Let’s be real for a second. Your side hustle won’t gain traction if you don’t share it with the world.
The concept of sharing is so simple – if you don’t tell anyone about your ideas, they exist in a vacuum and won’t develop into anything of note.
But just because it’s simple doesn’t mean it’s easy.
Sharing a new product, a website, a blog post, or even just a Tweet (an X now?) can be daunting to start with. You’re putting your ideas out into the big bad world where someone might shut them down. Shatter your dreams.
For years, I kept my ideas inside. They bubbled away, and many disappeared. Because I was scared.
After decades of deliberation, I finally hit publish on a blog post. An X (tweet). An email.
You know what? It wasn’t perfect. In fact, if I looked back on it now, I’d probably cringe. But it also wasn’t as frightening as I’d imagined.
People responded positively. They supported the new journey I was on and gave me energy and momentum to continue forward.
What’s stopping you from sharing your side hustle with the world?
If you’ve found reason after reason for NOT starting… for NOT taking a leap…
It’s time to leave those excuses at the door.
It’s time to SHARE your side hustle!
To help you out, we’ve collated the best stats and insights from the world of social media. These are the trending tactics that are working right now.
The info below won’t form your entire social strategy, but it will give you a leg up on the competition.
What you can expect this week
- Trends. If you want to know which social media platforms you should share your side hustle on, we’ve got the data to help you.
- Strategies. We analyze the side hustle strategies working on various social platforms, including user-generated content (UGC), long-form posts, Instagram carousels, Pinterest post layouts, and Idea Pins.
- Tool of the Week. This is where we take a look at a service that can help you increase your sharing potential.
So, grab yourself a drink and a snack or two, and let’s get hustling!
Trends
Having the intention to share your side hustle with the world is one thing, but knowing how to prioritize is hard. Hint: You don’t want to be everywhere… at least not to start with.
Browse these social media usage, engagement, and positioning stats to help you determine where you’ll get the best bang for your buck. Think about your ideal customer and where they spend most of their time online.
Usage
While it may be tempting to share your passion project with the world on every possible social network, it may not be the best use of your time or money.
Yes, some newer platforms such as TikTok are growing rapidly, but if your audience isn’t on them then what’s the point?
You also can’t underestimate the staying power of a platform such as Facebook and its sheer reach.
All we’re saying is – don’t make assumptions about where your customers are or which platform is best suited to your business. Look at the figures!

The number of active users (in millions) by social media sites.



Favorite social media platforms by age.
Engagement
It’s not all about how many users are active on a social platform. Engagement levels are super important to keep up to date with.
For example, you may reach more people in your target audience on Facebook, but perhaps TikTok or Instagram have better per-post engagement rates. As in, more people actually stop and look at your brand.
Check out the data below to compare engagement rates on Facebook vs Instagram as well as see which industries get the most love. If you haven’t chosen a niche yet, this could be valuable information!

A comparison between Facebook and Instagram and how users engage with content.

The average engagement rate on social media by industry.
Positioning
Once you’ve selected the social platforms you think are most relevant for your side hustle based on user numbers and engagement rates, consider how you will interact with your potential customers on them.
People use social networks for a whole range of reasons and your messaging needs to satisfy those needs to get noticed. The top five reasons for using social media sites below can shed some light on this topic.

The most common reasons people use social media.
Strategies
Now for the fun stuff! Below you’ll find the trending tactics we’re seeing side hustlers get success with on social media.
The Content That 92% of Your Customers Trust More
No matter what your side hustle is, every business can benefit from UGC (User-generated content). Whether you’re selling candles, smoked meats, dresses or furniture, user-generated content is a huge asset to your business when talking to your demographic in a personable and trustworthy way.
According to the Nielsen Consumer Trust Index, 92% of consumers on social media trust organic, user-generated content more than they trust traditional advertising. Gone are the days of pristine photoshoots with immaculate-looking product placement. Your customers want real, unfiltered images so they can make an informed decision of who they give their money to.
With over 46,000 Instagram posts uploaded each minute, 4.1 million YouTube videos watched every minute and 32 billion people accessing Facebook daily, UGC is a huge asset if leveraged properly.
UGC can save you from what content marketers consistently deem the greatest challenge when it comes to content marketing. The stress and struggle of creating and the financial pressure of doing so. PLUS, it boosts your credibility with customers, all while outsourcing content. Sounds like a win-win to us!
Whether you are a multimillion-dollar company or one that has just started out, finding opportunities for UGC should be high on your priority list. Although you are working on your side hustle, don’t be afraid to seek inspiration from bigger businesses. For example, 25% of search results for the world’s top 20 largest brands are linked to user-generated content.


