Is it possible to grow your business without social media?
Plus questions to help you explore your next digital moves
Hi! I’m Matilda Lucy, an independent Digital Strategist supporting brands to think critically about what successful growth means today and how to achieve it via content and marketing consultancy. If you’re interested in working 1:1 to explore what your alternative growth ecosystem could look like, check out the Anti Social Growth Audit.
It feels increasingly difficult to avert my eyes from the damage social media is doing to us as humans.
Last year the US surgeon general warned social media companies of the the physical health risks of social media:
“Social media can present a real risk to the mental health of children and teenagers because of the ways their brains are affected by the amount of time they spend using it, the U.S. surgeon general warns in a new advisory released Tuesday.
"Teens who use social media for more than three hours a day face double the risk of depression and anxiety symptoms, which is particularly concerning given that the average amount of time that kids use social media is 3 1/2 hours a day," the Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy told Morning Edition host Steve Inskeep.
And of course, it’s not just teenagers who are suffering.
Adults spend an average of 2-3 hours per day on social platforms (SmartInsights 2024). That’s between 30 and 45 full days per year scrolling social media. Yiiiikes.
It’s no wonder these apps are a playground for brands looking to grow. Millions of eyeballs on my brand extremely cheaply? Yes plz! It seems almost impossible to imagine growing a successful business online without these channels.
But social media platforms have trained brands to be thirsty for metrics that aren’t always of real value because it’s in their interest to give the impression of continuous growth. You have 500k followers on Instagram! But an awful conversion rate. You have had 1.2 mil views on your video! But struggle to turn one-time customers into anything more. Your revenue is up 15% month on month! But you’re entirely dependent on the Meta ad algorithm for sales.
This heady concoction of:
damaging users’ health + increasingly murky waters for brands
begs the question: what would it look like to grow in other ways online?
In my experience, you can grow a successful business without social media if you want to. It is that simple. It will be slower and involve lots of experimentation but there are other paths to take. The most obvious digital places to play are:
Your website
Newsletters
Email flows
Closed communities
Podcasts
Creator partnerships that go beyond social media
While none of these spaces can compete with social media on the volume of people who will see your content, each space provides an opportunity to forge a deeper connection with every person you interact with. Less broadcasting and more conversations.
If you’re questioning whether to move away from depending heavily on socials the first question to answer is: what is the purpose of your business being online?
Here are six prompts to help you think through the current state and value of your social media activity:
What is the purpose of your activity on each social media channel? Does this match with the results you’re seeing e.g. TikTok is for reaching new people
Do you feel overly reliant on social media marketing? What if all your accounts were blocked tomorrow?
Where does your ideal audience spend their time online?
Do you enjoy creating content for all the channels you’re on?
Which social media channel would you keep if you could only use one? What would be the impact?
Are there ways you can look to your existing community and customers for growth rather than searching for more and more new people?
Summer is a great time to play and experiment in business with people spending less time online. Even if bowing out of social media altogether is wishful thinking for now, you could test reallocating a slice of resources elsewhere.
It’s easy to feel like your business is bound to social media channels that offer huge reach to new people. This is your reminder to question whether huge reach to new people is the most useful thing for you right now.
If you’re experimenting in reducing your business’ social media dependency I would love to hear how it’s going. If you want to chat through what your options would look like I’d love to help you work through that!
Speak soon :)
Matilda
We’ve been conditioned to believe that, to be successful, you have to be on social media. And when you’re there, all you see are people who seem successful because of social media. But it’s just an echo chamber.
There are plenty of successful artists, musicians, creators, and writers who thrive without social media—you just don’t hear about them on social media.
We discovered art, listened to new music, and read life-changing books long before social media existed. Those ways of connecting are still available to us.
This is a great post, totally bookmarking to share. I took my art and business off of social media in January and haven’t gone back. Building a newsletter list, cultivating real life connections, and maintaining quality relationships over the last 10 years in business are what I’m leaning on for support and while I’m not as visible to as many new people or getting flooded with validation and happy dopamine regularly it’s staying steady and my mental health and creativity have truly improved which is most important :)