[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/aokmarketing.com\/how-to-help-boring-products-succeed-in-social-media\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/aokmarketing.com\/how-to-help-boring-products-succeed-in-social-media\/","headline":"How to Help Boring Products Succeed on Social Media","name":"How to Help Boring Products Succeed on Social Media","description":"Some products seem made for social media. Food looks great on Instagram, travel creates endless video opportunities, and fashion or technology can quickly become part of trends on TikTok and YouTube. Then there are products such as insurance, office supplies, cleaning products, accounting services, industrial equipment, and other everyday essentials that do not immediately seem &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/aokmarketing.com\/how-to-help-boring-products-succeed-in-social-media\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading <span class=\"screen-reader-text\">How to Help Boring Products Succeed on Social Media<\/span><\/a>","datePublished":"2014-08-19","dateModified":"2026-08-11","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/aokmarketing.com\/author\/jana-legaspi\/#Person","name":"Jana Legaspi","url":"https:\/\/aokmarketing.com\/author\/jana-legaspi\/","identifier":8,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba3039ce7c5eedb92f315518b69aea1d90d5c2076ce893d078c6f29cf6ddd032?s=96&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ba3039ce7c5eedb92f315518b69aea1d90d5c2076ce893d078c6f29cf6ddd032?s=96&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"AOK Marketing","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/aokmarketing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/AOK-Marketing-Logo.png","url":"https:\/\/aokmarketing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/AOK-Marketing-Logo.png","width":126,"height":53}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/aokmarketing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/non-sexy-businesses_social-media_infographic.jpg","url":"https:\/\/aokmarketing.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/08\/non-sexy-businesses_social-media_infographic.jpg","height":"2674","width":"600"},"url":"https:\/\/aokmarketing.com\/how-to-help-boring-products-succeed-in-social-media\/","commentCount":"1","about":["Blogging","Cheat Sheets","Content Marketing","Online Marketing Essentials","Social Media","Tips &amp; Tricks","Tools"],"wordCount":2716,"keywords":["Social Media"],"articleBody":"Some products seem made for social media. Food looks great on Instagram, travel creates endless video opportunities, and fashion or technology can quickly become part of trends on TikTok and YouTube. Then there are products such as insurance, office supplies, cleaning products, accounting services, industrial equipment, and other everyday essentials that do not immediately seem exciting enough to stop someone from scrolling.That can make social media marketing feel difficult, but the product itself is rarely the real problem. A business does not need to sell something glamorous to create interesting content. It needs to understand what its customers care about and find a more engaging way to connect the product with those interests, frustrations, questions, or everyday experiences.The original infographic accompanying this article highlighted brands including Staples, Sharpie, Allstate, Bodyform, Tampax, and Dockers. While some of the campaigns shown are historical examples, they still demonstrate an important marketing principle: ordinary products can generate attention when the creative idea is stronger than the product pitch.For businesses struggling to market products that are useful rather than exciting, the answer is not to pretend the product is something it is not. A better approach is to build a social media strategy around people, situations, stories, and outcomes that make the product relevant.Start With What the Customer Actually Cares AboutOne of the easiest ways to make social media content feel boring is to talk about the product in every post. A company may understand why its product features are important, but customers usually think about those features in a very different way.Someone buying insurance is probably not excited about the paperwork behind a policy. They care about protecting their home, car, family, or business when something goes wrong. A person buying cleaning products is thinking about getting rid of a stubborn stain or making a home easier to maintain. Someone purchasing office supplies may care more about staying organized and productive than the technical details of a stapler or notebook.This shift from the product to the outcome creates much more room for creative content. Instead of repeatedly explaining what a product is, a brand can talk about the problem it solves, the situations in which people use it, the mistakes customers make, and the difference the right solution can create.This same principle is one reason content marketing is important for brands. Useful content attracts attention because it starts with the audience rather than the sales message. Social media works in much the same way.Give an Ordinary Product Some PersonalityA product may be ordinary, but the brand behind it does not have to sound ordinary.Humor has often helped companies turn everyday categories into memorable social media campaigns. The infographic provides several historical examples of brands using humor, relatable situations, and unconventional creative ideas instead of relying entirely on straightforward product promotion.That does not mean every company suddenly needs to start making jokes. Forced humor can be just as awkward as overly promotional content. The right personality depends on the audience and the type of business.An office supply brand, for example, has plenty of opportunities to talk about meetings, deadlines, messy desks, printers, workplace habits, and the small frustrations almost every employee recognizes. An accounting company can build content around tax-season stress or common bookkeeping mistakes. A software company can joke about repetitive tasks that its customers deal with every week.The best humor usually comes from understanding the audience well enough to recognize situations they immediately relate to. When someone sees a post and thinks, \u201cThat is exactly what happens to me,\u201d the brand has created a connection without having to push the product into every sentence.Make Useful Information More InterestingNot every social media post needs to be funny. For many businesses, education is actually the strongest source of content.Customers already have questions about your product, service, or industry, and those questions can become a continuous source of social media ideas. Rather than inventing topics simply to fill