How to Get Your Business Noticed on Social Media

Struggling to get your business noticed on social media? You're not alone. In a sea of endless scrolling content, it can feel like your posts are shouting into the void. This guide provides a clear, actionable roadmap to cut through the noise, build a genuine community, and turn your social media presence into a powerful asset for your business.

First, Nail the Basics (Don't Skip This Part)

Jumping straight to creating content without a solid plan is like building a house without a foundation. You might get something up, but it won’t be sturdy or sustainable. Before you create a single post, take the time to get these three elements right.

Figure Out Who You're Actually Talking To

You can't create engaging content if you don’t know who you’re trying to engage. Saying your target audience is "everyone" is a recipe for connecting with no one. Get specific. Think about your ideal customer as a real person:

• Demographics: How old are they? Where do they live? What is their job title?
• Pain Points & Aspirations: What problems are they trying to solve in their daily lives or careers? What are their biggest goals right now?
• Online Behavior: Which social platforms do they actually use for fun and for work? What kind of content do they save or share? Who are they already following?

Once you have a clear picture of this person, every piece of content you create should be made with them in mind. Ask yourself, "Would [Ideal Customer's Name] find this useful, entertaining, or inspiring?" If the answer is no, don't post it.

Choose Quality Over Quantity with Your Platforms

You do not need to be everywhere. Trying to manage a presence on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, X, Threads, and Pinterest is a fast track to burnout, especially for a small team. The better approach is to dominate one or two platforms where your ideal customer spends the most time.

• B2C Brands (Apparel, CPG, Services): Platforms like Instagram and TikTok are visual powerhouses built for this. Short-form video and aesthetically pleasing photos thrive here.
• B2B Brands (SaaS, Consulting, Agencies): LinkedIn and X are your bread and butter. This is where you can share industry insights, case studies, and professional thought leadership.
• Highly Visual or DIY Brands (Interior Design, Food, Crafts): Pinterest remains a gigantic search engine for inspiration and tutorials.

Pick your primary platforms and commit to doing an excellent job instead of spreading yourself too thin with mediocre content everywhere.

Define Your Brand's Personality and Voice

Why should someone follow your business over a competitor? Often, the answer is personality. Your brand voice is how you sound in your captions, comments, and DMs. Are you witty and humorous? Supportive and educational? Professional and authoritative? There’s no right answer other than being consistent.

This also extends to your visuals. Choose a consistent color palette, font style, and type of imagery. When someone sees one of your posts in their feed, they should instantly recognize it’s from you before they even see your name. A consistent brand feels reliable and professional.

Create Content That Stops the Scroll

Once your foundation is set, it's time to focus on what you're actually putting out there. Getting noticed isn't about having the slickest camera, it’s about making content that provides unmistakable value to your audience.

The 80/20 Rule: Value First, Sales Second

The biggest mistake businesses make on social media is treating it like a 24/7 billboard. People don't open Instagram to be sold to, they go there to be educated, entertained, or inspired. Your content needs to reflect that reality.

Follow the 80/20 rule: 80% of your content should provide free value, and only 20% should be promotional.

What does "value" look like?

• Educate: Teach your audience something useful. A software company could share productivity hacks. A fitness coach can break down an exercise form. A coffee shop can show how to pour the perfect latte art at home.
• Entertain: Make them laugh or feel joy. Share a relatable meme, a funny behind-the-scenes moment, or jump on a trending audio clip in a way that feels authentic to your brand.
• Inspire: Share customer success stories, motivational quotes related to your niche, or your brand's mission and origin story.

When you consistently give away value, you earn the right to occasionally ask for the sale. You build trust and position yourself as an authority, so when you do promote your product, your audience is far more receptive.

Embrace Short-Form Video (Seriously)

Instagram Reels, TikToks, YouTube Shorts - this isn't just a trend, it's how social media works now. These platforms are heavily prioritizing short-form video in their algorithms because it keeps users engaged. If you're not creating it, you're leaving a massive amount of reach on the table.

Creating compelling videos doesn't have to be complicated. Just focus on:

1. A Strong Hook (The First 3 Seconds): Grab their attention immediately with a hook like "Here are three mistakes you're making with X" or a visually interesting opening shot.
2. Get to the Point: Don't waste time with long intros. Deliver on the promise of your hook quickly and clearly.
3. Use Native Text & Sounds: Add clear on-screen text to make your videos easy to follow without sound. Use trending audio when it makes sense for your brand, as it can give you a nice visibility boost.