You can also use UGC to improve your search engine rankings. If your customers are publishing content with your products, analyzing the most frequently used words and phrases can help you improve your keyword optimization strategy. Giving you valuable audience insights and a better understanding of what your customers find interesting.
If you want to up your UGC game, you can always invest in a visual content engine like Stackla. Stackla helps you discover, manage and publish UGC created by your audience across all your digital platforms. From ads to emails, social to websites, putting customer stories at the heart of your brand marketing. It’s a highly rated platform and you can schedule a personalized demo.
Further Reading:
- Ultimate Guide to User-Generated Content (Later) – User-generated content (UGC) is a killer asset for businesses looking to grow online and this article shares everything you need to know to get started with UGC.
- What is User-Generated Content? And Why is it Important? (Hootsuite) – User-generated content (UGC) is any content – text, videos, images, reviews, etc. – created by people, rather than brands.
Why Your Social Posts Should Be Longer
On social media, you may have noticed a rise in a content format known as long-form posts. Long-form content is pretty self-explanatory; it’s content that is longer in text than your typical post. Gone are the days of the short and snappy posts on social media; long-form is on the rise. But why?
There seem to be many perks when it comes to posting long-form posts and ads on social media. While in the past, marketers have stressed the importance of the less-is-more-mindset and letting images and videos speak for themselves, long-form posts offer a unique opportunity to engage with your audience on a deeper level.
Accompanied by supporting visuals, long-form posts allow you to get to the nitty-gritty of what you provide and how potential customers can benefit from your offer. All while offering testimonials and links in the one post. Sounds pretty good right?
Where’s the proof? Businesses have conducted surveys where everything was the same in each of the posts except the copy. Various Facebook ads were shown with copy being a variety of lengths. It was revealed that not only was the shorter copy one of the least preferable and got the worst CPA (cost per acquisition), but viewers preferred ads containing one, two and six paragraphs.
Long-form copy gives you room to explore more facets of your side hustle, increase engagement, and hopefully generate more click-throughs and conversions.

As you can see from the example above from Amanda Genther, her post ticks all the boxes on what makes a great long-form post.
- Get readers hooked with a one-sentence statement that can resonate with your ideal audience.
- Ask them questions throughout the long-form post. Get them thinking about what they would like to achieve and how you can help them.
- Use emojis as bullet points. It adds a bit of color to the text and allows the reader to take a break from reading sentences.
- Add a testimonial. Get a statement from a previous client that experienced success from one of your products or really liked a product they purchased.
- Give your audience the full scope of what you are offering. Tell them how your products can benefit their lives.
Here’s another example:

The Instagram Post Type Dubbed “The King”
Instagram is the world’s 4th most popular social media app with 1.393 billion users and counting. The total number of social media users is estimated to hit 4.4 billion by 2025.
Social marketers believe that Instagram is strategically the most important social media app when it comes to marketing influence. So we have a tip on how you can up your Instagram game for your side hustle!
Carousel Posts
Need something to freshen up your Instagram page? Well, a form of post that has been dubbed the “the king” on the platform, supercharging content and offering an increase in impressions is the carousel post.
What is a carousel post you may ask? It’s a post that has multiple photos or videos that can be viewed by swiping or clicking left. You can post up to 10 images or videos which can be uploaded onto a single post.
Carousels are proven to be a key in improving a brand’s Instagram success, and outperform most video content. This is because Instagram often re-serves carousels to followers who may not have engaged with your previous post the first time around.
Whether you are selling fashion, home decor, financial advice or food and beverages, carousels perform highly and in some cases surpass your standard photo post.
Check out some of the stats below to see how carousel posts are doing in certain industries.

