Marketing your business without social media — is it possible to grow without Instagram?

Love It or List It is one of my favourite home renovation shows. 

If you aren’t familiar with it, the show centers around a homeowner whose home needs renovations and they aren’t sure if they want to renovate or find a new home instead. 

In the show, they do both. They spend a lot of money and time fixing up their home AND they look for a new house. 

At the end of the episode, the homeowner has to decide if they’ll “love it” or “list it.” 

I often wonder what I’d do in that kind of situation.

Would I want to give up a home that I’ve spent time & energy renovating so that I could find something that maybe suits my needs more?

Or, would I stay in my home now that it’s all fixed up?

This is exactly how I feel about Instagram right now.

I’ve been toying with the idea of focusing my marketing efforts elsewhere but wanted to give IG one last shot, so I enrolled in a course to help me improve my IG skills. 

And I am learning a lot and improving my IG—but, the IG algorithm is a pain in the 🍑. I’m continually battling the frustration of having posts I worked really hard to create get just a handful of views. 

I’m not the only one feeling this way—a lot of my clients are considering whether or not IG is worth it for their business. 

And given the news cycle lately, leaving honestly feels like a tempting treat for my nervous system. 

Here’s the real kicker for me… even though my reach is small, almost 95% of my business comes from Instagram. It would be kind of bonkers to leave. (Akin to moving away from a neighbourhood with good amenities even though it’s loud at night.) 

So, the question remains… 

Do I… 

Love it or leave it??

I’m probably going to stay (for now), but here’s what I would do if I was going to leave.

My Instagram Exit Strategy

Step One – Get my website locked and loaded. 

I built my own website and didn’t really take SEO into consideration during the process, beyond creating this blog. The first thing I’d do is either take a course or hire someone to help me rank on Google search for keywords related to my work.

I’d also spend a lot of time making sure that everything someone needs to know to work with me can be found easily on my website. 

Step Two – Set up a cool 9-grid as a placeholder on my IG account. 

I wouldn’t entirely abandon my IG account. I’d post a 9 grid to act as a signpost directing interested people to my website for more information.  A 9-grid is a series of 9 feed posts that create a big picture and provide information about you or your work if someone goes to IG to look for your account. 

Step Three – Amp up the blogging. 

(Or start a podcast/YouTube channel and share on my blog.) 

My blog would become my new content creation avenue. Using SEO keywords, I’d develop more blogs to answer common questions about my work. If I had time and capacity, I’d also possibly consider a podcast or YouTube channel for more discoverability. 

Step Four – Start pitching podcasts. 

Listen Notes is a great place to look for podcasts to pitch. I’d spend time crafting a good pitch that I could customize to the podcasts I’d like to be on. 

Step Five – Use Pinterest more.  

(If you found your way here via Pinterest—Hi! 👋 I guess it works!)

Pinterest isn’t social media, it’s a search and discover platform. I would use Pinterest to drive traffic to this blog. This is a long game but one that can absolutely work if I fully commit time and energy to doing it well. I would probably seek out some additional training or support with getting Pinterest right. 

Step Six – Up the ante on my newsletter. 

I’ve sent a weekly newsletter for a year now and it’s served my business extremely well. If I wasn’t on social media, I’d be doubling down on creating opt-ins, quizzes, and low-price point offers to grow my email list. 

Because… 

Step Seven  – Once I had a well-oiled, working funnel, I would possibly consider investing in Meta ads. 

One thing to consider is that Meta, as a whole, is a corrupt mega-corporation and the whole reason why IG sucks right now is because of their extractive goal of getting us to run ads instead of relying on the algorithm to get in front of ideal clients. The anti-capitalist in me cringes at the whole idea of paying them because they effed me over in the first place. KWIM?

That being said… ads can be a (sometimes pricey) way to grow an email list or sell a low-priced offer with much less effort than regular social media.

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After writing this out… I’ll admit, I’m feeling tempted again. 

I know it’s possible to leave social media and have a successful business.

But, I also know that it wouldn’t be any less work. 

It might even be more work, but it’s a different kind of creativity that exists outside of the fickle, frustrating, annoyances of social media, and for some people, that’s the best choice for their mental health. 

I’m curious… will you love it or leave it?

Check out the journaling prompts below to reflect on your current relationship with social media. Is it time to break up with Instagram?

• What do you love about social media? What frustrates you?
• How does it impact your mental health and business?
• If you could design your ideal social media experience, what would it look like?
• What’s one thing in your business you’re considering “loving” (keeping and improving) or “listing” (letting go of)?
• What’s holding you back from making a decision?
• What would it feel like to commit to one choice for the next 30 days?
• How does social media affect your nervous system (e.g. stress, overwhelm, joy)?
• What boundaries or rituals could you create to make your social media use more intentional and less draining?
• If you left social media, what would you miss? What would you gain?

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