We spoke to Jasmine Wicks-Stephens, Founder of Known Community to discover practical ways to make social work for your business.
It’s easy to get caught up in chasing virality, but the real key to social media success is building a strong foundation. At my agency, Known, we help dozens of brands with content strategy - and this is our go-to formula.
Begin by creating a content calendar.
Simply put, if you plan everything out, it makes social easier to manage. You can use a simple tool like Google Sheets and map out each month, to include:
- Google ‘PR’ days: From silly to serious, these themed days offer great content prompts.
- Your topics or ‘pillars’: Pick 5 (or so) brand-relevant themes you want to feature regularly - it can be anything relevant to your company - business tips, sustainability, beauty trends, etc. These keep your content focused and consistent.
- Important business updates: Launches, offers, treatment menus - ensure your social content aligns with emails and other marketing ideally.
- Relatable content: Posts that show humour, emotion or vulnerability often drive the most engagement – so something to be mindful of when planning your posts.
Get inspired by others.
Great content often comes from consuming great content. Use social media intentionally:
- Save ideas: Create Instagram folders for posts that link to your topics or spark ideas so you can refer back to these when planning.
- Save trending sounds: On TikTok or Reels, sounds with an upward arrow are trending. Click "save" and build a library to use when you post.
Ensure your aesthetic is a good reflection of your business.
Aesthetic matters - especially for a business page. Consider:
- Hiring a designer: Get a few polished templates created, then have them imported into Canva so you can edit easily. It’s worth the investment in the long run.
- People connect with people: Include yourself, your team, or creators in your content. Representation matters, so be mindful to include diverse faces and voices, especially for brand accounts.
A few other tips.
Using tools: You could consider scheduling content using tools like Later or Hootsuite. This helps you visualise your grid, check content balance across your topics, and make sure your aesthetic holds together.
Prepare to pivot: You won’t know what works until you start posting. Observe what content your audience engages with, then lean into that. Pivoting is part of the process.
And don’t obsess over the numbers: Some posts may underperform on reach or likes - but if they’re important to your business or brand story, they’re worth sharing. Big brands have big budgets. Don’t waste energy comparing - just focus on building your own presence authentically.
Content creation takes time - planning, filming, editing - it’s a full job. Start where you can, do what you can, and remember, consistency beats perfection.
To find out more about Known Community head to known-community.com