Businesses today have the amazing opportunity to get a message out to potential customers on social media that will inspire users to engage with your brand or try your product. Of course, it’s difficult to cut through the noise of many other businesses vying for the same prospects’ attention on the same platforms. Establishing a genuine connection with fans of your brand is a great way to inspire them to use your product, interact with your company online or in person, recommend your business to others or take other action. Below, 14 Forbes Communication Council members share key strategies comms pros can use to inspire their company’s social media followers.

1. 15 Strategies For Inspiring a Company’s
Social Media Followers

2. Businesses today have the amazing opportunity to get a
message out to potential customers on social media that
will inspire users to engage with your brand or try your
product. Of course, it’s difficult to cut through the noise of
many other businesses vying for the same prospects’
attention on the same platforms.
Establishing a genuine connection with fans of your brand
is a great way to inspire them to use your product,
interact with your company online or in person,
recommend your business to others or take other action.
Below, 14 Forbes Communication Council members
share key strategies comms pros can use to inspire their
company’s social media followers.

3. 1. Build A Brand That Is Known To Care
As a company and as an employer, live your values and
work to build a brand that is known to care. Being known
to care builds trust in you and allows people to trust what
you say. Use the trust to communicate positive,
constructive messages to empower people to make
decisions and implement positive change for themselves,
their families, communities and work.
- Anthony Kennedy, ION

4. 2. Engage With Your Followers
Inspiration comes from being real, paying it forward,
thinking about others and engaging with your followers
versus posting at them. Communications pros have an
advantage with our natural strengths, but it’s important to
add your personality and passions to your posts to
inspire, encourage and motivate your followers. Inspiring
each other during these tough times is more important
than ever.
- Amanda Ponzar, CHC: Creating Healthier Communities

5. 3. Provide Exclusive Content
Social media followers are your brand ambassadors, and
they should be treated as VIPs. Show gratitude when
they take the time to engage with you. Also, provide them
with interesting and shareable content they can comment
on or reshare with their followers. It could be a mix of
behind-the-scenes short videos, employee achievements,
surveys or industry news. Don’t inundate them with
“salesy” stuff.
- Parna Sarkar-Basu, Brand and Buzz Marketing, LLC.

6. 4. Provide Examples Of Authentic Marketing
The best way to inspire, particularly for communications
professionals, is to provide your audience with authentic
examples of great marketing, mistakes made and lessons
learned. I can’t help being a cliché marketing man—read
Ogilvy on Advertising. It’s a book that is still providing real
value for marketers, and it’s full of snippets that are
mostly outdated but can be reapplied to today’s industry.
- Alfie Dawson, Bordeaux & Burgundy

7. 5. Educate Your Followers
If someone cares enough to follow you, they look to you
for guidance on current events, trends, business advice
and more. So don’t disappoint them! Engage with them,
share with them what is going on industry-wise, and help
them dissect and understand what this could mean for
their business too. An example of this might be to say not
only what tactic might work but also why.
- Christina Hager, Ovations Digital

8. 6. Work With Respected Influencers
Collaborate with influencers and use their content on your
owned social channels. By connecting trusted social
media leaders with your customer, you extend the value
of your influencer investments and give your followers a
human face to connect with. Storytelling wins on social,
and working with the best storytellers is a winning
formula.
- Keith Bendes, Linqia

9. 7. Post Content That Resonates Emotionally
Social media is all about emotion and quick satisfaction. If
you can hit someone’s heartstrings and provide them with
an opportunity to get involved, you have a good chance at
engagement. Try to make your posts something that will
make a lightbulb turn on. The easiest way to do that is by
posting something you know will resonate with them
emotionally.
- Sarah Lero, Peerless Products Inc

10. 8. Genuinely Connect With Your Audience
Authenticity is key. People want to genuinely connect with
genuine people. What you share should align with your
values and be reflective of the kind of person you are. It’s
also important to remember that your unique perspective
is what makes you distinctive from countless other
marketing professionals on social media. Be you; your
own journey is inspiring.
- Jaime Hunt, Miami University

11. 9. Provide Valuable Video Content
Communications professionals should inspire their social
media followers by providing content that is valuable,
relevant and authentic. This is important because
followers will pay attention to what kind of content is
shared with them, whether it be good or bad. The best
way to inspire followers is to share content in video format
instead of text.
- Gala Grigoreva, Adsterra

12. 10. Be Approachable And Personable
Be genuine and learn how to be available to help. If you
are looking to inspire your social media followers with the
type of content you release, you also need to be
personable for your followers. People will follow you
because they look up to you in some way, so allowing
yourself to be approachable will be greatly appreciated by
your followers.
- Patrick Ward, Rootstrap

13. 11. Share Real Stories Of Real People
Inspire your social media followers with real stories about
real people who are connected to your business, whether
they are employees or customers. Capture their stories
through video and showcase their experiences. We are
all longing for more connection; authentic storytelling
strikes a chord for so many of us, and it can make your
brand far more memorable.
- Lana Johnson, Sterling Engineering

14. 12. Offer True Value
Offer true value through your social media content, from
educational content to insights and knowledge. Social
audiences don’t just want to look at pretty pictures or
product features.
- Roshni Wijayasinha, Prosh Marketing

15. 13. Don’t Try Too Hard To ‘Motivate’ Followers
If you want to truly inspire followers on social media these
days, spare us the “motivational” stuff. You probably know
what I’m talking about: the long, single-line retellings of a
morning routine that starts at 4 a.m. and ends with a
three-hour, high-intensity workout and a green smoothie.
This isn’t realistic or sustainable for 99% of professionals.
Instead, keep it relatable and authentic.
- Amine Rahal, IronMonk Solutions

16. 14. Aim To Entertain, Enlighten Or Educate
Your followers want to hear about “the business of the
business.” Many may own businesses, want to start
businesses or get ahead in their communications roles.
Share what you know, what you’ve learned and how they
can take that knowledge and use it to grow. I always say
there are three goals for content: entertain, enlighten or
educate. Aim to achieve one of those goals, and you’ll
always inspire.
- Melissa Kandel, little word studio

17. 15. Pick the Best Times to Publish
Whenever you put real efforts into creating outstanding content, you always wish your
content targets as many eyeballs as possible, isn’t it? It could be exhausting to
constantly keep track of the best times to post, and that’s where publishing tools come in
handy. There are many strong content publishing tools out there. Social Pilot is one of
the best, and definitely the cheapest.
With the help of picking the best times to post on social media, you can maximize the
chances for your audience to both see and engage with your posts. Moreover, you can
use SocialPilot’s unparalleled scheduling features to automate your posting on seven
social media platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and TikTok.
Try it out for free today! (Copy the link on your browser) : https://bit.ly/381sVR4