How We Generate Millions of Organic Social Media Views – And How Your Business Can Too

Last week, I shared a statistic that I was incredibly proud of. Across the Total Guide to social media channels, we reached almost 7 million people organically in just three months.

No huge paid advertising campaign. No buying followers. Organic reach generated by our team creating content that people genuinely want to consume.

After sharing the figures, I had several clients and business contacts say the same thing to me:

“That’s amazing… but how are you actually doing it?”

And perhaps more importantly:

“What does that mean for my business?”

Well, since sharing that post, we’ve had a pretty incredible example of our strategy in action.

From an idea to over 3 million organic views - on just one post!

Ahead of the solar eclipse, Layla, our Social Media Manager here in Dorset, spotted an opportunity to create some timely content for our local audience.

The result?

More than 3 million organic views across Instagram and TikTok in around 24 hours.

One piece of content.
No paid advertising.
No boosted post.

Just a great idea, delivered to the right audience at exactly the right time.

Of course, not every post we create gets two million views – nor should that necessarily be the goal.

But there are some very clear principles behind the reach we're generating across Total Guide to, and they're principles that businesses in almost any sector can apply to their own social media.

Here's what we're doing.

1. We REALLY understand our audience

Good social media starts with understanding who you're talking to.

For Total Guide to, we're constantly thinking about what people living in and visiting our areas actually want to know.

• What's happening this weekend?
• Where should they eat?
• What's opening?
• What's changing locally?
• Where can they take the kids?
• What is everybody talking about today?

But this applies whether you're a restaurant, solicitor, estate agent, accountant, hotel, attraction, recruitment company or construction business.

Stop thinking first about what your business wants to say and start thinking about what your audience wants to know.

• An accountant might explain a tax change that people are confused about.
• An estate agent might explain what's really happening to house prices locally.
• A restaurant might reveal how its most popular dish is made.
• A solicitor might answer a legal question they're asked every week.
• A hotel might share five things visitors don't know about its location.

Your expertise is content. Your customers' questions are content. Your local knowledge is content.

You just need to start looking at it that way.

2. We use data – not just gut instinct

We know our audience well, but we don't assume we know everything about them.

We let the data tell us.

We're constantly looking at what's performing.

• What are people watching?
• What are they sharing?
• What are they saving?
• What are they commenting on?
• What subjects repeatedly perform well?
• What hooks stop people scrolling?
• What didn't work?

And then we use those insights to inform what we create next.

Businesses can do exactly the same thing.

Don't simply post something and forget about it.

Look at what your audience is telling you through their behaviour.

• If one subject consistently gets twice as many shares as everything else, explore it further.
• If people drop out of your videos within the first few seconds, change your opening.
• If a particular format performs well, ask yourself why – and test it again.

Your social media insights are effectively free market research from your customers. Use them.

3. We constantly share ideas as a team

Some of our best-performing content starts with a conversation.

Someone in the team spots something and says:

• “Have you seen this?”
• “Everyone seems to be talking about this.”
• “Could we do something with this?”

That culture is incredibly important.

Social media shouldn't exist in a silo.

• Your receptionist knows what customers ask every day.
• Your sales team knows what objections prospective customers have.
• Your customer service team knows what people struggle with.
• Your MD knows what's changing in the industry.
• Your younger team members might spot a TikTok trend before anyone else.

Get your team involved.

Create somewhere to share ideas and encourage people to contribute when they spot something interesting.

You might be surprised where your next brilliant piece of content comes from.

4. We move quickly

The solar eclipse post is a perfect example of why timing matters.

Social media moves incredibly quickly.

If something is being talked about today, creating content about it two weeks later after three meetings and six rounds of approval probably isn't going to have the same impact.

Obviously businesses need appropriate checks and controls, particularly in regulated industries.

But where you can, give your social media team the freedom to react.

Look at:

• Local news and events
• Industry developments
• Seasonal moments
• Frequently searched questions
• Trending topics
• Changes affecting your customers

Conversations happening in your community

Then ask:

“Can our business add something useful to this conversation?”

If the answer is yes, don't wait too long.

5. We create content people want to SHARE

This is a big one.

Lots of businesses still use social media as a digital noticeboard.

• Here's our latest offer.
• Here's our new product.
• Here's a photo of our team.
• Book now.

There's absolutely a place for promotional content.

But if you want organic reach, you need to give the algorithms a reason to distribute your content further.

Before publishing, ask:

• Would I send this to somebody?
• Would somebody tag their partner?
• Would they save it for later?
• Would they send it to their WhatsApp group?
• Would they comment because they have an opinion?
• Would they stop scrolling because they genuinely want to know the answer?

The more people interact with great content, the greater the opportunity for that content to travel beyond your existing followers.

6. We're prepared to experiment – and prepared to fail

This might be one of the most important things we do.

Not everything we create works.

And we're absolutely fine with that.

We try things.

• Different hooks.
• Different video styles.
• Different subjects.
• Different formats.
• Different ways of telling stories.
• Some work brilliantly.

Others don't.

But every time something doesn't work, we've learnt something about our audience.

I think businesses sometimes become paralysed by social media because they're worried about getting it wrong.

• What if nobody likes it?
• What if it doesn't get many views?
• What if we try a Reel and it flops?

My advice?

Try it.

Organic social media gives you an incredible testing ground.

The downside of trying a new piece of organic content is relatively small.

