We quit social for 21 days…this is what happened

In 2022, can you still build a brand without social media?

Last month, we decided to put it to the test. Along with a dozen BTC members, we did not use our social channels for brand-building activities for 21 days.

Why are people and brands quitting social media?

We all had different reasons why we needed a social detox:

We’re alarmed about the ethics of the companies behind the channels, on issues of privacy and mental health.

We’re wondering… are we on social because it’s the norm, or is it effective to grow our audience?

It is increasingly difficult to stand out as a small brand.

So many channels, so little time ..☹️

Algorithms have killed organic reach, so without a budget, you are up against big odds.

We’re tenants on rented land - it’s a huge investment of time to build an audience, but you can’t take it with you elsewhere.

Over the past few years, we've scaled back. We've thought about quitting altogether.

But we are all kind of trapped in it. You have to be seen, you have to stay part of the conversation. Or... is there another way?

We went to find out. 

How can you quit social media? 🤔

As a group, we committed to not using social media for brand building for a test period of 21 days. Too short to be threatening, too long to be a blip. 

But this was not just about staying away from social. It was about actively looking for brand-building alternatives. 

For 21 days we explored a dozen other brand-building and marketing strategies together.

At the kickoff, we dove into our alternative options, and we all decided on two to three to try out for ourselves.

We used the 21 days to pursue those strategies. Each 5-6 days we checked in to see how all of us were doing, to compare notes, and to hold each other accountable to getting stuff done. 

Some of us took the challenge to mean that we don’t post on social, but we still scroll through newsfeeds or do research for clients, or use it to DM to contact people on LinkedIn or respond to customer requests on Insta. 

Some took the challenge all the way, shutting it down completely for both work and private.

What are alternatives to social media marketing?

Once you wake up from the social media haze, you realize that there are all these other marketing channels that you overlooked, forgot about, or ignored.

Experts like Frances Khalastchi and Simon Batchelar from the Better Bolder Braver marketing community for coaches joined us to share some of their strategies. 

These were the brand-building and marketing alternatives to social media that we explored:

Referrals
We asked people to introduce us to their connections. People who understand what you offer, the value you bring and who can vouch for you. You could choose to offer a financial incentive to refer a new customer.

In-person marketing
We spoke to people face to face. This gives you the ability to clearly and confidently explain who you are, what you do, and why it matters. This can be as simple as setting up a table with your new line of cupcakes on the street. Smoothie brand Innocent famously started with a smoothie stand at a music festival and asked people to toss their cups into one of two buckets - keep your day job, or start a smoothie company. 

When meeting potential customers in person, use humor and be genuinely interested in listening to people. Going for the hard sell puts people off. 

Affiliate programs
Asking your existing customers or connections to refer you to someone they think would be interested in your product/services. Be bold and ask for concrete action, like an email introduction. Provide an example to save them time and get the kind of recommendation you need. 

Build out your online home - your website.
Finally, work on getting lots of social proof. Ask happy customers to create (video) testimonials.

Public speaking
This is a great way to showcase your thought leadership and increase credibility for your work. There are a ton of online events and podcasts these days. Be careful not to waste your time. Go after the ones where the audience is a direct fit for you - whether smaller or larger. Quality counts. Gautam Shah, founder of Internet of Elephants says: “I only attend conferences if I can speak at them. When I speak, everyone in the room has already heard my story, and it’s much easier to meet the people I want to meet afterward.” 

(Zoom) coffees.
Offer a free discovery session to prospective customers who land on your site, or reach out to people directly to customers on your wish list. For tips on how to ask for help, designing your life. The aim is to build rapport, understand their problems or pains, and how possibly your product/service can make a difference in their lives.

Community engagement
Build your brand together with a small group of like-minded people. It can be as simple as starting a WhatsApp group with a few first fans. Build your product or service as a prototype and get people involved in improving and promoting it. 

Swaps
Certain promotional techniques don’t cost a thing. Like requesting an ad swap on another podcast, or advertising an online game within another game. 

Publicity
If you work in a niche, there will probably be a publication that tailors to readers that fit exactly your customer profile. Indie font designers? Family-owned businesses? There are mags for them all. Get yourself on that page, either through a compelling story, a small ad, or classified. 

Partnerships
Invest time to identify a good fit to partner with. If you are a brand designer, teaming up with a brand-namer is a great way to get exposure to new clients and help you spread the word. 

