The Social Insider - 7th March

Welcome to The Social Insider with me – Sam! Here you’ll get the inside scoop of what’s been going on from my screen to yours. Read on to find out more about my upcoming events, projects and the latest news and tips for your social media PLUS?everything in between!

The Psychology of Social Media Cycles -?March is the perfect Social Media Power month, but WHY?

Social media isn’t just about posting, it’s about timing. The way people engage, buy, and interact follows a predictable cycle throughout the year, and if you don’t factor it in, your marketing will always feel like an uphill battle.

Right now, we’re in March, a golden opportunity. No bank holidays, no school holidays, no major disruptions, just a full month to focus, build momentum, and put a solid social media strategy in place. But here’s where the psychology comes in and why it's the month to get your strategy spot on for the next few months.

Our buying habits shift depending on life events. Think about it:

• April – The Easter holidays bring families being away, routines changing, and spending and time habits are often shifted.
• May – Two bank holidays and half term create another period of inconsistency. Businesses that didn’t plan ahead will struggle to maintain visibility.
• June & July – May half term straggles into June and then the summer lull kicks in. People are thinking about the school summer holidays as they are early this year and not necessarily investing in services, unless you’ve nurtured them beforehand.
• September – The ‘back-to-business’ mindset returns, but only those who planned for it see the biggest wins and it can be mid-month before people have got their motivation back.

What you do NOW dictates your success in April, May, and for the rest of the year.

If you’re winging it every month and hoping for engagement or struggling to convert followers into sales, it’s because your strategy isn’t in line with these natural cycles. Instead, you should be:

• Building brand awareness NOW – so people remember you when they’re ready to buy.
• Nurturing your audience NOW – so they trust you when they return from holidays.
• Laying the foundations NOW – so you don’t lose momentum when life gets busy.

If you want to have that strategy why not get in touch to find out about availability for my strategy days in March.

LinkedIn is changing but here is how you can stay ahead of the game.

Things on LinkedIn have changed since the New year and I wanted to share this with you so that you can make these changes to your LinkedIn strategy:

• The average post gets 65% fewer impressions
• Engagement per post is up by 12%
• 16% more ads on LinkedIn than last year
• Posting 1-2x per day is the sweet spot
• Carousels & PDFs perform 1.9x better than the median post
• AI-generated comments don’t perform as well
• Video reach has dropped by 200%

Why commenting needs to be part of your strategy:

• AI-generated comments get 5x less author response & 7x less engagement
• Longer comments = more impact: 10+ words boost reach 2x, 15+ words boost 2.5x
• Engaging with 10-20 posts per day increases profile views by 50% and post reach by 10%
• Posts live longer – go back and restart conversations on your old posts

Hot news - LinkedIn is trialling impression scores on comments, read on to find out more.

Top Tips for more engagement:

• Carousels: Have a strong hook, 10+ slides, and a scroll-stopping front cover
• Infographics: Share tips and value
• Videos: Think TikTok, Instagram - have a 3-second hook, focused on educating, inspiring and giving value

Other content ideas:

• Polls: Learn about your audience’s biggest challenges
• Text & Photo: Share personal stories with visuals
• Text-Only: Use pre-validated posts, humour, or sharp one-liners

How to increase your engagement:

• Choose the right format (carousels & cheat sheets work best)
• Write 800-1,000 words per post
• Shorter sentences increase readability by 30%
• Strong ideas + data visuals boost performance by 36%
• Two-sentence hooks perform 20% better
• Like your own post for a 5% lift
• Engage with posts 2-3 days old to revive conversations
• Spend 15 minutes commenting before posting & 15-30 minutes after

What the Top 1% of creators are doing:

• Post daily
• Engage 3x more than the average user
• Share highly structured, value-packed content
• Use carousels & cheat sheets as their go-to formats

I like to think of LinkedIn as Facebook’s younger brother, have fun and be YOU!

Social Nuggets – Your weekly Social Media roundup with what’s going on in the social media world

Recent updates from LinkedIn and Instagram have introduced new features aimed at growing user engagement and interaction on their platforms.

LinkedIn Introduces Comment Impression Counts

LinkedIn has begun rolling out a feature that displays impression counts on comments.

This addition allows users to see how many people have viewed their comments, offering deeper insights into the reach and impact of their interactions within posts and discussions.

By understanding the visibility of their comments, users can better gauge engagement levels and know what content is going to work.

Instagram Tests 'Dislike' Button for Comments

Instagram is experimenting with a new feature a 'dislike' button next to comments. This option provides users with a private way to express disapproval or reduce the prominence of certain comments without publicly shaming the commenter.

The ‘dislike' button is currently in the testing phase and is not yet available to all users. As soon as I know it’s going live I will keep you updated.

The top 3 trending songs on Instagram ideal to use for Reels or your short form videos.

• Sunshine Coming
• Echoes of us
• Just dance x feel good inc

That’s this week’s Social Nuggets Weekly update!

Only 5 Spaces Left! – Social Media Training & Strategy Day

There are now ONLY 5 SPACES LEFT for my Social Media Training & Strategy Day on Friday 21st March.

This is your chance to spend the day with me, get total clarity on your social media strategy, and walk away with a full content plan AND your own short-form video content ready to post!

• Know exactly which platforms to focus on (and which to ignore!)
• Leave with a full social media plan for the rest of 2025
• Create video content on the day and learn how to use it effectively
• Discover what’s working in 2025 and ditch what’s a waste of time
• Simplify your socials so you can grow your business with ease

Want to be part of the day? Secure your space now by sending me the word TRAINING for more info

What Social Media Influencer Level are YOU?

And Finally...

When it comes to your social media which one are you.

?? Nano-influencers (1K-10K followers)

?? Micro-influencers (10K-100K followers)

?? Macro-influencers (100K-1M followers)

Let me know!

Thanks for reading!