a posting calendar, look at the questions people ask your sales team, customer service staff, Google, or in comments and messages.A cleaning company might explain why certain stains become harder to remove over time. An insurance provider could clarify a commonly misunderstood coverage term. An office equipment company might share ways to organize a more productive workspace. A B2B software company could demonstrate how to reduce a task that normally takes an hour to a few minutes.This type of content works because it is useful before it is promotional. It also gives businesses more opportunities to connect their social media activity with search marketing and website content. A short Instagram Reel or TikTok video can introduce a question, while a detailed article on the website can provide the complete answer.When a business already has useful articles, guides, videos, and FAQs, it does not need to start from zero every time it posts. Good ideas can be adapted into different formats and distributed across several channels, allowing one strong topic to support a much wider marketing strategy.Show the People and Stories Behind the ProductWhen a product itself does not provide much visual interest, people usually do.Customers often want to know who they are buying from, particularly when trust, expertise, or service is part of the decision. Introducing employees, specialists, technicians, designers, customer service teams, or company leaders can give an otherwise practical business a much more human presence.This does not require highly produced videos. A technician explaining a common customer problem can be more valuable than a polished advertisement. A team member showing how something is made, tested, repaired, packaged, or delivered gives people a reason to look beyond the finished product.Behind-the-scenes content can be especially effective for businesses whose customers rarely see the work involved in delivering the final service. Manufacturing, logistics, quality control, product testing, design, installation, and customer support all contain stories that may be routine to the company but interesting to an outsider.Customer stories can play a similar role. Instead of saying that a product is useful, show how somebody actually uses it. This changes the conversation from \u201cHere is what we sell\u201d to \u201cHere is how this helped someone,\u201d which naturally feels more credible and engaging.Let Customers Help Create the ContentBrands do not always need to be the only ones telling their story. User-generated content, including customer photos, reviews, videos, testimonials, demonstrations, and real-world examples, can make an ordinary product far more relatable.A desk organization brand could invite customers to share workspace transformations. A cleaning product company could feature before-and-after results. A software business could highlight how customers have incorporated the platform into their everyday workflow. Even professional service companies can use testimonials, client stories, or community contributions when appropriate permissions are in place.This kind of content does more than fill a social media calendar. It provides social proof because potential customers can see the product or service in a real situation rather than only through brand-created advertising.For businesses that want to develop this approach further, our guide to user-generated content and how brands can use it explains how customer participation can become part of a wider content strategy.The important point is to make participation easy. Customers are more likely to contribute when the request is simple and there is a clear reason to join in, whether that is recognition, entertainment, community participation, or the opportunity to share something they are proud of.Work With Creators Who Already Understand Your AudienceInfluencer marketing is sometimes associated with fashion, beauty, travel, and lifestyle brands, but the same idea can work in much less glamorous industries. The key is choosing creators because of audience relevance rather than follower count.A productivity creator may be a natural match for office products. A DIY creator could make sense for tools or home maintenance products. A professional working in finance or business may be more useful to a B2B company than a general lifestyle influencer with a much larger following.This is where micro-influencers can become particularly valuable. Smaller creators often build communities around specific interests, professions, or problems, making their audiences more focused.Our article on why businesses should consider working with micro-influencers explores this in more detail. The basic idea is simple: the right audience matters more than the biggest audience.A creator partnership should still feel natural. If the audience cannot understand why that person is talking about the product, the promotion can feel forced. The best collaborations give creators enough freedom to connect the product with the type of content their followers already expect from them.Stop Treating Every Post Like an AdvertisementOne of the fastest ways to make an ordinary product feel even less interesting is to turn every social media post into an offer.Repeated messages about discounts, features, sales, and calls to \u201cbuy now\u201d give people very little reason to follow a brand between purchases. Promotional posts have their place, but they work better when they sit alongside content that informs, entertains, helps, or involves the audience.Think of the social media account as an ongoing relationship rather than a collection of advertisements. A potential customer may see several posts before ever visiting the website. During that time, the content is shaping how they perceive the brand.A useful post can demonstrate expertise. A customer story can build trust. A funny post can make the business memorable. A behind-the-scenes video can make the brand feel more human. When a promotional post eventually appears, the audience already has some context for who the company is and why it may be worth considering.If a business has fallen into the habit of publishing repetitive promotional posts, it may be worth asking whether the social media presence needs a makeover rather than simply increasing posting frequency.Use Each Social Platform for What It Does BestAnother common mistake is creating one piece of content and publishing exactly the same version on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, and YouTube.Repurposing content is useful, but repurposing is not the same as copying. People behave differently across platforms, and the format should reflect that.A detailed business insight that feels natural on LinkedIn may need to become a much shorter, visually immediate idea for Instagram. A demonstration could work as a short