27 Proven Social Media Marketing Ideas To Level-Up Your Brand
Looking for social media marketing ideas? I’ve got you covered.
Social media is one of the most powerful marketing channels this year, but promoting your brand effectively on social media isn’t easy.
With millions of brands competing for attention, you’ll need smart, creative tactics to stand out from the crowd and achieve your marketing goals.
That’s why in this post, I’ll share 27 proven, actionable social media marketing ideas to help you level up your brand.
Content ideas
First, let’s look at some social media post ideas to help you nail your content strategy.
1. Host social media contests
People love the chance to win free stuff, which is why hosting contests and giveaways is such a powerful social media marketing strategy.
Big brands do this all the time because it works. Just look at GoPro.
The action cam brand regularly runs social media contests like this one, in which they challenge their audience to submit their best footage captured on GoPro for a chance to win a huge cash prize.
They’re always a huge hit, creating a buzz around the brand while also generating a ton of user-generated content (UGC) videos for GoPro to use in their marketing campaigns.
You can build and host your own social media giveaway with SweepWidget. It’s super easy—just sign up, add a prize, choose a way to enter, and embed the giveaway on your site. Then, share a post on your socials to promote it and challenge your audience to enter.
Tip: SweepWidget supports 90+ entry methods across 30+ social media platforms, so choose whichever one aligns with your goals.
For example, if your goal is to increase engagement on Facebook, you could add an entry method requiring users to like your Facebook page. If your goal is to curate UGC photos and videos like GoPro, you could require entrants to upload a file or share a post with a specific hashtag.
2. Cross-post to other social networks
It helps to cast a wide net when it comes to social media marketing. The more platforms you post on, the more people you’ll reach.
That’s why it’s worth cross-posting your content to multiple social networks. A social media scheduling tool like SocialBee or Pallyy can streamline this process.
They provide a unified content calendar so you can schedule posts to all your profiles across networks at once, months in advance, while ensuring your captions, hashtags, and image/video formats are optimized for each platform’s requirements and best practices.
For example, Buffer increased their engagement by repurposing tweets into Instagram stories and LinkedIn posts, adapting each one slightly to suit the audience on each platform.
3. Post when your audience is listening
Timing matters. Posting social media content when your target audience is most active increases visibility and engagement, which leads to better performance.
There’s no universal ‘optimal posting time’ because every brand’s audience is different. What works for you might not work for someone else.
That’s why you need to work out your personal best time to post by looking carefully at your audience’s habits and your historical performance data and then use that to guide your posting schedule.
SocialBee’s analytics make this easy.
It automatically calculates your best and worst times to post on each platform based on how your previous posts on those platforms have performed. Then, it offers up personalized posting time recommendations to you as you’re scheduling content.
Another option is to look at insights provided by each social media platform’s native analytics tool (like Instagram Insights) and figure it out for yourself, but it’s a little more work.
4. Publish viral quizzes
Publishing interactive, viral quizzes is an easy, effective way to engage your audience.
You can build one in no time with Woorise and embed it on your website. At the end of the quiz, users have the option to click a button to share their results with their friends on social media.
When they do, the people who see their post might decide they want to try the quiz for themselves, thus driving traffic to your website. Then, those visitors might decide to share their results on social media, too, and the cycle repeats.
BuzzFeed was the first brand to recognize the power of viral quizzes and helped to make them famous, but all kinds of brands now use them to drive traffic, boost social engagement, and collect leads.
Take Sephora, for example. They created a Find Your Perfect Foundation quiz to help users discover products while encouraging social shares.
5. Ask questions
Asking your audience questions through your social media posts helps to get people talking and start a conversation.
That boosts comments, which drives up your engagement rate and makes your content more visible in the algorithm.
Plus, it also shows customers you care about their opinions, which is good for brand sentiment, and can even provide you with useful insights into consumer preferences.
Wendy’s has mastered the art of farming engagements through questions. They regularly post contentious questions designed to spark conversations while at the same time promoting their menu items, like this post.