The goal is to be helpful or relatable, not perfectly polished. A simple video filmed on your phone that solves a real problem is far more effective than a high-budget video that doesn't resonate.

Humanize Your Brand

People connect with people, not faceless corporations. One of the best ways to get your business noticed is to pull back the curtain and show the humans behind it.

• User-Generated Content (UGC): Reshare photos and videos your customers are posting. It's powerful social proof and a great way to generate content without creating it yourself.
• Behind-the-Scenes: Show how your product is made, what a day at the office looks like, or spotlight a team member. This builds trust and makes your brand more relatable.
• Founder Story: Share why you started the business. Talking about your mission and the problems you set out to solve can forge a much stronger connection with your audience.

It's "Social" Media for a Reason: Act Like a Human

You can create the best content in the world, but if you don’t engage with your audience, you won't build a sustainable following. The algorithm rewards accounts that foster conversations and build community.

Write Captions That Start Conversations

Don't let your caption be an afterthought. This is your chance to add context, personality, and prompt a response. Instead of just describing what’s in the photo or video, ask a question. For example, instead of writing "Our new coffee blend is here," try "Morning coffee drinkers, what's your go-to order? We just dropped a new blend with notes of chocolate and caramel that's a game-changer." This invites people into a conversation.

Don’t Just Post and Ghost

When someone takes the time to leave a comment on your post, a simple "like" and reply can make a huge difference. Answering their questions and acknowledging their input shows you're listening and makes them feel seen. This is one of the most powerful loyalty-building activities you can do, and social platforms are more likely to show your content to people who have recently interacted with you.

The same goes for direct messages (DMs). Treating your DM inbox like a customer service channel for building relationships can turn casual followers into passionate brand advocates.

Engage Outward, Not Just Inward

Don't just wait for engagement to come to you. Spend 15-20 minutes each day being an active member of your community. Go out and leave thoughtful comments on the posts of your ideal customers, peer businesses, or influencers in your niche. Follow relevant hashtags and join conversations. The more you put your brand out there in a genuine, non-spammy way in other places, the more people in your target audience will discover your profile and see what you're all about.

Consistency Is the Key: The Power of a Solid Plan

Social media success is a marathon, not a sprint. A single viral video is great, but a year of steady, valuable posts that builds a real community is far more valuable. Consistency is what separates businesses that grow from businesses that give up.

Find a Sustainable Posting Rhythm

Posting three times a day for one week and then disappearing for three weeks is far less effective than posting consistently three times per week for months on end. Find a cadence that you can realistically stick to without burning out. Quality and consistency will always beat a short-term burst of high volume.

Use A Visual Content Calendar to Stay Sane

Waking up every morning and thinking, "What am I going to post today?" is incredibly stressful and leads to low-quality content. A content calendar saves you from that daily panic. Plan your posts, videos, and Stories a week or even a month in advance.

Block out a few hours each week to batch-create your content - film several videos, write a handful of captions, and design your graphics all at once. This workflow is infinitely more efficient and lets you focus on being strategic instead of reactive.

Track What Works and Do More of It

Every platform provides free analytics. Take a little time each month to review your metrics. Look past vanity metrics like likes and focus on what tells you about your audience’s true interest in what you are sharing:

• Saves: This shows that your content was so valuable, someone wanted to come back and look at it again. This is pure gold - make more content like this.
• Shares: When someone shares your post to their stories or a DM, they are endorsing your brand to their friends. Figure out what types of content get shared the most.
• Comments: What topics generated the most conversation and discussion? Lean into those themes.

Let your audience’s behavior guide your content strategy. It is the clearest way to figure out how to give them more of what they want to see, which leads to great growth.

Final Thoughts

Getting your business noticed on social media isn't about using a particular hashtag or a "secret tip or trick." It's about combining brand basics, good-quality, value-based content, genuine interactions, and consistency over time. It's a long-term goal, but a rewarding one you can accomplish if you stay on task.

As a team, we realized just how much time was wasted juggling platforms without a clear plan. We wanted a simple way to visualize our content calendar, schedule posts in advance, and reply to comments all from one place - so we built it. Postbase was created to solve these exact problems for teams like ours. By organizing our workflow, we can focus more on creating great content instead of just managing it. We think it could simplify your life, too.