You should not pay an agency to handle your organic social media entirely.
This isn’t just opinion. The data is clear: generic, outsourced social posts rarely build a following and almost never drive meaningful engagement. The problem isn’t social media itself—it’s how most businesses are using it.
Here’s what actually works: spend 15 minutes a week filming simple videos of yourself talking about topics that matter to your audience. Then have an agency edit and distribute those videos across platforms. This approach delivers hundreds of times more engagement than a wall of stock photos with bland captions.
Why Generic Agency Posts Fail
Visit the social media page of any small or medium business that outsources their social media entirely. You’ll see the same pattern: generic images, templated text, and little to no engagement.
These posts fail because people don’t connect with brands—they connect with people. When content feels templated and impersonal, it blends into the feed instead of standing out.
The research backs this up. Sprout Social’s 2025 index found that originality is a top factor in getting noticed on social platforms. Using stock art “as-is” makes posts look generic and unoriginal. When content reads like it was approved by a committee, no one pays attention.
The Numbers Don’t Lie
Generic social posts aren’t just ineffective—they’re actively ignored:
- Roughly 80% of global mobile data is now spent on short-form video, not static images
- Raw, user-generated videos drive about 8.7× more engagement than over-produced clips
- ~77% of consumers engage more with content that feels genuine and relatable
- On LinkedIn, video posts average ~5.6% engagement vs ~4% for text-only posts
If no one is seeing or engaging with your posts, they aren’t doing anything for you. They aren’t increasing your brand’s visibility. And despite what some social media agencies claim, they aren’t improving your Google rankings either.
What Actually Works: Authentic Video Content
The solution isn’t more polished content or better stock photos. It’s putting a real person on camera.
Research shows 65% higher trust in posts with human elements versus polished ones. 81% of consumers say they need to trust a brand before buying. A founder or employee on camera makes the brand feel trustworthy in ways that generic posts never can.
Why People Beat Logos
Social psychologists note we process human faces for trust cues. People instinctively judge logos and people with the same criteria for warmth and competence—but faces can express emotion and intent, while static logos cannot.
This isn’t just theory. 68% of consumers feel more positive about a brand after seeing authentic stories. When your social posts share personal lessons or behind-the-scenes insights, followers emotionally invest in you and your mission.
The Right Way to Use an Agency
Here’s the model that works: you create the raw content, and the agency handles editing, captioning, and distribution.
In practice, this means someone at your company—often a founder or team member who represents the brand—regularly films quick videos or captures candid moments. The agency then chops the footage into shorts, adds subtitles and graphics, and schedules posts across multiple platforms.
One B2B team runs ~200 webinars a year and “not a single one goes to waste”: they immediately repurpose each recording into weeks of social clips, emails, and sales assets. This approach leverages your expertise (the real voice and knowledge) while outsourcing the high-volume editing work.
How Much Time Does This Actually Take?
You don’t need hours or a film crew. Top social media strategists emphasize that “you don’t need hours to see results – a few intentional minutes a day can go a long way.”
Dedicating about 15 minutes a week to record a video is typically sufficient. These weekly clips can then be edited down into dozens of social posts. Investing 3-5 hours in core content can yield 5-10 social posts—meaning just 1 hour per month of filming easily fills a content calendar.
A 15-minute recording can become:
- 30-second Instagram Reels
- 1-minute TikToks
- Story clips for Instagram or Facebook
- Quote graphics for LinkedIn
- Even blog post content
The key is consistency and authenticity, not production value.
What About SEO Benefits?
Let’s address a common myth: filling social channels with generic posts won’t improve your Google ranking.
Google has explicitly stated that social signals and generic posts have no direct impact on SEO. Merely posting stocky content to look active on social won’t move your search results.
Social media can indirectly help by generating traffic or backlinks if content truly engages followers, but this depends on meaningful content—not checkbox social updates. Any agency promise that bland social posts will “skyrocket your Google rank” is unfounded.
Genuine social engagement can indirectly help SEO through increased brand awareness, traffic, or links—but only if the content is actually interesting. Cookie-cutter posts do little beyond cluttering your profiles.
How to Get Started
If you’re currently paying an agency to create generic posts from scratch, here’s how to shift your strategy:
- Start filming: Take 15-20 minutes per week to record yourself talking about something relevant—a tip, a story, a product feature, a question from customers. Use your smartphone. No special equipment needed.
- Focus on value: Talk about things that matter to your audience. Answer common questions. Share insights from your experience. Be genuine.
- Hand it off: Give the raw footage to your agency or video editor. They can trim highlights, add branding, subtitles, and repurpose it across platforms (Reels, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube Shorts, etc.).
- Stay consistent: One video per week gives you enough content for 10-20 social posts when properly repurposed.
This keeps the content authentic (your voice) while letting the agency handle the tedious editing and volume. It’s the best of both worlds.
The Bottom Line
Stop paying agencies to create generic social content that no one engages with. People connect with people, not brands. The businesses winning on social media right now are the ones putting real faces and real voices in front of their audience.
Spend 15 minutes a week filming authentic content. Let your agency handle the editing and distribution. You’ll see engagement that actually matters—and you’ll stop throwing money at posts that disappear into the void.
If you need help implementing this strategy or want to see how we handle video repurposing for our clients, reach out to TJ Digital. We’ll show you exactly how to turn one weekly video into a month’s worth of high-performing social content.