Marketing your business WITHOUT Social Media
The landscape of social media is rapidly changing. This isn’t new, it’s always been an evolving Pokemon-esque beast of a thing. But lately, people appear to be consciously moving away from it.
I was an early user of Instagram. I fondly remember being excited when new filters were released, and joining IRL meet-ups for other enthusiasts (I even hosted a few Instameets). But gone are the days when social media was genuinely social.
Especially since Meta decided to remove fact-checking, Facebook and Instagram are even less safe spaces for LGBTQIA++ people, so it’s understandable that there’s been quite an exodus.
Policies aside, the organic reach has been decreasing for a while. This has left many small business owners feeling pretty frustrated, and some are choosing to step away entirely. People are increasingly prioritising platforms that align with their expectations for content moderation and community standards.
I’m not a marketing expert - I have however done a lot of DIY marketing for my own business, and I’ve listened to a lot of very clever people. Personally, I’ve been focussing more on growing & nurturing my email list. But here are a bunch of other strategies that are useful if you want to ditch social media for your business promo:
Ways to market your business without social media
Email marketing
SEO & Blogging
Community building
Referral & Affiliate Marketing
Static presence on Social Media (e.g. a 9-grid on Instagram)
Free resources
Brook from Hustle & Heart’s guide to marketing without social media
The Reinvention Booked solid bootcamp
Ingrid from Penguin Designing 6 Proven email marketing frameworks
Kate - Success with Soul Free 4 day challenge going Social Free
Lindsay AKA the Radical Connector has so many great resources both free and paid
Hollie from Maker & Moxie 9 Ways to Reach Your Audience Other Than Social Media
Kate from Out of Office Biz’s video A Digital Disruption
Paid resources
Lisa at Wild Mustard: Monthly Membership on email marketing for Klaviyo users with eCommerce businesses
Beyond the Scroll static grid templates give you a way to still be present on the platform but no longer active
Michelle’s Social Sabbatical - a private podcast documenting her 90 days away from social media
Jessica’s Blogging Blueprint
Amber’s algorithm pity party
Rebecca Tracey’s Uncage your Business course
Stacey’s Stop the Scroll training
Tad from Marketing for Hippies has great resources about connecting with the right people (includes some free options)
Sticking with it
If you’ve read this far and thought… hmm that feels too hard (I hear you), and you do want to stick with social media... That’s great. You do you boo. Here are some social media experts I know/like/trust who can help you!
Hanna https://hannarauch.com/
Jodine https://www.socialsmarty.co/
TL;DR
I know I’m a broken record, but as with anything in business, there is no one-size-fits-all cookie-cutter drag-and-drop approach to running your business.
If you want to stick with social media, go for it.
If you don’t, check out some of the resources linked above and give them a go. Or write a blog post about why you don’t want to use social media anymore, to highlight your values and get some Google juices flowing!
I’d love to know your thoughts on all of this! Feel free to email me anytime.