6. Recycle your best posts
Great content shouldn’t go to waste.
If a post you share on social media performs exceptionally well, squeeze more juice out of it by reposting it again a few weeks or months later.
Just make sure to give it a fresh coat of paint each time. For example, you could tweak the caption a little to add a new thought/insight/joke. If it’s a video post, edit it to change the audio or structure and mix things up.
By the way, SocialBee can automate this for you, too.
It has a neat post-recycling feature that allows you to automatically requeue evergreen content to be shared again later, with the option to change your caption each time. You can even set it to expire on a certain date or after a specified number of shares.
7. Repurpose existing content
Consistently coming up with new ideas for social media marketing posts is a lot of work, especially if you’re active on multiple platforms.
You’ll need to come up with dozens of original ideas every week, and that’s not always feasible.
Repurposing existing content makes it much easier to fill out your content pipeline.
For example, you could turn a long-form blog post you published on your brand’s website into dozens of bite-sized Tweets. And just like that, you’ve got yourself a week’s worth of Twitter content to post.
Or how about this: Just shared a 10-minute video on your brand’s YouTube channel? Grab 4-5 clips of the best bits and post them on TikTok or Instagram Shorts.
Hosted a webinar recently? Post the VOD recording of it on YouTube, or make a transcript and share it as a LinkedIn article.
You get the idea. The key is adapting content to suit different platforms while keeping the core message the same.
8. Create a balanced content mix
Diversify your output by creating a balanced content mix.
In other words, make sure you’re sharing a good variety of different types of posts on social media.
For example, don’t just post photos on Instagram. Experiment with other formats like Reels, Stories, and Carousels, too
And it’s not just about formats either. You need to make sure you have a good mix of entertaining, educational/informative, and promotional content.
As a general rule of thumb, only around 20% of your social media posts should be promotional—the rest should offer real value to users through entertainment or useful information.
SocialBee can help you to achieve a balanced content mix through its content categories feature. It lets you group similar posts into buckets and then schedule each category separately.
For example, you might set it up so that you always share a meme post at 2 PM on a Thursday, a contest at 5 PM on a Friday, a quick tips post at noon on a Monday, and industry news at 6 PM on a Sunday.
That’s just a random example—you can set up your own category-based schedule however you want.
9. Get involved in trends
Jumping on trending topics as they’re gaining traction can skyrocket your reach.
For example, Ocean Spray went viral when TikToker Nathan Apodaca posted a video of himself drinking their cranberry juice while skateboarding to Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Dreams’. The trend caught on like wildfire and spawned countless imitators.
Ocean Spray seized the moment. They embraced the trend, engaging with the post, sharing compilation videos of the trend to their account, and running related promotions to keep the news cycle going, all of which led to a massive sales boost.
You can stay ahead of social media trends by monitoring Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram’s trending pages and finding creative ways to join the conversation.
10. Incorporate storytelling
Storytelling is a powerful tool for marketers.
Incorporating stories into your social media posts helps to foster engagement and makes your brand more memorable.
Instead of just selling products, focus on sharing real experiences, success stories, or behind-the-scenes moments that resonate emotionally.
A well-crafted story not only strengthens brand identity but also fosters a deeper connection with your audience.
11. Share thought leadership content
Establish your brand as an authority in your niche by sharing the latest industry insights, research, and perspectives on your socials.
For example, LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky frequently shares thought-provoking posts about business and the future of work, positioning himself as a go-to expert in his field.
Building your business’s credibility in this way supports your wider marketing goals. Customers are more likely to trust and buy from you if they see you as an authority in the space.
12. Use a distinctive tone of voice
Your social voice is what sets you apart from competitors. It can help to humanize your brand, strengthen brand recognition, and engage your audience.
Again, we can look to Wendy’s for a great example of this. They’re famous for their witty, sarcastic tone—and it’s this iconic tone that has made them one of the most engaging business accounts on Twitter.
