user generated content

It’s Christmas Eve. Your notifications are quiet, your to-do list is still too long and your family is already asking why you’re on your phone.

Sound familiar?

If you didn’t get around to scheduling your Christmas content earlier in the month - don’t panic. The world won’t end because you haven’t got a polished campaign ready to roll. But you can still keep your business visible with a few last-minute survival tactics.

🎄 Keep It Simple

Now is not the time to design a 12-post festive series…

Christmas and social media go hand in hand. Every year, new TikTok and Instagram Reels trends sweep through feeds, giving small businesses the perfect chance to jump in, ride the wave, and boost visibility.

But here’s the mistake many make: they either ignore trends completely (because they don’t want to look silly), or they copy them without tailoring to their brand — which makes them forgettable.

So how do you strike the right balance in 2025?

Start by keeping an eye on trending sounds in t…

The festive season can make or break your year. But too many businesses launch Christmas campaigns that flop and it’s rarely because of the algorithm.

It’s because of avoidable mistakes.

Here are the 5 biggest social media mistakes that can ruin your Christmas campaign in 2025 - and how to avoid them.

❌ Mistake 1: Leaving It Too Late

If you start your campaign in mid-December, you’re already behind.
Fix it: Launch early December. Warm people up with value posts, then drop your offers mid-m…

It might have been more than two weeks ago now… but I’m still feeling ALL the feels after delivering my very first InstaBrains workshop at CREATE Business Hub in Shenfield on 26^th and 27^th April.

A group of five fabulous marketers and business owners joined me for top tips on all things Insta. During the two-day session, these lucky attendees learned how to:

• Build a killer Instagram strategy

Together, we dissected what each guest wanted to achieve with their business, and helped them expl…

There’s been lots of talk recently of Instagram’s declining engagement rates.

And while I can’t deny that I have seen less interaction on this platform than usual recently, I definitely don’t think now is the right time to jump ship and let all the hard work you’ve put into building your following here go to waste.

In fact, I think Instagram can still be extremely valuable for businesses.

Why?

Well, firstly, Instagram has 2 billion monthly active users – and it is still growing!

Plus, it’s …

Do you struggle showing your face on socials?

Lack confidence in front of the camera?

Do you feel self-conscious showing the world the real ‘you’?

You’re not alone, my friend.

But when adding a photo of your face can see a 33% increase in engagement on your posts, it’s time to face your fears and finally feel confident on camera.

I recently spoke with my friend Julian Knopf on The Social Brain Podcast to discuss his top tips for feeling confident in front of the camera so you can show up on…

Sales funnels, marketing funnels, business funnels. It's enough to make your head spin, isn't it? 

Here at The Social Brain, we talk a lot about marketing funnels and the stages of a marketing funnel: brand awareness, nurturing, decision making and the sale.

But did you know there’s more than one type of funnel?

I recently spoke with my friend Rebecca Wise on The Social Brain Podcast to discuss all things business funnels, including the relationship between sales funnels and social media mark…

(Want to listen to this blog post instead? Check out Episode 4 of The Social Brain podcast.)

Social media is an amazing tool to help you grow your business online. It helps you to get out in front of people and to build your community.

But it can also be exhausting. You need to create content constantly, not to mention find time to engage with others and respond to the messages that end up in your inbox. And when you use social media to increase your visibility and grow your business, it’s eas…

What is user generated content?

User generated content (UG) is, quite literally, content that has been created by and shared by the people who have either bought something from your business or interacted with your brand in some other way.

Traditionally, it has taken the form of online reviews, comments in forums, and mentions (good or bad!) on social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn. But companies these days are taking the trend for UG content to a whole new level by…