SEO
Your website is your digital home base: with the right content, search brings in people who are looking for the solutions you offer. You can offer a space for conversations on your blog. SEO is a skill though and takes time to master. NB: if you want to be independent of big tech, this solution just creates another reliance. 

What we learned about quitting social

It gave us lots of time back. 

Wanjiru Gathanga: “The time we took away from social gave us the breathing space we needed to really think through our affiliate marketing plan, which was on the blacklist for so long.”

Saskia de Feijter: “If you have the time to do it there is no harm in doing it - if you also have the time to get the customers. But if social media doesn't get you those customers, then social media is a danger. We overvalue the use of social media for sales.”

Pressure shifted. 

Anne Miltenburg: “We always talk about how social media produces anxiety, but creating brand ambassadors and asking someone directly to promote you is much scarier. Even though social feels like putting yourself out there, maybe compared to other marketing tactics it’s actually a bit of a cop-out.”

It made us more strategic and creative. 

Anna Zgadzaj: “As someone who started in marketing before there was social media, I see it now as a kind of lazy marketing. There are so many channels and tactics we seem to have forgotten.”

Sandra de Jong: “We need autonomous places where we control our content. It's tempting to succumb to the convenience of social media. Just a quick post, briefly enjoying the possible likes and flop, on to the next. Offer options for engagement on your site, for instance: comments to blog posts.” Read Sandra’s blog on autonomous marketing tips (in Dutch, worth turning on translation).

Anna Zgadzaj: “Everyone is using social media as a distribution channel, but it used to be called social networking. We should go back to networking more.” 

We got realistic. 

Maja Grcic: I embraced the notion: "If you don’t have time to do it right, what makes you think you’ll have time to do it over?" - Seth Godin

Saskia de Feijter: “how many customers do you need to thrive?”  

Say you are a coach, and you need 50 clients a year to sustain your business. If you need all of those clients to come through social, do the math. How many followers would you need in order to get to 50 clients? How much time would that take compared to other channels?

Anna Zgadzaj: “My clients are in the wellness space. Instagram is really important in that space. So as much as I would like to quit Insta personally, I have to stay tuned professionally.”

Ioanna Serafeimidou “You still use social media for listening to what people are interested in, and where trends are headed.”

We missed sharing. 

Sandra: “I love sharing news about things that I care about.”

Anne Miltenburg: “We don’t do much on Instagram, but when we do use it, we connect with community members in a different way. What I miss most is Linkedin: I use it constantly for finding and hiring expertise and new talent.”

We got some sales

Because we focussed on other channels that are potentially more directly related to sales, most of us got sales and leads through the 12+ alternatives that we otherwise would not have had. 

This brings us to the big question we asked ourselves at the start of all of this:

Can you build a brand without social media?

As with so many interesting questions, the answer is not a simple yes or a no. 

It depends on your industry, your audience, and the avenues to reach them that are available to you. 

Businesses that need to educate their audiences before they sell do really well on social media. 

Many of us felt that the time we took away from social gave us the little bit of breathing space we needed to really think through our marketing strategy, which was on the blacklist for so long.

We realized how important it is to see social as a compliment to other activities rather than the main thing, or the first go-to.

Social can be very useful for brand awareness: to stay on people’s radar and to learn from your audience. But for many of us, it’s not such a good conversion channel.

A full retreat from social might not be needed, if every now and then we tune it down to create space for strategy. And if we make structural time for the alternative channels. 

And, very sobering, we realised that escaping the grip of big tech is almost impossible unless you go completely offline. 

What’s next? Are we staying off social?

Every challenge participant came away with their own conclusions and next steps. 

For the Brand The Change team, we are back with a healthier approach to social. 

We loved the time we saved, but we also missed sharing our work with the world. 

A more mindful approach to social is in order. 

Avoid busy work and always always always first make time for a good marketing strategy. 

Think about your channel mix: make sure you have a healthy percentage of time and resources allocated to the other, often overlooked channels that can give you a much higher conversion rate.

Don’t overspread. Avoid overcommitting yourself. Where are the people you want to reach? Choose one channel, set a realistic posting schedule, and evaluate regularly how much time you invest, and what you get out of it. 

Be realistic about what you can achieve with the resources you have.

Do you question the way brand and marketing are done and are you looking for fresh new ideas? Would you like to work on your brand-building skills with other brand builders? Join the BTC community.

Coming this January: the 21-day Personal Branding Challenge. Sign up for the newsletter to get an invite!