They dropped the polished, corporate voice you might expect from a major brand and instead opted for a more relatable voice that resonates more with their target audience of casual diners—and it’s worked.
When crafting your own tone, think about your brand identity and personality. If you’re marketing a funeral service company, for example, a sarcastic tone like Wendy’s isn’t going to work. Instead, you may be better off aiming for an empathetic and kind tone.
Engagement ideas
Next, let’s look at some social media marketing ideas to help you engage your audience more effectively.
13. Reply to comments & messages
Engagement is a two-way street. When followers take the time to comment on your posts or send messages to your business, always try to reply promptly to show you’re listening.
Not only does this help to build stronger relationships with your customers, but it also encourages further interactions, which boosts your engagement rate and visibility in the algorithm.
Beauty brand Glossier is known for responding to nearly every comment on Instagram, making customers feel valued and heard.
14. Show up in the comments of other posts
Don’t just reply to inbound engagements—be proactive about it.
Get out there and spark engagement by commenting on posts from other relevant accounts in your industry. This will help to increase your visibility and attract new followers.
Duolingo does this kind of outbound engagement very well.
The language learning app frequently shows up in the comment section to throw some shade or leave a witty remark, earning thousands of likes and significantly boosting their brand presence in the process.
15. Use a unified inbox to streamline engagement
Replying to hundreds of comments and messages across platforms is no easy feat.
A unified social media inbox can help you to keep on top of it all by consolidating all those interactions across multiple networks into one feed, allowing you to respond more efficiently.
There are a lot of tools to choose from. Pallyy has a great built-in social inbox. Other options include Hootsuite and Sprout Social.
16. Share UGC (user-generated content)
Curating and sharing UGC not only saves you time on content creation but also increases trust, drives engagement, and provides you with powerful social proof.
Try reposting, retweeting, and pinning UGC that shows your brand in a positive light. I’m talking about things like customer photos of your products and glowing reviews/testimonials.
Airbnb does a great job of this. They often share user-generated travel photos and videos from their hosts and customers that showcase real stays and experiences.
Tip: Encourage users to post UGC through competitions and challenges, and use a branded hashtag to make it easy to find them.
17. Go live on social
Too many brands are still sleeping on live streaming.
Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok tend to prioritize live videos in their algorithms, making it a great way to boost reach. Plus, it offers viewers a chance to interact with you in real time, which drives a ton of engagement.
Try hosting live Q&As to answer customer questions. Stream exclusive behind-the-scenes tours or offer live product demonstrations and tutorials.
For example, Sephora regularly goes live on Instagram to host beauty chats and other events. They’ve streamed makeup tutorials and product demos with their audience, engaging their audience and driving sales.
Growth tactics
Next, let’s take a look at some ideas for social media marketing strategies that can help you grow.
18. Collaborate with influencers
Partnering with influencers, creators, and other brands can help you tap into new audiences and build credibility.
There are lots of ways to collaborate. For example, sponsored posts, brand ambassador programs, account takeovers, collab posts, and so on.
Just make sure to partner with accounts that are a good match. Their followers should align with your target market, and their brand identity/values should align with yours.
For example, Gymshark successfully grew its social presence by partnering strategically with popular fitness influencers, turning them into ambassadors who regularly showcase Gymshark gear.
19. Leverage employee advocacy
Your employees can help with your social media marketing efforts by acting as brand ambassadors.
Encourage your team to amplify your brand’s social reach by sharing company updates and behind-the-scenes content on their own accounts.
Employee-shared content can often perform even better than branded posts, so make it easy for them to participate.
Tip: Some social media management platforms—like Hootsuite and Sprout Social—come with built-in tools for launching employee advocacy campaigns.
20. Experiment with targeted ads
Social media marketing isn’t just about maximizing your organic reach. Paid social media advertising might also have a place in your strategy.
Platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok offer advanced ad targeting options, allowing you to reach very specific audiences based on interests, behavior, and demographics.
