A business account often stalls for a simple reason: nobody knows what the next post should be about. Here are ideas by industry and platform, and every idea ends with a path to a booking, a call or a quote.

Why social media brings customers is covered in Social media for business, how often and when to post in Best time to post and how often, and how to turn the ideas into a plan in Content plan for social media.

We are based in Sweden, so the figures and laws in this guide are Swedish and labelled as such. The platforms’ own rules apply everywhere.

As of 24 October 2026. The rules come from the platforms’ help pages, Konsumentverket (the Swedish Consumer Agency) and Swedish law, and the usage figures from Svenskarna och internet 2026, the annual survey by Internetstiftelsen (the Swedish Internet Foundation). Sources are listed at the end.

Seven types of post that work for most businesses

Almost everything that works for a local business is one of seven types, and the material comes from the business itself. That is also what the platforms say they reward. Meta counts content filmed or produced by the owner of a profile or Page as original content on Facebook, and Instagram says it is less likely to recommend reposts of a reel that is already on Instagram.

TypeHow to do itEnd with
Before and afterSame spot, light and angle both times. The after shot first in a videoWhat the service is called and how to book it
The processA job, a dish or a treatment from start to finish, in 20–40 seconds or five photos”Book via the link in our profile”
The peopleOne person, one speciality and something they enjoy about the job, with their yes”Book with [name]“
The premisesWhat customers meet: the entrance, the room, the details, where to parkAddress and opening hours
The answer to a common questionA question you get every week, answered by the person who knows”More answers on our website”
Behind the scenesThe delivery, new equipment, getting ready for the seasonWhat is new for the customer, and when
The customersA review or a job, with the customer’s written yesWhere to read more reviews

If you get stuck, write down the ten questions customers ask most often. Each question is a post. Why reviews and photos of real jobs carry so much weight is covered in Social proof, the evidence customers are looking for.

Which platform for which idea?

Photos and carousels suit Instagram and Facebook, short videos suit Reels and TikTok, and what is happening today suits stories. Choose your main channel by your customers. According to Svenskarna och internet 2026, 46 percent of internet users in Sweden aged 8 and over use Instagram every day, 45 percent Facebook and 15 percent TikTok. Facebook is strongest among older people: 56 percent of those born in the 1950s, 60 percent of those born in the 1960s and 63 percent of those born in the 1970s use it daily. How to choose is covered in Which social media should your business choose?

Rules of thumb for every idea

  • Vertical video, people and the hook first. TikTok advises advertisers to film in 9:16, feature people such as employees or customers, go for a style that is not overly polished and put the hook within the first six seconds. We use that as a rule of thumb for ordinary videos too. More in Reels for business.
  • Say what and where. Instagram advises using relevant keywords in your content, caption, bio and hashtags, because both followers and non-followers find accounts through search. “Bathroom renovation in [town]” says more than “Busy day today”.
  • A pace you can keep for a year. We have not found any of the major platforms stating a minimum number of posts. For many local businesses, one or two posts a week on the main channel is a reasonable level, with stories when something happens. Film several ideas in one morning and you have weeks ready.

The ideas below are grouped by industry. Every idea has a platform, a format and an ending that leads somewhere. The examples are made up, and where it says [town], use your own.

Comparison of a post idea to start with and how the post should end, in five industries with made-up examples. Restaurant and café: today's lunch as a story every morning, ending with lunch 11:00–14:00 today and a link to table booking. Tradespeople: the problem, the job and the fix in a short video, ending with get a quote via the link in our profile. Cleaning company: what a move-out clean includes with one room per photo, ending with how to get a price. Clinic: how the first visit works with no patients on camera, ending with a link to booking with the right practitioner. B2B and consultants: a lesson from an assignment on LinkedIn, ending with facing the same thing, message me.
One idea to start with in five industries, and how the post ends. One post, one call to action, and the link goes straight to booking. Made-up examples, as of October 2026.

Restaurants and cafés

Show the food where it is made and say when it is available. Things that run out and come back give guests a reason to come today.