TikTok or Instagram Reel, while YouTube may provide room for a deeper explanation. Facebook can support community discussion, customer stories, and useful updates depending on the audience.The underlying message can remain consistent while the presentation changes. This allows the business to get more value from its ideas without making every social account look automated or repetitive.It also means you do not need dozens of completely unrelated ideas every month. One strong customer question might become a website article, a short video, an Instagram carousel, a LinkedIn discussion, and an email. The idea stays connected, but each version is built for the way people consume content in that particular environment.Measure Whether People Actually CareA successful social media strategy should eventually answer a simple question: is this activity helping the business?Follower counts and likes can provide some indication of reach, but they should not be considered in isolation. A smaller post that brings relevant visitors to a service page may be more valuable than a viral post seen by people who will never become customers.Pay attention to the way people respond. Are they saving educational posts? Are useful videos being shared? Are people clicking through to the website, asking questions, sending direct messages, joining an email list, requesting information, or eventually converting?The right measurement depends on the purpose of the content. A brand-awareness campaign should not be evaluated in exactly the same way as a campaign intended to generate leads. What matters is having a reason for creating the content and knowing what evidence would indicate that it is working.Those insights can then influence future content. If customer questions consistently outperform generic company updates, produce more of them. If short demonstrations generate better engagement than polished promotional graphics, that tells you something important about what the audience wants.A \u201cBoring\u201d Product Is Often a Creative OpportunityCalling a product boring can sometimes make marketers think they are starting with a disadvantage. In reality, it can force a business to create better marketing because it cannot depend on the product&#8217;s appearance alone.Brands such as Staples, Sharpie, Allstate, Bodyform, Tampax, and Dockers have all appeared in discussions about marketing everyday products because they looked beyond the obvious sales message. The lesson is not to copy old campaigns. It is to recognize that the subject surrounding a product is usually much bigger than the product itself.A stapler can lead to conversations about work. Insurance can lead to conversations about risk and everyday life. Cleaning products connect with homes, routines, families, organization, and satisfaction. Business software connects with time, frustration, productivity, and growth.Once marketers find that broader connection, content becomes much easier to create.The most effective social media marketing for boring products does not try desperately to convince people that every product is exciting. It makes the brand interesting by being useful, relatable, creative, and human.When the focus shifts from constant promotion to customer experiences, questions, personalities, stories, and outcomes, even the most everyday business can give people a genuine reason to stop scrolling and pay attention.Final ThoughtsA product does not have to be exciting on its own to perform well on social media. What matters more is how the brand connects that product to real customer needs, everyday situations, useful information, and a recognizable personality.For businesses selling ordinary, technical, or practical products, the strongest social media content often comes from stepping away from constant promotion. Educational posts, customer stories, behind-the-scenes content, humor, user-generated content, and relevant creator partnerships can make the brand feel more interesting without forcing the product to be something it is not.The goal is to create content people actually want to engage with. When a brand understands its audience, adapts content to the right platform, and measures what produces meaningful responses, even a so-called \u201cboring\u201d product can build visibility, trust, and stronger customer relationships over time.Frequently Asked Questions1. How do you market a boring product on social media?To market a boring product on social media, focus less on the product itself and more on the problems it solves, the people who use it, and the situations surrounding it. Educational content, relatable humor, customer stories, demonstrations, behind-the-scenes posts, and user-generated content can all make an everyday product more interesting and relevant.2. What type of social media content works best for boring products?The best content usually combines usefulness with personality. How-to posts, short demonstrations, FAQs, common mistakes, customer stories, employee insights, before-and-after examples, and relatable industry humor can all perform well. The right format depends on the audience and the platform, so content should be adapted for channels such as Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Facebook.3. Can a boring product go viral on social media?Yes, but virality should not be the main goal. An ordinary product can attract significant attention when the content is creative, funny, useful, timely, or highly relatable. However, a smaller post that reaches the right audience and generates website visits, inquiries, or sales can be more valuable than a viral post that attracts people with no interest in the business.4. How can brands make everyday products more engaging online?Brands can make everyday products more engaging by building content around customer experiences rather than constant product promotion. Showing how the product solves a real problem, featuring customers and employees, sharing useful advice, using an appropriate brand voice, and encouraging participation can make practical products feel much more relevant and memorable.5. Which social media platforms are best for ordinary or practical products?There is no single best platform for every product. Instagram and TikTok can work well for visual demonstrations and short-form video, LinkedIn is useful for B2B expertise and professional content, YouTube supports deeper education and demonstrations, while Facebook can be effective for community-focused content and customer interaction. The best platform is the one where your target audience is already active.Source: www.prdaily.eu"},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"How to Help Boring Products Succeed on Social Media","item":"https:\/\/aokmarketing.com\/how-to-help-boring-products-succeed-in-social-media\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]