If you’re a brand with an array of attractive consumer goods, coming up with strategy and content ideas for social media can be pretty easy.

What about if you’re a brand with not-so-attractive products? You want to be on social. You want to grow your audience and engage with them. But why would they follow you?

Here are some of our tips:

Be more than the product

So you’re trying to sell energy (or something equally as boring). How’s that going to get anyone’s attention on social media? One tactic is to think of yourself as more than the product. Your ultimate goal is to get people to buy your product, but how you get there is the key part.

Social media is about lifestyle. People respond to things that appeal to their nature. So it’s time to broaden your vision and think about where your product fits in. For example, if you supply parts for cars, you are part of the automotive industry. Start sharing pictures of cars that feature your products. All of a sudden you’re opening yourself up to a whole new audience.

Become the go-to place for industry news

Now that you’ve started thinking outside of the company, why not show that you know what you’re talking about? By providing the latest news and updates on your industry, you can become a go-to resource for people. A great way of doing this is by maintaining a blog. Here you can provide the latest news, as well as give your opinion on the latest happenings.

You can then re-post this on your social media channels, and ask your audience for their views. This is a great way to encourage engagement, and shows you as a brand that not only knows what it’s talking about, but one that cares for its audience’s opinion too.

A great example of a brand who does all of this successfully is General Electric.

They don’t have the most appealing of product ranges. You would think of their target audience as very niche. However, they have amassed over 2.8 million followers across their main Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube channels.

Their mix of quality photography, videos, infographics and questions relating to a wide range of topics has seen them create a social media presence that is leading the way amongst “boring” brands.

We’ve given you a few tips on how to get started, why not give it a go? You might not have the marketing budget of General Electric, but you can still get some fantastic results just by using your imagination!