  • Today’s lunch as a story (Instagram and Facebook). Many Swedish restaurants serve a weekday lunch special, dagens lunch. Photograph the plate in daylight by the window each morning, with the dish, the price and the hours. End with: “Lunch 11:00–14:00 today” and a link sticker to table booking or the menu.
  • From delivery to plate (Reels and TikTok, 20–40 seconds). The box of vegetables, the knife, the pan and the plate going out, with the kitchen sounds as the soundtrack. End with: “On the menu until Friday.”
  • The first batch out of the oven (stories and Reels, for cafés). Ten seconds as the tray comes out in the morning. End with: your opening time, for example “Freshly baked from 07:00”.
  • The menu as a carousel (Instagram and Facebook). One dish per photo and the last photo with how to book. End with: “Book a table via the link or call [number].”
  • A collaboration with your supplier (a collab post on Instagram). The bakery, the roastery or the farm. With Instagram’s Collabs feature the post is shown to both accounts’ followers, and according to Instagram it can be recommended in Reels, Explore and Feed. End with: where guests can taste it.
  • The evening coming up (Facebook and Instagram, a few weeks ahead). The Christmas buffet, julbord, the quiz night or the terrace opening. End with: the date and “Bookings are open.”

Alcohol has its own rules. Under alkohollagen, the Swedish Alcohol Act, marketing alcoholic drinks to consumers requires particular moderation. It may not be intrusive or solicitous, encourage alcohol use or target or depict anyone under 25 (chapter 7, section 1). TikTok may also restrict content about alcohol. Let the food be the main subject, and check the rules before you market drinks.

How guests find you on Google and in reviews is covered in Visibility for restaurants and Visibility for cafés.

Salons and beauty

Show the work. Hair, nails and lashes change on camera. For TikTok and Reels there are 30 ideas with hooks in TikTok ideas for salons. Three that work especially well on Instagram and Facebook:

  • Before and after as a carousel (Instagram and Facebook). Same light and angle, no filters, and the last photo with the name of the treatment. End with: “Book [treatment] via the link.”
  • Tomorrow’s free slot (stories). A cancellation becomes a free slot: time, treatment and a link sticker to booking. End with: “First come, first served.”
  • How long does it last? (Instagram and Facebook). A regular at a return visit, with their yes, shows how the colour or nails have held up. End with: when it is usually time to book again.

If you offer treatments involving needles, read the section on them in the salon ideas first. The basics for a salon are in Visibility for hairdressers and Visibility for beauty salons.

Tradespeople and builders

Show what customers rarely get to see: the pipes behind the wall, the waterproofing under the tiles, the connections in the fuse box. That is where the expertise shows. If many of your customers were born in the 1950s, 60s or 70s, post the same thing on Facebook, which 56–63 percent of them use every day.

  • The problem, the job and the fix (Reels and TikTok, 30–45 seconds). The leaking mixer tap: what it was, what you did and how it looks now, told in your own voice. End with: “Get a quote via the link in our profile.”
  • The job from day one to done (carousel on Instagram and Facebook). A bathroom in six photos, from demolition to the finished room. End with: when you have capacity, for example “We are taking enquiries for spring now”.
  • Don’t try this yourself (Reels and TikTok). A mistake you see often and what it costs to put right. Say when a job needs a qualified professional. End with: “Not sure? Send us a photo in a message.”
  • The answer before the quote (Facebook and Reels). “How long does a bathroom take?” or “What do we need to do before you arrive?” End with: a link to the service page.
  • Today’s job (stories). The van being loaded, the materials arriving, the team on site. End with: nothing salesy. The story builds recognition.
  • The review after the job (post). The customer’s words and a photo of the job, with their yes. Ask for a Google review at the same time, for example with our review templates. End with: “More reviews on our Google profile.”

Ask before you take photos in someone’s home, and don’t show the address, house number or anything else that reveals whose home it is. The basics for a tradesperson are in Visibility for plumbers.

Cleaning companies

Show the result one surface at a time, and who comes to the customer’s home. Our view is that anyone letting a cleaning company into their home wants to know who is coming and what is included, and both can be shown.

  • One surface, before and after (Reels and TikTok, 15–20 seconds). The oven, the shower screen or the cooker hood, from the same angle and with the sound of the brush. End with: which service the surface is part of.
  • What does a move-out clean include? (carousel on Instagram and Facebook). In Sweden, a move-out clean, flyttstädning, is a standard service when people leave a home. One room per photo, with what you do there. End with: how to get a price.
  • This is us (post). The people who come to the customer’s home, with names and with their yes. End with: “Book home cleaning via the link.”
  • A tip between cleans (Reels and TikTok). How to remove limescale from the tap, or what not to use on a particular surface. End with: “Rather not? We can come [interval].”
  • The season (Facebook and Instagram, a few weeks ahead). The big clean before Christmas, window cleaning in spring and moves around the turn of the month. End with: the dates and how to book.

