Back in the early 2000’s it was important for a business to have a website. Now it’s important to have social presence.

But what is that social presence? Is it enough to join LinekdIn and Instagram and post “content” to it often?

Most do it wrong

First let’s talk how not to do it, and then I’ll show you a way that will bring you results.

For many businesses it means hiring a marketing agency and churn out content. That content is usually bland, corporate in style and has little to no engagement.

No likes, no comments. Except for that overzealous Paul from Accounting that will comment on everything the company does.

Or, you can ask AI to write the post for you. Then ask another AI to generate some uncanny-valley style image and post that yourself.

The result will be the same, just cheaper.

Social media agency vs doing it yourself

To post on social media successfully you need to mix strategy with a personal brand.

Let me tell you how to do it.

What is a personal brand?

It’s incredibly difficult and expensive to create a brand people resonate with nowadays. Becoming the next Apple, Nike or Coca-Cola likely won’t happen by posting on social media.

Followers now value genuine human connections more than connecting to a logo. They want a brand to be personal.

For many businesses it makes more sense to have the founder be the face of the company. Share your story. Why you do what you do. What drives you.

Talk about your successes but also your failures. That honesty and being down to earth resonates with people.

In 2025, with a lot of fake, AI content out there, showing your face and being human is a key differentiator.

Elon Musk is a pretty controversial figure. Some love him, some hate him. But even though he runs big, successful brands, he built a personal brand as his main outlet.

He is the face and voice of his companies. That style may not fit every brand (or most brands), but in his case it works. A person becomes a face of the company.

This is a path most small businesses should take when trying to build social media following.

Finding your voice and style

You have to be easy to remember and then recall.

What it means you need to create a consistent, recognisable brand.

That usually starts with colors, as they are what people resonate with the most.

A good idea is to then use your brand colors in both your profile picture and posts. Of course you can add other colors to the mix – as long as they’re matching.

But your core color-code should always be there.

I use a neon shade of green for my marketing materials. Both as profile picture, and many other images I do. The consistency makes me recognisable.

I also wear a white or light-green hoodie in my marketing materials. Over the course of 4 years on social media, 99% of my content is the same wardrobe. Recognisable? Instantly!

After a while people will start to recognise you. They’ll associate those color combinations with your brand.

When scrolling a long feed full of content, when they see a particular shade of blue, they’ll know it’s you.

This is what you want.

How to write on social media?

Same rules apply to the way you write your copy.

You need to figure out how friendly, quirky, professional you are.

Are there any catchphrases, slogans or even words that you like using.

Make them a part of your thing. Your voice. Use them across the posts.

In my case, I always end my videos and long posts the same way.

I say: “And obviously have a beautiful day!”

using consistent catchphrases on social media

It has become so associated with me, some people write it even before I say it in live stream chats.

Think what defines you and make a list of words and phrases you feel work. Don’t go for the obvious like “professional” or “hard-working”.

Cliches don’t resonate with people. Other people do. Make it as human, natural and yours as possible.

Using AI to write for you

What many entrepreneurs do is they just go to an AI Chat and ask it to write content for them.

This tactic is a very bad idea. It not only won’t get you followers, but may even backfire with your content being flagged as AI Slop.

Your writing should be done in your voice. Natural. Without jargon or pretend “smart words” that AI is known for.

Adding a blueprint for you to fill with your own voice

That’s why in Reactable we only provide you with a blueprint content for the slides. Then it’s your job to rewrite it in your own voice and make it personal.

AI is lacking the most important part that people resonate with on social media. It’s lacking the human factor. Your unique quirks, phrases and real-life experiences.

On the internet you don’t want to be an averaged wikipedia article. You need to make impact and connect.

Building a following on social media

Start simple. Pick one platform where your audience hangs out the most.

Instagram is good for visuals, LinkedIn for more serious businesses. Then pick a secondary platform. At first stick to just the two.

With the app you can post to both at the same time which saves a lot of time and energy.

Instagram and LinkedIn social media posting

What should I post?

Don’t overthink it. Just start posting. Show your product, your process, your team. Say hi. Show your morning coffee break before work begins. Then highlight what you do. Keep it real. No one likes ads. They like stories.

Stories like what did you do Today. Launched a new feature? A new product? Renovated the store? Tell them how it went.

Be consistent. Post a few times a week. At first you can start every other day and then get into a flow of posting once per day.

It doesn’t have to be perfect. Take a photo (or use AI You to make one) and share some thoughts.

Engagement?

At first you won’t get a lot of likes or comments. That’s normal. Start by showing up on other profiles. Go to ones that are adjacent to what you do. They shouldn’t be competitors though. Just general category.