For example, Airbnb used Facebook ads with dynamic retargeting to show users listings they had previously viewed, leading to a significant increase in bookings.
Tip: Experiment with different targeting options, ad creatives, and formats to optimize your ad performance and maximize your return on investment. Run A/B tests to compare different ad variants and continually hone your strategy.
21. Utilize social shopping features
Social commerce is growing fast.
Platforms like Instagram, TikTok, and Facebook now offer built-in shopping tools so customers can browse the product catalogs of brands and check out without ever leaving the app.
If you’re a brand with products to sell, why not set up your own shoppable storefront on social to reach more customers and streamline the buying process?
22. Monitor your brand mentions
People are talking about your brand on social media—whether you’re listening or not.
Fortunately, you can use tools like Brand24 to keep track of those conversations.
They can monitor the web for mentions of your brand name, competitors, or any other keywords you want to track, allowing you to uncover marketing opportunities and potential PR risks.
You can then jump into conversations where relevant, whether that’s to thank a customer for a positive mention or address a complaint before it escalates and causes damage to your reputation.
Tip: Social listening tools can also analyze brand mentions to measure brand sentiment and social share of voice, which are important metrics for social media marketers to keep an eye on.
Optimization tactics
Last but not least, here are some ideas for ways to optimize your social media marketing efforts.
23. Optimize your posts for discovery
Make your social media marketing content easy to find by optimizing it for social SEO.
That means using relevant words in your captions, adding descriptive alt text to images, and including strategic hashtags.
On platforms like TikTok and YouTube, keyword-rich descriptions can help you rank higher in the search results.
Tip: Hashtag research tools like Hashtagify can help you find the best ones for your niche. Many social media schedulers, like SocialBee, also offer hashtag suggestions.
24. Optimize your bio for conversions
Your social media bio is valuable real estate—make it count.
Clearly communicate what your brand is all about, and include a strong call-to-action (CTA) to help drive conversions. Don’t forget to use emojis, line breaks, and bold language to make it skimmable and engaging.
Your bio CTA should align with your marketing goals. If your primary objective is to drive website traffic, use it to ask users to check out your site. If your goal is to grow your following, ask users to follow you.
Tip: Aside from your bio, also make sure to optimize your profile picture. Use a clear, high-profile picture of your logo—and keep it consistent across social media channels.
25. Use a link-in-bio tool
Most platforms limit you to one link in your bio, but a link-in-bio tool like Shorby will let you showcase multiple destinations at once through your own branded link hub.
This comes in useful if you’re trying to promote multiple website pages as part of your social media marketing campaigns.
For example, Canva doesn’t just link to its homepage in its Instagram bio. They link to a custom landing page with buttons that link to their events, blog posts, videos, and other marketing priorities.
26. Get verified
Many social media platforms now offer some kind of verification badge to help distinguish real brands and public figures from imposters.
Getting verified will help to boost your credibility and trust as it shows users who see your posts and visit your profile that your account is authentic.
Each platform has different requirements, but having a complete profile, an active presence, and solid media coverage can improve your chances of getting verified.
27. Analyze your performance
Lastly, remember to constantly analyze the performance of your social media campaigns to see what’s working and what isn’t.
You’ll need a good social media analytics tool for this. I’d recommend Social Status—it’s a dedicated social reporting tool with everything you need in one place.
Keep a close eye on high-level metrics and KPIs like your average engagement rate, post reach/impressions, followers, etc., on each platform and how they change over time.
Dig deeper to get strategic insights that you can use to optimize your strategy going forward. For example, look at what your best-performing posts, content categories, and posting times are.
Final thoughts
That concludes our roundup of social media marketing ideas to level up your brand.
Hopefully, these strategies and tips will help you to achieve your social media marketing goals this year.
We’ve got plenty of other posts with tips to help you put together an effective social media marketing plan, so make sure to check them out while you’re here.
