Is social media necessary for business growth?

Over the last few years I've seen a lot of people asking how to build a business without social media. 

I absolutely see the appeal. Social media can be an ugly and/or triggering place. It can feel like your efforts aren't always getting the results you're hoping for. And still, social media is the kind of tool that business owners would have dreamt of having in the past. So before you write off social media altogether, here are a few thoughts to help you think through the value of social media marketing for your own business.

1. Social media is first and foremost a place to connect with people and have a conversation.

If you don't want to engage in conversation and/or possibly risk people disagreeing with you, social media might not be for you. Alternatively, you might want to focus on visibility block clearing to heal old wounds associated with how you use your voice and/or handle disagreement. After that, you'll may well feel differently about social media and at the very least, will be able to make a decision around social media that's based on what you're moving toward as opposed to what you're trying to avoid. 

If you're connected to the wrong people on socials, the experience you're having there might be far worse than it needs to be. Perhaps it's time to remove people who really aren't ideal community members. 

Social media is like any other marketing channel; you need to invest time in understanding how it works and how to best leverage your time and effort there. If you haven't made that commitment, it's easy to conclude that social media doesn't work, which isn't actually an objective truth.

2. Because social media is about conversation, it's an excellent place to test your message and refine your voice.

If you haven't nailed your message and brand vibe, social media gives you the chance to experiment in a very low risk way. You get the huge benefit of knowing very quickly whether something you're sharing either hits home with others, or is something they just aren't interested in. That kind of information is invaluable to you and your business. 

Thinking about social media as a testing ground for your message and voice can be a good mental shift to make when it comes deciding how and why to show up.

3. Social media is just one component of your visibility ecosystem.

Unfortunately, social media is often sold as your silver bullet. The message being something like, 'Master this aspect of socials and all your marketing problems will be solved.'

Moment of truth; there is no silver bullet in business and putting all of your eggs in one basket is risky. When you start thinking of social media as just one part of your visibility ecosystem, you put it in its proper place; a space of engagement and connection first and foremost.

4. A good number of people teaching or talking about marketing off social media, built their businesses on social media.

There seems to be a trend online at the moment to ask people who built their businesses off the back of social media, a question that they may not be qualified to answer. Namely; how to build a business from scratch without social media. So first and foremost, be alert to who you're asking for advice on these things.

Some people have built their businesses on social media, then because they have used that time wisely and have their marketing so dialled in, they no longer need social media. That doesn't mean you won't benefit from using social media to learn these things and to benefit from the kind of engagement social media offers. 

Additionally, a good many other people have built successful businesses off the back of traditional media. In truth, it's a rare business that hasn't benefitted from some sort of media to increase awareness about their brand. 

This isn't to say that there aren't lots of ways to market without social media. There are. It's also not to say that people who've built their businesses off the back of social media, don't also have expertise in non-social media marketing. It's about being aware of why you're asking the question in the first place and to whom.

5. Social media doesn't have to take up all your time.

People will have you think that you have to be on socials multiple times a day to make your time there worthwhile. If the only place you're building your business is on social media, that may be true. If you're building a visibility ecosystem however, then it's far better to create 2 pieces of very useful and targeted content each week than to pop content into your feed everyday that's bland, unmemorable or not useful to your community.

In other words, sometimes the problem isn't social media per se, it's how you're using social media. 

6. If what you're looking for is a different way of marketing, then remember, at its core, marketing is really just communicating and connecting.

Everyone has a preferred way of communicating and connecting. Social media platforms absolutely preference certain forms of communication. And still, there are myriad ways to communicate on socials, limited only by your creativity.

Social media may pose an excellent opportunity for your business or may be a waste of time. Before you know that, it's important to be clear on where its value lies and how it could benefit you. Then, you can choose to use it, or not.