Proven Social Media Content Strategies With Examples from Brands

Different Approaches to Publishing Social Media Content With Examples from Brands

Most marketers define social media publishing success as publishing the right content at the right time, to the right platform. 

But finding the right approach to social media for your brand is not easy. 

You can spend a long effort trying to grow on Instagram, just to find out you’ve wasted your time. That’s why, it’s important to be informed right from the start.

And if you’re wondering: “What are some proven strategies for publishing social media content?”, then you’re in luck.  

In this post, we’re sharing 5 different approaches to publishing social media content – with examples from successful brands.

National Geographic uses Visual Storytelling for a Cause

With over 200 million followers, National Geographic’s Instagram page is a showcase of great visual storytelling. But can pretty images alone create an impact on Instagram?

National Geographic explained its approach to social media as follows:

“We help people experience the planet and cultures as seen by our photographers – a special, unfiltered view”.

National Geographic

Working with photographers all over the world and letting them write the captions themselves makes for more unique and authentic content being published.

In summary, here’s what makes National Geographic so successful on Instagram:

• Partnering with photographers all over the world
• Posting high-quality visuals to stop people from scrolling
• Each caption is unique and authentic, drafted by photographers themselves
• They use social media to raise awareness on important global issues 

How Lego gets their community involved in Publishing Social Media Content 

Let’s talk about getting your community involved in content creation! Nobody does it better than Lego.  With 13.8 million subscribers on their YouTube channel, it’s clear that videos are at the centre of Lego’s social media strategy. 

How do we know their YouTube community is engaged? For every 1 video Lego posts on YouTube, their community generates 20+ videos talking about it. 

Here’s how Lego gets the community involved in content:

Through the “Lego Ideas” initiative users can submit their own Lego custom builds which are then put for a vote. The Lego community can visit the website and vote on their favourite designs.

The best designs get released as an official Lego set. This initiative creates a strong community of fans and brand ownership. 

Contest participants are likely to ask their friends and community for support. 

This generates more talk about the “Lego Ideas” contest and results in content being shared to all different social media platforms.

PlayStation puts human interaction at the core of their social media publishing strategy

Now let’s talk about how PlayStation became one of the most followed brands on Twitter.

Unlike Facebook or Instagram, Twitter doesn’t use a complex algorithm to determine what posts get to reach a wider audience. In fact, most Tweets don’t generate a chain response, with the average lifespan of a Twitter post being less than 1 hour. 

So what does it take for a brand to be successful on Twitter?

Here’s what the PlayStation’s marketing team says:

“Our fans look for many ways of interacting with their favorite brand. Therefore, we need to perform like a human being.”

Playstation Marketing Team

Okay, so what does “perform like a human being” even mean?

According to PlayStation, they’re focused on making it easy for customers to ask for help and putting human interactions at the centre. 

Here are the most important tips to keep in mind when it comes to posting on Twitter:

• Respond to comments immediately. Because who would “chat with a person that decides to respond after 1 week?”
• Never hard sell, or act pushy with your community
• Have genuine and honest conversations with fans
• Listen to your customers and be helpful
• Show off your personality, humor and wit 
• Engage with trending topics 

How can you improve your Twitter publishing?

Use social media analytics tools to spot when your Twitter audience is online, so you can interact and reply to comments in real-time.

How Forbes drives thought leadership on LinkedIn

LinkedIn is not just for networking and filling in job applications. In fact, LinkedIn is the preferred social media platform by 94% of B2B marketers.

So what does it take to be successful on LinkedIn?

Example: Forbes uses LinkedIn for thought leadership.

Forbes positions itself as “the go-to source for businesses and leadership”. 

So it’s no surprise they’re using LinkedIn to publish their content. Forbes knows exactly who their audience is and where to find them. Their posts are on various current issues, and users are invited to comment and share their thoughts. 

Here are some tips on how to optimize your LinkedIn content:

• Posts with images get 98% more engagement
• Ask questions in your captions to start conversations
• Create polls to gather feedback 
• Write strong headlines that capture attention
• Share blog post snippets and direct followers to your blog
• Be consistent (schedule your monthly posts in advance)

Dunkin as an example of using TikTok trends and influencers to grow brand awareness

One of the most successful brands on TikTok is Dunkin. You may wonder: ”What led to Dunkin’s overnight rise to TikTok stardom?”

Much of Dunkin’s success withGgen Z can be attributed to their work with Charli D’Amelio – the most followed TikTok star!

But not many are aware that Charli was already a long time fan of Dunkin coffee, featuring their drinks in over 120 unsponsored posts. 

Dunkin noticed this and was quick to strike a partnership deal with D’Amelio which led to the release of “The Charli” drink in 2021 – a major success, totalling a 57% increase in app downloads on the day of the launch.

Charli D’Amelio with “The Charli” drink from Dunkin’ | Credit: Dunkin

Today, Dunkin is a fascinating example of how jumping on trends early and choosing the right influencers can automatically help you grow to stardom.

The Takeaway: Start Building Your Social Media Presence 

We know it’s not easy to find the right approach for publishing content right from the start. Most brands take years to find the best ways to optimize their social content.

Each business is unique, and the same cookie-cutter strategy doesn’t fit all. 

Start by publishing content on a few different platforms and experiment with formats. 

Eventually, you’ll learn what content resonates with your audience and you’ll be able to find the best platform for growth.