Figuring out how to stand out on social media can feel like an uphill battle. The sheer volume of people posting daily means it’s easy to get lost in the noise, and it can be downright demoralizing. But with the right strategies, you can still break through and connect with your ideal audience.
I’ve spent the last 3 years building an online business and brand. This has taught me a lot about how to stand out online, including how to grow a loyal social media following and audience. It’s a blend of art and science, but there are a few solid tactics that you can – and should – use to stand out from the crowd.
Here are my top tried-and-tested tips and methods to help you carve out your own space on social media. If you’re looking to grow your following, increase your engagement, and take your social presence to the next level, these strategies are for you.
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How to Stand Out On Social Media
Standing out on social media isn’t just about posting frequently or following the latest trends, although those things definitely help. It’s also about creating a strategy that highlights what makes your brand unique. In turn, this allows you to connect more authentically with your audience.
With so much competition out there, focusing on quality, consistency, and meaningful engagement is critical. The following tips and strategies have helped me attract a dedicated following and establish a distinct presence on social media.
1. Clearly Define Your Niche
Just like building a blog, defining your niche is crucial on social media. Platforms including Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube reward accounts that focus on specific themes or topics. Not having a clear niche (or having one that’s too broad) will make it much harder to reach the right audience for your content.
It makes a lot of sense if you think about it. People are more likely to follow and engage with you if they know what to expect from your content. For example, if you’re into camping, you’ll probably look for camping-specific accounts to follow, right?
It’s so much easier to create meaningful, authentic content if your niche aligns with your passions. And the more specific the niche, the better. Not only will you have an easier time standing out on social media, but your followers will probably be more passionate about the topic, too, which is great for engagement.
2. Lean Into Your Personal Brand
Your personal brand is what makes you memorable. This is true for many businesses, including blogs. But social media is especially well set up for direct, real-time connections with your audience. Lean into what makes you unique, and you’ll naturally stand out in a crowded feed.
Showcasing who you are is a great way to encourage connection and interaction with your followers. A strong personal brand means sharing your personality, values, and style in a way that’s consistent and authentic. Followers are drawn to accounts that feel genuine, relatable, and distinctive.
For instance, I’ve found that my audience responds best when I share the real moments behind my travels — the good and the bad. People don’t just want to see perfectly polished content. It’s all about making yourself – and your brand – seem more relatable, authentic, and genuine.
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3. Optimize for Social Media SEO
SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is a vast topic, but at its heart, it boils down to making sure that your content is discoverable by as many people as possible. For blogs and websites, this means getting your content to rank highly on the search engine results page. For social media, it’s about getting your account in front of as many eyes as possible.
Hashtags are one of the easiest ways to increase your visibility on social media. Using a combination of popular, niche, and branded hashtags helps you reach both broad and targeted audiences. Including keywords in your captions and your bio also makes it easier for people to find you.
For example, Goats On The Road Instagram bio uses several keywords directly related to their niche, such as “remote lifestyle business coaches” and “launch and grow online brands”. This targeted strategy improves your account’s discoverability and will help you grow an engaged follower base.
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4. Create High-Quality, Engaging Visuals
Visuals are everything on social media. With so much content competing for attention, high-quality, eye-catching images and videos are essential for standing out. Each platform has its own style preferences, but quality is key for all of them.
If you’re posting photos, make sure they’re high-definition, well-composed, and visually appealing. Take the time to select and edit your photos before posting them. You don’t need to be a professional photographer, but it definitely helps to have an eye for what makes a good image.
For reels and TikTok videos, it’s essential to start with an engaging “hook” to prevent people from scrolling past. Vertical videos occupy more space on phone screens, which is how most people watch them. This format increases the chances of capturing viewers’ attention and keeping them engaged.
5. Engage with Your Audience Consistently
Most social media platforms – especially Instagram and TikTok – reward active accounts that regularly engage with their followers. It’s not enough to batch-schedule a bunch of great content and then forget about it.
You need to take the time to respond to comments, DMs, and story replies. This interaction tells your followers that you value them and helps build a stronger connection with your audience. Even if this isn’t something you particularly enjoy doing, the algorithm rewards posts with high engagement.
I make a point of replying to every non-spammy comment and message I receive. Engagement doesn’t have to be complicated – a quick response or a simple thank you (or even an emoji) is often fine. A better way to make sure you don’t miss a single comment is to utilize programs like ManyChat.
6. Try to Get Mentions, Shout-Outs, and Reposts
When people see others engaging with or endorsing your brand, they’re more likely to trust and follow you. It’s social proof, which is fairly simple human psychology. Shout-outs, mentions, and reposts from other accounts are effective ways to build on this feeling of security.
Sharing testimonials, tagging people who use your products, or reposting your followers’ content strengthens your reputation and visibility. For example, I encourage my followers to tag me in their travel photos and stories, which I then share on my own profile.
This shows potential followers that others are actively engaging with your content, which adds a layer of credibility. These simple techniques can make a huge difference as they signal that you’re trustworthy and worth following, which is huge when it comes to growing on social media.
7. Experiment with Different Features and Formats
Visual storytelling is one of the most effective ways to capture attention on social media. Reels, stories, and short TikTok videos are perfect ways to share snippets of your journey, behind-the-scenes moments, or “day in the life” updates.
Instagram and TikTok both have built-in features, like polls and Q&A boxes, that make it easy for you to engage with your audience. Once again, it all goes back to encouraging engagement and letting followers experience and interact with your brand on a more personal level.
I use reels for video posts that are more polished and well-produced and stories for rougher, more casual, behind-the-scenes content. To interact even further with my followers, I use polls. There’s no “right” and “wrong” way to do it, though – experiment and see what works best for you.
