I have been doing a lot of reflecting these past few weeks and gearing up for the new year.

Reflecting helps me come up with learnings to improve for the following year.

I was looking back on my calendar and saw I talked to over 100 brands this year.

Dang - that is a lot of peeps.

That means I looked at 100+ DTC brands' social media accounts.

They had the same mistakes.

If you want to level up your organic content in 2024, use these 10 principles.

Your 2024 Social Media Strategy

1. Use education

No one knows your product as well as you, so educate them.

You need to consistently teach people how your product can help their life.

Cute photos only go so far.

Find ways to talk about product features or do a series where you bring in experts.

2. Use long-form video

Most brands are not finding ways to talk to their customers in long-form.

Put together an interview series or education series to talk to customers.

Think about retention, not just new customers!

Long-form is great to go deeper with existing customers.

3. Use video. Period.

2024 is the time to hit the record button.

Stop saying that video is the future.

Today is the time to create videos, not tomorrow.

4. Don't rely on UGC to be your content creation

Content made by other people is great, but you aren't in control.

You aren't able to establish a brand on content made from others.

You need to own the narrative and visual brand direction.

5. Take photos of people with products

Too often brands just photograph their product.

Your bottle looks cute, but don't forget that humans are your buyers.

Humans buy from humans. When we see a fellow human, it creates trust.

Get models & tell a story with your product.

6. Share the BTS of operations

This is important especially when you start out.

People love transparency.

Customers want to feel a part of your journey building your brand.

Create loyalty by sharing how you are building the brand.

7. Your founder should be the number one influencer of your brand

Founders - you need to be PREACHING about your mission.

I don't care if you are afraid of the camera, people want to see you.

You need to talk with customers.

8. Employee Generated Content

The most underrated content creation format is content from employees.

Make your brand more relatable by sharing how employees use the product.

You can share why they work for the brand.

9. Cohesive visuals from ads to organic to website

This principle is all about owning your visual brand direction.

People should have the same experience no matter the platform.

If the content is not consistent, how can they trust you for consistent quality of the product?

10. Tell stories

The top brands tell stories through photos and videos.

Where is your product being used and who is using it?

Craft visuals around the answer to that question.

People buy stories, so tell them!

You don’t need to do all 10 at one time, but these ideas can help get you started.

To me the main one you can’t avoid is using video.

Start there and then work on the other principles!