Gaining followers today isn’t just about posting more, it’s about posting smarter. Many B2B tech brands fall into the trap of relying on owned content and outbound links, missing opportunities to educate their audience and grow meaningful engagement in the long-term.
To add to the complexity, not all “followers” are created equal. According to The AI Optimist, nearly 25% of LinkedIn traffic may be bots. That means building real community and influence requires a strategy focused on genuine value, not just vanity metrics. So how do you build your social media strategy to engage real and relevant people?
This blog explores three do’s and don’ts to help sharpen your organic social media strategy.
DO: Create Consistent, Campaign-Based Content
Consistency builds trust and recognition, the two major essentials of follower growth and retention. When your audience knows they can visit your page each week for reliable insights, they’re more likely to follow.
Structure weekly or bi-weekly campaigns that focus on a theme your prospects care about. For example: a “Cybersecurity Weekly Wrap” or “What the Experts Say.” Use formats that fit the platform-native algorithms like:
- Natively uploaded videos
- Carousel PDFs
- LinkedIn Live sessions
Pro Tip: Top-of-funnel content performs best when it’s educational. Think: “Here’s what’s changing,” not “Here’s why we’re the best.”
DO: Prioritize Credible, Third-Party Endorsements Over Self-Promotion
People follow pages that help them solve problems, not ones that only showcase their own solutions.
Instead of promoting yourself in every post, focus on educating your target audience with:
- Insight into what’s changing (Is a process now faster or cheaper?)
- Warnings about emerging risks (Are there security gaps in a common solution?)
- Alternative perspectives (How can they think differently about a familiar challenge?)
Validation from analysts, customers, and industry influencers also boosts credibility and encourages shares.
DO: Use Platform-Native Content Formats
Why it works: Social platforms reward native content with more visibility and better engagement.
On LinkedIn, these formats perform especially well:
- PDF Carousels – Great for how-to walkthroughs, checklists, or visual storytelling
- LinkedIn Live – Drives interaction and thought leadership in real time
- Natively Uploaded Video – Boosts autoplay views and time-on-post
These formats are not only algorithm-friendly but also make your insights easier to absorb quickly.
Quick Win: Turn blog posts into PDF carousels or video summaries with 2–3 key takeaways to repackage your best thinking.
BONUS: Spotlight People (Especially Your Team and Executives)
Your employees and executive team often have a personal connection to buyer-level networks than your company page. Highlight them with regular posts that feature:
- Behind-the-scenes snapshots
- Executive thought leadership
- Employee-generated content
Rather than showcasing the company lunch, spotlight your engineers, product leaders, or customer success managers. Support executives with prewritten content and guideposts (see 10Fold’s Executive Presence on LinkedIn Guide) to help them post consistently.
DON’T: Link Out in Every Post
Social media platforms want users to stay on their platform. If you always include a link that drives people elsewhere, your post may get suppressed by the algorithm.
Instead:
- Share a carousel that previews the content.
- Include a link in the comments (and mention that in your copy).
- Only link out when the content is genuinely high-value.
Turn a CTA like “Read this blog” into “Here’s one actionable insight from our latest research.”
DON’T: Rely Exclusively on Owned Content
If all you do is promote your own site, you’re missing opportunities to build relationships. Mix in:
- Non-competitive third-party articles
- Analyst reports
- Partner insights
Tagging the original authors or brands not only boosts discoverability and increases the odds they’ll reshare your post. This gives you access to new audiences by association.
DON’T: Ignore Keywords and Hashtags
Why it matters: With the rise of social media search behavior, keywords and hashtags are essential for visibility.
Best practices:
- Use 2-5 targeted hashtags per post
- Weave industry searched terms into your captions naturally
- Don’t be afraid to develop branded or campaign-specific tags (#WeeklyWrap, #SecurityInsights) to increase familiarity with your content
Overloading with hashtags will dilute relevance. Stick to what’s actually applicable to the post and the content you want users to read.
Real Follower Growth Starts with Smarter Content
If you’re after relevant, engaged follower growth (not bots or passive scrollers), the answer lies in creating consistent, valuable, platform-optimized content.
Avoiding common pitfalls like constant linking out, overdoing self-promotion, or skipping native formats will help you connect with real people who actually want to see what you post.
Align every post with your broader organic social media strategy, and stay curious about what your audience finds helpful, entertaining, or enlightening. These strategies are how brands grow and keep the right followers.