But the potential upside can be enormous.

In our case, one idea this week generated more than two million views.

We couldn't discover those opportunities if we weren't prepared to experiment.

7. We don't try to make every post go viral

This might sound strange coming immediately after talking about millions of views.

But it's really important.

Virality isn't necessarily the goal.

If you're a Dorset-based business that needs 20 new customers, would you rather have a million views from random people around the world or 5,000 views from people who genuinely fit your target market?

I'd take the latter.

A post generating ten high-quality enquiries could be far more commercially valuable than a Reel generating hundreds of thousands of passive views.

That's why businesses need to decide what they're actually trying to achieve.

Is it:

• Reach?
• Brand awareness?
• Followers?
• Website traffic?
• Enquiries?
• Bookings?
• Ticket sales?
• Recruitment?
• Sales?

Once you know the objective, you can build your social strategy around it.

What does our reach mean for businesses?

This is the question I've been asked most since sharing our figures.

There are essentially two ways businesses can benefit from what we've built.

1. Tap into the Total Guide to audience

We've spent years building engaged audiences across our Total Guide to channels.

These are people actively looking for recommendations, things to do, places to visit, businesses to discover and information about what's happening in their area.

Rather than having to build that audience from scratch, businesses can work with us to get in front of the audiences we've already created.

That could include sponsored content, social media exposure, features, reviews, competitions, video content, influencer activity and wider digital campaigns.

And because our team creates content every day, we're not simply putting an advert in front of people.

We're thinking about how to turn your business into content our audience actually wants to engage with.

2. Let us build your social media strategy and audience

Alternatively, we can take the same thinking we're using to generate this reach and apply it to your business's own social media channels.

Our marketing team can help you understand:

• Who is your audience?
• What do they care about?
• What should you be talking about?
• Which platforms should you prioritise?
• What type of content should you create?
• How often should you post?
• What does the data tell us?

And, most importantly, how is social media going to support your actual business objectives?

We can create a social media strategy for your team to implement, or we can manage your social media for you – from ideas and content creation through to posting, optimisation, analysis and ongoing strategy.

You don't need two million views

The numbers we've achieved recently are fantastic, and I'm incredibly proud of our team.

But I don't want businesses reading this and thinking successful social media means every Reel needs a million views.

It doesn't.

• Successful social media is social media that helps achieve your business goals.
• Sometimes that means enormous reach.
• Sometimes it means building trust.
• Sometimes it's getting your brand seen consistently by the right local audience.

And sometimes it's one person seeing one piece of content and thinking:

“They're exactly the company I need to speak to.”

The principles remain the same.

Understand your audience.

Use your data.

Create things people genuinely care about.

• Share ideas.
• Move quickly.
• Experiment.
• Don't be frightened to fail.

And keep learning from what your audience tells you.

Because you don't necessarily need millions of views.

You need the right content, reaching the right people, at the right time.

Want to put this into practice for your business?

If you'd like to explore how your business can benefit from what we're doing, I'd love to have a conversation.

We can help you get exposure through Total Guide to and put your business in front of the audiences we've already built.

We can develop a social media strategy for your business and give your team a clear plan for growing your presence.

Or our marketing team can take social media off your hands and manage your channels for you, using the same audience-first, creative and data-led thinking we use across our own brands.

If you'd like to find out which option would work best for your business, get in touch with me, Liz Hutchings, and let's have a chat.

FAQs

How can a business increase its organic social media reach?

Focus on creating content your audience genuinely finds useful, interesting or shareable. Understand what your customers care about, analyse what performs well, experiment with different formats and respond quickly to relevant trends and conversations.

Do businesses need to post every day to grow on social media?

Not necessarily. Consistency is important, but quality and relevance matter more than simply posting for the sake of it. A strong social media strategy should determine how often you post based on your audience, platforms, resources and business goals.

What type of social media content gets the most engagement?

Content that answers questions, provides useful information, entertains, starts conversations or gives people a reason to share or save it tends to perform well. The best approach is to use your own social media insights to understand what resonates with your specific audience.

Does every business need viral social media content?

No. Viral reach can be valuable for awareness, but it isn't always the best measure of success. A smaller number of highly relevant views that generate enquiries, bookings or sales can be much more valuable than millions of views from the wrong audience.

How do you know if a social media strategy is working?

Start by defining what you want social media to achieve. Depending on your goals, you might measure reach, engagement, followers, website traffic, enquiries, bookings, ticket sales or direct sales.

Should businesses follow social media trends?

Trends can provide excellent opportunities, but businesses should only use them when they are relevant to their audience and brand. The key is being able to react quickly and add something useful or interesting to the conversation.

Can Total Marketing manage social media for my business?

Yes. The team can develop a social media strategy for businesses to implement themselves or manage the entire process, including ideas, content creation, posting, optimisation, analysis and ongoing strategy.

Author Bio

Liz Hutchings is the Founder and Managing Director of Total Guide to, which she launched in 2012 with a vision to create trusted local digital guides connecting people with the best businesses, events and experiences in their area.

Since then, Total Guide to has grown into a network of regional platforms, alongside the expansion of Total Marketing and Total Business Network. Liz has extensive experience in digital marketing, social media, business growth and building highly engaged local audiences.

Passionate about helping businesses get noticed online, Liz combines years of hands-on marketing experience with an audience-first approach to creating content that delivers meaningful results.