Then leave real, thoughtful comments there. Ones that give actionable tips, or any kind of useful information. Don’t ask them to follow you or “check out” your profile.

Be friendly. That’s enough. You’ll notice people tend to flock towards those genuine voices automatically.

Initially reply to ALL your social media comments - be polite

First interactions with your social content

After a while people will start engaging. Try to reply to their comments and direct messages.

Social media is not one big ad. It’s a conversation. The more you show up, the more people notice.

Just start. Adjust as you go.

Social media content strategy for beginners

What I like to do is plan in advance.

Below I’ll show you two popular strategies/rules people often pick to plan their posts.

No matter which one you pick, you need a plan. With a weekly schedule of what gets posted when you can streamline your work big time.

Some like to post or create content daily. Others pick a single day and do all the posts, then just publish every day.

Find a way that best suits your workflow.

What is the 50/30/20 rule for social media?

50/30/20 is a popular strategy for social media.

It allows you to balance different types of posts so your audience doesn’t get tired of you.

Imagine if you were only posting sales related posts daily. Nobody wants to see those. That’s a clear path towards no followers.

But you also need to make money. This is where mixing types of content comes in.

It suggests:

50% Value-Driven Content.

Educational, entertaining, or informative posts that provide real value to your audience.

Tips, how-tos, solutions to popular issues from your industry. You can try searching for them in Google to find out what are the most common problems your industry faces. Then solve them for the people! Or at least show them how.

You can also write about most recent news from the industry with your own twist or commentary.

30% Engagement & Interaction.

Content that builds relationships. It can be user-generated content, community discussions, polls or questions.

User generated content can be photos of people using your product, but with their stories instead of product promotion.

If you ask a question and get replies, you can feature those replies in your future posts.

20% Promotional Content.

Direct promotions, sales pitches, or posts about your products and services.

You don’t want your content to be all about sales. What works best is a healthy mix. When you start you should probably do even less promotional content than 10%.

What is the 4-1-1 rule of social media?

4-1-1 is another strategy often used by marketing agencies. Good thing is that you can also use it on your own.

4 Value-Added Posts. Educational, entertaining, or informative content. This is the same as the 50% from the previous rule.

1 Soft Promo. Lightly branded content that subtly promotes your business without being overly salesy.

It can be testimonials, behind-the-scenes content, case studies.

Or a cool story from someone using your product, but without it being in every photo and in every other sentence.

1 Hard Promo.

Directly promoting your product, service, or offer. This can be sales, discounts, product launches.

These posts only perform well when you have a lot of followers that trust you.

When you start avoid hard promos as much as possible. It’s pointless to try and sell when you have nobody to sell to (yet). That trust and community has to be built first.

What is a good first social media post?

Easy! Introduce yourself. You should talk about both your company , your mission but with a personal twist.

Talk about what drives you. Why did you start the company.

This post is important, because once you grow your social media following, people often tend to go back to the first post.

Best strategy for social media for beginners

My recommendation is to focus on sharing behind the scenes of your business and useful, educational content.

At first plan for 4 post per week. 2 educational, useful content. 2 behind the scenes of your business, but from a non-sales perspective.

Post each content type interlaced with the other one. It’s like a chessboard. Educational on day one, personal touch on day two.

You can also experiment with styles. The educational can have one format or dominant color. The other one can be more photo oriented.

In both cases make sure to use your own natural voice. Avoid jargon and long, winding sentences. Always ask yourself: do I really talk like that?

If the answer is no: adjust.

Personal touch

That personal touch is something that you have to develop and nurture. Don’t worry if you don’t get it 100% right at first. It can grow with time.

Personal touch doesn’t mean you should try to be weird or unique for the sake of uniqueness. Observe how you communicate and try to use that in your posts.

In a social landscape that is increasingly fake and superficial, just being you is the best recipe for success. Keep in mind that it takes time.

Don’t force it. Don’t push it. Just keep posting.

My biggest growth always happened when I was speaking honestly. From the heart. Without trying to be smarter or more professional than I am.

People spot fakery online – even if only on the subconscious level.

real social media growth vs expectations

How growth happens on social media

Most people imagine that they make a couple of posts and start growing right away.

Let me share a personal story. I run a YouTube channel with over 175 thousand subscribers. Took me 3 years to get there. So naturally most people would assume it was a linear graph starting at zero and ending at 175K.

Nothing can be further from the truth. The first year is always very slow growth. That happens to everyone. Don’t feel discouraged or demotivated. Just show up every day and share your experiences.

After the first year, when you’ll notice ROI from doing social media you’ll understand it was all worth it. It compounds over time, but yeah – the first months up to a year are tough.

I believe you can do it!

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