They don’t want your sales pitch. They want a reason to trust you with their hard-earned money.
This year, we at Five Talents noticed a consistent pattern across client accounts: the more “perfect” a brand tries to look, the faster engagement declines. Small businesses are burning budgets on high-production content that gets scrolled past in seconds. The problem isn’t the algorithm. It’s the strategy.
It’s time to stop chasing aesthetics and start focusing on ROI.
How to Create a Social Media Marketing Plan for 2026
Most businesses overcomplicate their SMM strategy. They try to be everywhere at once and end up invisible everywhere. Strategy isn’t a posting schedule. It’s a map.
If you’re a local service provider, ask yourself a hard question: why are you dancing on TikTok if your buyers are actively searching for expertise on LinkedIn?
We advise our Business Growth Consulting clients to pick two platforms and dominate them. The goal isn’t to reach for the sake of reaching — it’s relevance.
We’re firmly in the “social search” era. People now use Instagram and TikTok the same way they used Google five years ago. They search when they’re confused, frustrated, or stuck. If your captions and videos don’t answer those exact questions, your content doesn’t exist.
Our home services client had a problem: they’d been leaning on the same old ‘before & after’ posts for ages, and engagement had completely flatlined.
At Five Talents, we realized that people weren’t just looking for photos of finished repairs. When something breaks, they’re looking for immediate answers. So, we shifted their social media focus to short, searchable videos that tackle specific headaches, like “Why is my AC running but not cooling?”
The results clicked into place fast. Within six weeks, these “answer-first” videos became the client’s top-performing content. It turns out that meeting people exactly where their problem is, rather than just showing off the result, is what actually drives conversions.
What Works Now: The Platform Playbook
The shotgun approach is dead. Each platform requires its own strategy to actually move the needle. Simply reposting the same content everywhere ignores the distinct mindset users bring to each app, whether they are scrolling to be entertained or searching for professional solutions. To drive real ROI, you must respect the platform’s native “language” rather than forcing a one-size-fits-all message that resonates nowhere.
Instagram: The Trust Builder
Instagram has expanded user-level controls that allow people to filter out content they find irrelevant actively.
Translation: boring content doesn’t get a second chance.
The Move: Shift away from static posts and focus on Reels that trigger rewatch behavior.
Short, educational videos that solve one very specific problem consistently outperform polished brand content.
Five Talents Insight:
We’ve seen entire lead funnels built on simple, repeatable Reels. One client published a weekly 60-second “how-to” addressing a single objection their prospects had before buying. Those Reels didn’t go viral — but they drove profile visits, saves, and booked calls month after month.
TikTok: The Raw Lead Generator
TikTok is no longer about trends or age groups. It’s about intent.
People open TikTok to discover solutions, not brands.
The Move: Use direct communication features and pinned content to guide viewers toward the next step, whether that’s a DM, a link, or a follow.
Five Talents Insight:
Some of the strongest-performing TikTok content we manage doesn’t come from founders at all. It comes from employees. A short, unscripted explanation from a lead technician or office manager often outperforms brand-led content because it feels human. People trust people, not logos.
LinkedIn: The Authority Engine
LinkedIn is increasingly rewarding clarity and expertise over viral commentary.
The Move: Use PDF carousels and structured posts to break down data, frameworks, or real scenarios your audience recognizes.
Five Talents Insight:
We consistently see higher distribution when content is shared from personal profiles rather than company pages, not because of hacks, but because people engage with people. A profile that reads like a consultant’s perspective, not a résumé, earns more meaningful interactions and qualified inbound conversations.
Best Social Media Marketing Techniques for ROI
Stop guessing. Start measuring.
Effective social media marketing isn’t about likes. It’s about whether your content earns attention relative to how far it’s shown. One metric we use internally is engagement relative to reach — it tells us if a message resonates, not just if it was displayed.
If you’re unsure how to start social media marketing, begin with a Customer Pain Point Audit:
- List the top 10 complaints or objections your customers voice before buying.
- Create one piece of content for each.
- Publish consistently for 30 days.
We’ve seen this simple framework outperform complex content calendars — not because it’s clever, but because it’s relevant.
If your content starts working, traffic follows. And when traffic follows, your infrastructure matters. Whether that means SEO, paid acquisition, or a site that can actually convert visitors into leads, the strategy needs to connect. If you want proof, explore our SEO Portfolio and client testimonials to see how we stabilize lead flow rather than chase spikes.
Ready to stop shouting into the void?
Contact Five Talents and build a social media strategy that supports your bottom line, not just your ego.