Further Reading:
- Social Media Industry Benchmark Report (RivalIQ) – Social Media Benchmarks for 14 top industries on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Includes engagement rates, top hashtags, and more.
The Perfect Vertical Image Size on Pinterest
Moving away from Instagram let’s look at Pinterest. Pinterest has almost 460 million active users each month. 80% of weekly pinners say they discover new brands and products on Pinterest with 95% of top searches being unbranded.
Okay, so you may be thinking, “That’s cool and all but why should I care?”. Well, with 95% of top-hitting searches being unbranded it means Pinterests’ users are open to discovering new products and ideas without them being associated with a known business or brand. Pinterest users are more concerned with whether it aligns with their interests rather than being associated with a well-known company.
Vertical Images on Pinterest
Something that may seem simple but gets overlooked by many Pinterest users, is using vertical imagery. Vertical imagery allows your feed to look consistent in the recommended Pinterest format making it more visually compelling.
With 82% of users browsing Pinterest on their mobile, uploading imagery in a 2:3 (1000 x 1500 pixels) aspect ratio is highly recommended. This also means that your images won’t get awkwardly cropped when people are browsing as other ratios may cause your pin to truncate or negatively perform in reach.

Pinterest suggests the below when uploading your vertical imagery;
- Make your product or service the focal point. Put it front and center and avoid imagery that doesn’t showcase your brand.
- Always include your logo but keep it subtle, avoiding the lower-right hand corner as that can be covered by Pinterest’s icons.
- Add text overlay. Text overlay is copy that goes on your image to make it stand out. Keep it concise and readable for the mobile format. You can use up to 100 characters for your title and 500 for the description.
- Check your links. Make sure whatever you link to your pin is active and loads quickly. Make sure it matches your site’s topic and imagery.
How to Get 9x More Comments on Pinterest
So what else is working on Pinterest? Something called Idea Pins!
“What’s an Idea Pin?”, well, it’s a multi-page canvas that allows you to share ideas that last forever and help grow your audience.
Idea Pins were formally known as Story Pins and are best uploaded as a video. This post format helps you tell a story that can connect with your audience and one which will stand out on people’s search feeds. You will just need to make sure that you add text overlay to the video, so people who are watching without sound will still be able to understand what you are talking about.
To give you an idea of what they look like, Idea Pins are very much like what you would expect from a Reel on Instagram. They are easy to publish, professional-looking, saveable and create engaging content directly on the app. Not to mention they perform extremely well! Pinterest has found that Idea Pins have the ability to average 9x the comment rate of standard pins with some businesses experiencing up to 41x the saves from their usual standard pins.
See below the inspiration for Idea Pins from Evan Sharp, Co-Founder, Chief Design and Creative Officer of Pinterest:
“We believe the best inspiration comes from people who are fueled by their passions and want to bring positivity and creativity into the world. On Pinterest, anyone can inspire. From creators to hobbyists to publishers, Pinterest is a place where anyone can publish great ideas and discover inspiring content.
We have creators with extraordinary ideas on Pinterest, and with Idea Pins, creators are empowered to share their passions and inspire their audiences. By helping people on Pinterest spark creativity, try new things, build confidence, and be themselves, we believe creators are truly helping with our mission of bringing inspiration to create a life you love.”
Watch this video for more tips on creating Pinterest Idea Pins.
Further Reading:
- 23 Pinterest Statistics That Matter to Marketers (Hootsuite) – Here are the most important Pinterest statistics marketers need to know to plan and execute a successful Pinterest strategy for their brand.
Tool of the Week
Canva is an easy-to-use service that gives you tools to create elegant social and marketing collateral. Whether you are creating an Instagram post, want to upload your own imagery into a GIF or want to create business cards for your side hustle, Canva has a vast array of templates on offer. The best part about it is that you can use it for free!
There are certain perks that come with paying for a subscription, such as being able to create your own brand kit where you can select signature color schemes, fonts, and images. But there is a great deal you can do without spending any money.

Canva is also user-friendly so it won’t take you long to start creating your own marketing collateral, and, if you do need help, there are plenty of tutorials out there. It’s a great tool if you want to be thrifty and save yourself money instead of investing in a designer, plus, it can be lots of fun experimenting with what works.