Most Irish businesses know they should be on social. Far fewer know whether it’s actually working.
We see it all the time. A business posts three times a week, gets a handful of likes, and quietly wonders what it’s all for. The problem usually isn’t effort. It’s that nobody decided what social was meant to do in the first place.
So here’s what we’ve learned works, from running social for hotels, festivals, food brands and service businesses across Ireland.
Decide what social is for
Before a single post goes out, answer one question. What should this bring in?
Bookings? Enquiries? Footfall? Online sales? Awareness ahead of a launch? Each one needs a different mix of content, platforms and spend.
Our rule is simple. A campaign is judged by what it brings in, not by how it looks or whether it went viral. Pretty posts that don’t move the business are an expensive hobby.
Organic and paid do different jobs
Organic builds trust with people who already know you. It’s your shop window, your personality and your proof. It keeps you front of mind.
Paid finds new people and puts you in front of them at the right moment. It’s how you reach beyond your followers, test what works, and drive action.
The businesses that do best run both, together. For Guinness Cork Jazz, a mix of a thought-out organic strategy and paid social grew the following by 20%. Over 207 pieces of content drove 35,700 engagements, a 75% jump year on year.
For Midlands Park Hotel, the combined programme drives over 100,000 views every month, keeping the hotel visible to guests and supporting bookings right across the business.
Real content beats polished content
People scroll past ads. They stop for real things. Real people, real places, real moments.
That’s why we shoot so much of our clients’ content ourselves, with our own photo and video team. It doesn’t have to be glossy. It has to be true.
One new client this year saw it clearly. Their photo posts drew 708 interactions. Their link posts drew 42. Same audience, same weeks. People came for the pictures, not the links.
A few things that consistently work:
- Short video, filmed in the moment. Behind the scenes, on the ground, the team at work.
- Faces. Your staff, your customers, you. People buy from people.
- One clear message per post. Not five.
- Native to the platform. What works on Instagram isn’t what works on LinkedIn.
Pick your platforms, don’t try to be everywhere
You don’t need to be on every platform. You need to be where your customers are, and do it well.
- Facebook and Instagram still reach the widest Irish audience, and Meta’s ad tools are hard to beat for local targeting.
- TikTok is worth it if your audience is younger and you can make video regularly.
- LinkedIn is the place for B2B, professional services and recruitment.
Two platforms done properly beat five done badly.
Make paid social pay
Paid social is where a lot of budget quietly disappears. The fixes are usually straightforward.
Track what matters. Set up conversion tracking before you spend. If you can’t see which ads bring enquiries or sales, you’re guessing.
Test creative, not just audiences. The image or video does most of the work. Try a few and back the winner.
Send people somewhere that converts. A great ad pointing at a slow, confusing website wastes the click. That’s where social and your website have to work together.
Done right, it pays. For Gourmet Food Parlour, Google Ads delivered over 1,000 conversions in the first two months, at around €1 per conversion, alongside the social programme. For Best4Travel, Google Ads, paid social and a high-converting website generate more than 30 leads a day.
Be quick and be human
Social is a conversation, not a noticeboard. When someone comments or messages, they expect an answer, and fast.
People remember who got back to them, and how quickly. That’s true for clients, and it’s just as true for your followers.
It’s also about tone. Think of the friendly business next door. Warm, helpful, a bit of personality. Nobody wants to follow a press release.
Measure what matters, monthly
Likes are nice. They’re not the point. Each month, look at:
- Reach and engagement, to see if the content is landing
- Clicks to your website
- Enquiries, bookings or sales you can trace back to social
- What it cost to get each one
Then do more of what worked and less of what didn’t. Simple, but most businesses skip it.
Where to start
- Write down what social should bring in.
- Pick two platforms and commit to them.
- Make real content, regularly.
- Put a little paid budget behind what’s already working.
- Track it, and review it every month.
Or hand it to a team that does it every day. We run social media management and paid social for Irish businesses, with content made in-house. Tell us what you’re working on, and we’ll sit down with you and work out what’s worth doing first. Get in touch.