Film nothing that identifies the customer, such as family photos, post or valuables, and ask before you film, even when no one is in the picture. An empty home after a move-out clean is the easiest.

Clinics and dental care

Show the people and the practice, and explain how a visit works. Patients are rarely the subject, because healthcare comes with professional secrecy.

  • Meet the practitioner (post and Reel). Who the patient will see, their training and their focus. End with: “Book with [name] via the link.”
  • How the first visit works (carousel or Reel). What happens, how long it takes and what to bring, with no patients on camera. End with: a link to booking with the right practitioner.
  • The answer to a common question (Reels and Facebook). General knowledge about a treatment or a visit, not advice to an individual in the comments. End with: “We take questions about your own symptoms by phone.”
  • The practice and free slots (posts and stories). The waiting room, accessibility and a story when a slot opens. End with: the address or a link sticker to booking.

Four things to be clear about:

  • Professional secrecy. In private healthcare, staff may not without authorisation disclose what they have learned in their work about an individual’s state of health or other personal circumstances (patientsäkerhetslagen, the Patient Safety Act, chapter 6, section 12). In public healthcare, offentlighets- och sekretesslagen, the Public Access to Information and Secrecy Act, applies. Our view is that even a photo showing that someone is your patient can disclose such information, so show no patients without written consent.
  • No promises of results. Marknadsföringslagen, the Swedish Marketing Act, prohibits misleading claims about your own business (section 10).
  • No health details in messages. Don’t ask about symptoms in chat. See the clinic example in Instagram for business.
  • TikTok has its own rules for healthcare that requires a licence. Read them in TikTok for business before you build an account there.

This is a summary, not legal advice, and your professional association may have its own rules on marketing.

B2B and consultants

Share what you know. A business buyer wants to see how you think before you talk price. According to Svenskarna och internet 2026, clearly more than half of white-collar workers in Sweden use LinkedIn, and nearly four times as many white-collar workers as people in manual jobs use the platform. LinkedIn says that since March 2026 its feed shows more posts with genuine insight and actionable ideas, and reduces engagement bait such as “comment to agree” prompts.

  • A lesson from an assignment (LinkedIn). What you saw, what you did and what you would do differently, without the client’s name unless you have permission. End with: “Facing the same thing? Message me.”
  • The answer to the question before the quote (LinkedIn and your website). What it costs, how long it takes and what the client needs to prepare. End with: a link to the page with the full answer.
  • How an assignment works (an image series on LinkedIn or a carousel on Instagram). Five steps from the first call to delivery. End with: “Book a first call via the link.”
  • Your take on a piece of news (LinkedIn). A new rule in your industry and what it means for your clients. End with: what the client should do now.
  • A case approved by the client (LinkedIn and your website). The problem, the work and the result, with figures the client has approved. End with: a link to the case.

How the company page and personal profiles fit together is covered in LinkedIn for business.

Rules to follow: music, ad labelling and people on camera

Three rules apply in every industry: popular music from the platforms’ regular libraries does not belong in a business’s marketing, posts that sell should be labelled as advertising and everyone on camera must have said yes. More rules for TikTok, including on AI and competitions, are in TikTok for business.

Music

Many guides still tell businesses to pick trending music over their own sound. For a business account, that is the wrong advice.

  • TikTok. According to TikTok, businesses cannot use the general music library for commercial purposes. All commercial activity, including ordinary posts, should use the Commercial Music Library, which TikTok describes as a pre-cleared library of one million songs.
  • Instagram and Facebook. Instagram says the music in its licensed library is meant for personal, non-commercial use, which is why some business accounts do not get access to it. Instead there is Meta’s Sound Collection, with more than 14,000 royalty-free tracks and sounds that according to Instagram may be used commercially, including in ads.
  • Your own sound is fine. Voices, talk, the knife on the chopping board. Turn off the music on your premises when you film. A trend is often a sound plus a format, and you can borrow the format with your own sound.

Ad labelling

Konsumentverket says the starting point is that all posts a business publishes about its own products are covered by the requirement to identify advertising, when the aim is to promote sales. Advertising posts on social media should be clearly labelled with the word reklam (advertisement), and it should be clear at a glance. So put Reklam first in the text of posts that show prices, free slots or offers. On TikTok, the Community Guidelines effective from 24 September 2026 also require you to turn on the commercial content disclosure setting.

