Reach first. Followers follow.
We make the posts, carousels and short videos a brand publishes every week, and we measure reach rather than followers, because reach is what a stranger sees and followers are who already knew you. The Poster Project reached 199,392 accounts in ninety days, up 174.5%, from an account with 811 followers at the time, and 80% of its 2.2M views were organic.
In detail
What does a social media content agency do each month?
Writes the month's list of ideas, makes the content, posts it, reads what travelled, and writes the next list from what it learned. On Standard that is eight short videos, six carousels and four static posters a month, with the captions, the posting and the first hour of replies. The part that matters is the reading: which post reached people who had never seen the account, and why. Everything else is production.
Why reach comes before followers
A follower count is a record of the past. Reach is a measure of this week. An account with 811 followers at the time reached 199,392 people in ninety days because the content was built to be shown to strangers, which on every platform now means it was built to be watched to the end, saved, or sent. The Poster Project's feed did that without an audience to start from, and the audience came after.
Followers arrive as a consequence of reach, not a cause of it. A brand that buys followers has bought a number that makes its reach look worse. We never report follower growth as a result in itself; we report who saw the work and what they did next.
How we build a month of content
- 01
Read what already travels
Before we make anything, we read the account and its category: which posts reached beyond the followers, which formats held attention, where the saves came from. The answer is usually surprising and always cheaper than guessing.
- 02
Write the list
One line per post for the month. A carousel that teaches one thing, a video that shows one object, a poster that says one sentence. If a line is dull, it is cut before it costs a shoot.
- 03
Make it in one look
Every post in the month shares a type, a colour and a rhythm, so the fourth post is recognised from the third. Recognition is the only brand a feed allows.
- 04
Post, then pay where it pays
Everything goes out organic first. A post that travels on its own gets a small paid push to people like the ones who shared it. A post that did not travel is not rescued with money.
- 05
Report the reach
One page a month: accounts reached, how many were new, what they did, and what the next month changes because of it.
Organic first, paid where it pays
| Organic | Paid | |
|---|---|---|
| What it costs | Production and attention | Production, attention and spend |
| What it tells you | Whether the idea is good | Whether the idea is good at scale |
| When we use it | Every post, first | On posts that already travelled, or to a list that already bought |
| The failure it hides | Nothing; a dull post simply dies | A dull post can look alive for exactly as long as the budget lasts |
| The proof | 80% of 2.2M views, The Poster Project | $0.25 per landing-page view for BamBam, early freelance work before Drifted had a name |
Is organic social still worth doing for a brand?
Yes, with a condition: the content has to be made for strangers. The feeds now show posts to people who do not follow the account, on the strength of how the first viewers behaved. That is the opportunity, and it is also why the old habit of posting a product photo three times a week does nothing. Organic is worth doing when every post is built to be watched, saved or shared by someone with no reason to care about you yet. If that is not the brief, the money is better spent on ads.
What we do not count as a result
- Followers, on their own.
- Likes from people who already follow you.
- A post that went viral in a country you do not sell to.
- Impressions bought with a budget and reported as reach.
- Any number without the one next to it that says what the reach did for the business.
The questions that follow.
Which platforms do you work on?
Instagram and TikTok first, because that is where short visual content travels. LinkedIn for founders who sell to other businesses. We will not spread one month of content thinly across six platforms.
Do you write the captions and reply to comments?
Yes. Captions are written with the post, and the first hour of replies is part of posting, because the platforms read early replies as a signal.
How much content does a brand need a month?
Fewer, better posts beat a daily grind. Starter is four short videos and three carousels a month; Standard is eight and six, plus four posters. Both are enough to learn from.
Will you run ads behind the posts?
A small paid push on posts that already travelled, yes. Full paid media is a different discipline and is priced separately under Tailored.
What do you need from me?
Access to the accounts, a few hours in month one to tell us what you know about your buyer, and a yes or no on the monthly list within a few days.
The price is published.
Where this leads.
No deck. No discovery theatre. One metric, one date, in the contract.