8. Offer Valuable Resources for Free
Offering free, valuable resources is a great technique in pretty much all digital marketing fields. It can help you attract potential clients, build trust with your audience, and establish your brand as a valuable authority in your industry.
On social media, this can take many different forms. For example, in my Instagram bio, I include a link to a free eBook I wrote. Anybody can download this in exchange for their email address. This provides value to my followers, but it also helps me grow my email list.
If you offer services, you could offer a free initial consultation. You could alternatively away one of your digital products like a mini-course, template, or other downloadable. Giving away stuff for free may seem counterintuitive, but it’s a smart way to build loyalty and makes it more likely that people will want to buy something from you later.
9. Collaborate with Other Creators and Brands
Collaborating with other creators or brands is an excellent way to expand your reach and attract new followers on social media. These partnerships can give you access to fresh audiences that are already interested in similar content.
I’ve partnered with other travel bloggers and co-created posts on Instagram, which helped me connect with their followers and vice versa. A good collaboration grows the pie and is mutually beneficial for everybody involved – you, the person you’re collaborating with, your followers, and theirs.
Look for creators and brands that align with your niche and values. Reach out to them, setting out the proposed collaboration and how it would be a win-win. If possible, give examples of other successful collaborations you’ve done in the past and how they benefitted both parties.
10. Optimize Your Profile
Your social media profile is like a landing page — it needs to be clear, engaging, and easy to navigate. A well-optimized profile makes a great first impression and encourages new visitors to follow you. It’s similar to a website in this way – when your audience can easily see what you offer, they’re more likely to stick around.
Start with a clear, descriptive bio that instantly tells people who you are and what they’ll get from following you. I talked about keywords in the SEO section above, and your bio is a great place to include the keywords most relevant to your niche.
Tools like Linktree are useful for directing users to your most important links, such as your website and other social media channels. I revamped my Instagram bio and almost immediately noticed an increase in my profile visits. Now, I just need to work on organizing my Highlights!
11. Post Consistently (and Authentically)
Consistency is one of the biggest factors in building a strong social media presence. Regular posts keep you on your audience’s radar and signal to the platform’s algorithm that you’re active.
You don’t need to post every single day – and I certainly don’t recommend churning out sub-par content just for the sake of consistent posting. Quality over quantity is usually the right way to go in content creation. Aim to post as frequently as you can while maintaining quality and authenticity.
Think about it – if you only post one post per week, you’re only going to have 52 posts at the end of the year. But if you post three times per week, you’ll have over 150 posts over the same year period. That’s three times as much potential to get noticed and attract new followers, readers, and customers.
12. Monitor Social Media Trends and Competitors
Social media trends move fast, and it can feel like a lot of work to keep up with them. But staying on top of what’s working best at any given moment – and what your competitors are doing – can give you a real advantage. Staying informed helps keep your content fresh and relevant.
Explore trending sounds, hashtags, and new content formats on TikTok and Instagram. This doesn’t mean you need to go all in on every trend. However, experimenting with popular formats can boost your visibility and make you stand out on social media.
I regularly check in on accounts similar to mine, taking careful note of the strategies they’re using and how well they’re working. Competitor research is an excellent way of evaluating and coming up with new ideas for my own content that helps me stand out in a saturated market.
Best Way to Stand Out on Social Media: FAQs
Here are some answers to the most commonly asked questions about standing out on social media:
To get noticed on social media, focus on creating high-quality, unique content and engage consistently with your audience. Using relevant hashtags, staying active in trends, and collaborating with other creators can help boost visibility and attract new followers who are genuinely interested in your content.
Growing your social media following involves posting regularly, engaging with your audience, and offering value through unique content. Consistent interaction, such as responding to comments and DMs, builds a loyal community. Combining this with a clear niche and good hashtag strategy can help attract and retain followers.
The best platform to grow on social media depends on your niche and audience. For visual content, Instagram and TikTok are great. LinkedIn works well for B2B networking, and YouTube is ideal for longer videos. Choose a platform where your target audience is active and where you can best leverage your strengths.
Growing a social media presence takes time and effort. It can be challenging to stand out, but consistent posting, engaging with followers, and optimizing content makes a great difference. Success often depends on a balance of creating quality content, having a clearly defined niche, and actively interacting with your audience.
To make money on social media, consider sponsored posts, affiliate marketing, selling digital products, or offering services. Building a loyal audience is key, as brands and potential clients look for creators with genuine engagement. The more value you provide, the more opportunities arise for monetization.
There’s no exact number of followers to aim for on social media. What matters most is engagement. Even a few thousand highly engaged followers can be valuable if they’re genuinely interested in your content. Focus on growing an engaged audience rather than solely growing your follower count.
The best social media platform for business depends on your industry. LinkedIn is a fantastic platform for B2B. Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok are great for brand visibility and B2C, depending on where your target demographic is most active.
To increase your exposure on social media, focus on using relevant hashtags, engaging actively, and posting at optimal times. Participating in trends, creating shareable content, and collaborating with others can also boost your visibility. Experiment with these tactics to find what works best for you and your audience.
Social media stands out when content is authentic, engaging, and consistent. Creating unique, visually appealing posts, genuine interactions, and having a solid personal brand can all help create a memorable presence. Leveraging each platform’s tools — like stories, reels, or live videos — can also make your account more distinctive and memorable.
In Closing
Standing out on social media may seem daunting, but it’s entirely achievable with a clear strategy and authentic approach. Focusing on a niche, creating high-quality content, posting and engaging consistently, and focusing on what makes your brand unique are all important ways to increase your visibility.
Remember, social media success doesn’t happen overnight. It’s the small, consistent actions — showing up authentically, sharing valuable content, and building relationships — that make the biggest difference over time.