Customers, staff, prices and other people’s material

  • A yes from everyone on camera. A business may not use another person’s name or image in marketing without consent, and the ban also covers employees who post for the business (lagen om namn och bild i reklam, the Act on Names and Images in Advertising, section 1). Anyone who breaks the law may have to pay reasonable compensation (section 3). How to ask for a written yes is shown in TikTok ideas for salons.
  • Prices including VAT. If you mention a price to consumers, it should be the final price including VAT, as prisinformationslagen, the Price Information Act, defines a price (section 2).
  • Only your own material. Meta treats reposts and minor edits to someone else’s post, such as adding a border or a caption, as unoriginal content, and accounts that mostly post such content can stop being recommended. Upload the original file in each app.

From idea to booking: end every post the right way

Every post should either build recognition or lead to a booking, and the ones meant to lead somewhere need to say where. One call to action per post is enough, as long as it fits what the post is about.

The post is aboutEnd withThe link goes to
A free slot or today’s lunch”Book via the link”Booking, ideally straight to the right time
Before and afterThe service name and “Book via the link in our profile”The service page or booking
The answer to a question”More answers on our website”Your FAQ page
A team member”Book with [name]“Booking with that person
The season coming upThe date and “Bookings are open”Booking or a form
A lesson or a case”Message me if you’re facing the same thing”Messages or your contact page

Three things make the ending work:

  • The link goes straight there, not to your home page. An Instagram story can lead to booking with the link sticker, which since 2021 has been available to all accounts except new accounts and accounts that repeatedly break the rules.
  • Someone replies the same day. A question about prices or free slots in a message is often a customer waiting.
  • The same material does more. A photo of a finished job can also become a post on your Google Business Profile. A post that works well can also be boosted to reach more people.

Then measure bookings, not likes: ask new customers how they found you and tag the link in your profile with UTM parameters, as we show in Social media for business.

Getting help with your posts

You can do all of this yourself with a phone and a fixed time each week. With us, Instagram and Facebook are part of the Plus package, with 8 posts a month, a photo visit every quarter and a follow-up every month. Premium adds Reels and TikTok content and moving images every month. We do photo visits on site within about an hour’s travel from Uppsala or Stockholm, and further away we run a guided photo session over video.

You approve everything before it is published, and the accounts are yours. LinkedIn, X and replies to comments and messages are not included, but are quoted separately and in plain terms. More on how we work with social media and our packages. Other options are compared in What does social media help cost?

Frequently asked questions

What should a business post on Instagram?

Whatever shows the work and answers your customers’ questions: before and after, the process, the team, the premises, answers to common questions, behind the scenes and customers with their permission. Carousels work for showing a job step by step, reels for reaching new people and stories for what is happening today. End posts meant to bring customers with how to book.

What do you post when you don’t know what to say?

Start with the questions customers ask most often, on the phone, at the till or in messages. Each question becomes a post with the answer, ideally shown in your business, and one sentence on how to book. Add what happens anyway: a delivery, a finished job or a new colleague.

Not popular tracks from the platforms’ regular music libraries. According to TikTok, businesses may not use the general music library for commercial purposes and should use the Commercial Music Library instead. Instagram says the music in its licensed library is meant for personal, non-commercial use and points to Meta’s Sound Collection, which may be used commercially. Your own sound is fine. As of October 2026.

Do a business’s own posts have to be labelled as advertising?

As a rule, yes, when the post is meant to promote sales. Konsumentverket, the Swedish Consumer Agency, says the starting point is that all posts a business publishes about its own products are covered, that advertising posts on social media should be labelled with the word reklam, and that this should be clear at a glance. On TikTok you also turn on the commercial content disclosure setting.

Can we post photos of our customers?

Only if the customer agrees. Sweden’s Act on Names and Images in Advertising prohibits businesses from using someone’s name or image in marketing without consent, and that also applies to employees who post for the business. Ask for a written yes, offer photos without faces and remove the post if someone changes their mind. In healthcare, professional secrecy applies as well.

How many posts does a business need each week?

We have not found any of the major platforms stating a minimum. Our view is that a pace you can keep up for a year beats short bursts, and for many local businesses one or two posts a week on the main channel is a reasonable level, with stories when something happens.

Sources

All web pages read on 24 October 2026 unless otherwise stated. Details of the platforms’ features and rules are as of October 2026 and may change.