Small business owners often grapple with limited time and resources as they grow. The 80/20 rule provides a simple solution: prioritize delivering value to your audience before shifting focus to promoting your products.
Originating from the Pareto Principle—the idea that roughly 80% of outcomes come from 20% of causes—this approach suggests that, in social media, 80% of your posts should educate, entertain, inspire, or inform your audience, while only 20% should promote your products or services.
Why It Matters for Small Businesses
Prioritizing your audience’s needs helps you build trust with them and reduce unnecessary noise in your communication. Audiences are more likely to engage with and share content that helps them, which fuels organic reach and positions your brand as a trusted authority rather than a nonstop seller.
Globally, more than 5.2 billion people have social media identities, and average daily time on platforms is measured in hours—meaning there’s real opportunity to earn attention if you deliver value. By focusing on providing valuable information to your audience, you can stand out from the constant barrage of promotional content they come across every day.
Doing this typically leads to increased brand loyalty and customer retention, as well as higher conversion rates. With the vast number of social media users worldwide and the amount of time they spend online, the potential for your business to succeed through meaningful engagement is significant.
The 80%: Value-Driven Content
Social media is for engaging with your audience and building your brand community, not just sharing messages. That’s why you’ll want to prioritize value-driven content in your social media strategy to truly make an impact. Here are examples to include in your content plan:
- Educational: tutorials, how-to posts, quick tips that solve real customer problems.
- Inspirational: customer success stories, small wins, motivational micro-stories.
- Entertaining: light memes, behind-the-scenes glimpses, short reels that show personality.
- Informational: market trends, industry updates, practical checklists.
- User-Generated Content: reviews, testimonials, community highlights that amplify social proof.
Pro Tip: Use content formats that suit each platform’s behaviour, like short videos on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok, how-to carousels on Instagram, and value-driven posts on LinkedIn. You’ll also want to keep in mind that most social media activity (approximately 98%) occurs on mobile devices.
The 20%: Promotional Content (Selling Without Overwhelming)
Absolutely no one wants to be bombarded with constant sales pitches. This is a key reason why it’s essential to keep it to a minimum, so it makes up only about 20% of your overall social media strategy. As we have mentioned before, social media is all about building relationships and providing value to your followers.
The following are promotional content suggestions to effectively build a strong online presence and connect with your audience in a meaningful way:
- Product announcements: new launches and feature highlights.
- Sales & promotions: time-limited offers and exclusive deals.
- Calls-to-action: event sign-ups, downloads, and consultations.
Pro tip: Strategically plan and limit promotional content. Make every promotional post useful: tie the offer to a pain point you’ve already addressed in your value content, so the call-to-action feels earned.
Applying the 80/20 Rule in Practice
By following this rule, you can ensure that your audience stays engaged and interested in what you have to offer, leading to increased brand loyalty and ultimately, more sales. Remember, it’s all about providing genuine value and creating a meaningful connection with your followers.
Here are suggestions for identifying which content is responsible for most of your results, and how to use that information:
- Audit past posts. Tag content by type to figure out which posts generate the most engagement and conversions.
- Group content types. Build a content library with categories (educational, entertaining, promotional, user-generated content).
- Double down on what works. Repurpose high-performing formats and themes into repeatable templates.
- Track the right metrics. Engagement and shares measure trust; conversions measure commercial impact. Use both to refine the 80/20 split.
Benefits for small business owners:
Adhering to the 80/20 rule simplifies your strategy, alleviates audience fatigue, and fosters a community-focused brand image. This approach allows you to focus your creative efforts on valuable content, enhancing the effectiveness of your promotional activities. With social media audiences growing each year and attention stretched across platforms, quality and relevance win over frequency.
How MYOB can help:
MYOB assists small business owners by developing value-oriented content that constitutes 80% of their messaging, while integrating timely promotional offers for the remaining 20% so that these promotions appear both organic and compelling.
We offer tailored content planning, innovative creative design, and strategic social media services that go beyond maintaining a consistent feed—they help your business attract new followers, boost customer engagement, and achieve measurable growth aligned with your goals.
Conclusion
The 80/20 Rule is less a strict quota and more a mindset shift from “selling first” to “serving first.” For small business owners seeking sustainable growth, following the 80/20 Rule is the most straightforward path to gaining attention, building loyalty, and increasing conversions without overwhelming your audience or team. Ready to reframe your social media around value and see what that balance can do for your bottom line? Let’s chat.