that you can easily use on any platform and in any niche. You’ll know what to create, ensure that your content isn’t too salesy, and still promote the events and initiatives that your business needs to survive. Here, get an overview of Downstage Media’s own content method with examples.