That time I quit social media (and my business was fine): an in-depth guide
Let's talk about quitting social media as a business owner. And yes, I mean actually QUITTING AND NOT JUST TAKING A TWO WEEK BREAK. (*DEEP BREATHE TO CALM ONESELF*)
Thanks to a taste of being cyberstalked in my early 20's, I used social media pretty sporadically before starting my business.
But once I had started my business back in 2016, "being active on social media" was something that I focused on - it was a (if not the) major way to grow and build your business, right?
“In fact, is NOT using social media an option that anybody really discusses?”
(And I'm not referring to taking time away from social media, detoxes or breaks here. Those are GREAT, yes. But I'm referring to the option of your marketing strategy *not including social media if you don't want it to. *That's not an option that you typically hear around the interwebs.)
So I distinctly remember the moment that I found writer, author and entrepreneur Alex Franzen. And it wasn't just her simple teaching style and beautiful storytelling that drew me to her - it was the fact that, by choice, she didn't use social media in her business. Like, at all.
Five years ago, Alex deleted all of her social media profiles and embraced what she calls a "calmer, gentler way of doing marketing".
When I found her towards the end of my first year of my business, the fact that I could CHOOSE to use social media suddenly became an option.
Sidenote: Isn't it funny how we struggle to listen to our own advice? The Content Her Way philosophy is something that I've proudly taught (and always tried to walk) for YEARS, and yet, I struggled to listen to what I truly wanted content and marketing to look like for ME.
Note: I wrote this guide when I was running my content marketing business (which closed in 2022 when a fun marketing job came up). I decided to tweak this in-depth guide and keep it available just in case you’re a business owner looking for a social-media free life.
It’s totally possible by the way.
Keep reading to find out how :)
If you're a video fan, you can watch my quitting social media journey in the embedded video below.
Otherwise, keep scrolling because it's all written out for you 💃🏻
All social media is marketing, but not all marketing is social media.
It's sooo easy to forget that content marketing (and marketing in general) is so much more than just social media. Which means that:
“Social media is optional, not mandatory.”
And it's something that, as an experiment, I decided to opt-out of.
The (somewhat alarming) trigger
Throughout running my business, I'd taken (and encouraged my community and clients to take) extended breaks from social media, starting with social media free weekends and building up to 30+ day detoxes.
And while it certainly helped, coming back to social media after a break always felt like the first Monday morning when you get back from vacation: chaos, confusion, a million messages to get through, forgetting what the heck you're supposed to be doing with your life, and spending time booking and planning your next vacation rather than tackling your ginormous to-do list.
From these social media detoxes, I also noted that I feel waaay more creative + productive when social media isn't in the picture:
— I'm faster + more efficient with client work
— I have more brain space for creative projects
— I spend less time comparing myself to other people and more time staying in my own lane + getting better at what I do
— I sleep better
However, it wasn't until I did some maths that I realised (with horror), that if I continued on with my (then) current use of social media over the course of my lifetime, I'd have spent 10 years on social media over the course of my lifetime.
That included the time creating content and spending time on social media (aka scrolling), but still…
A DECADE OF MY LIFE.
SPENT ON SOCIAL MEDIA.
A DECADE.
And I honestly didn’t care if a good chunk of that time was for business purposes, spending a DECADE of my life on social media was NOT ok with me.
Opting out
Of course, "opting out" completely (like Alex did) is totally an option.
However, I do feel like there's a difference between the "social" social networks and the "search" social networks.
Let's be clear: I don't hate social media. I don't think it's evil.
But I also don't think that it's for everyone OR that’s is essential to your success as a business owner.
I think that if you categorise yourself as an "I'd rather not use social media and explore my other marketing options instead" type of person, then you should be able to craft your marketing + business + life in a way that supports your preference.
Whether that includes less social media, or none at all, is entirely up to you. (Or aaall the social media, if that's your jam.)
So, here's what "opting out" of social media looked like for me during my experiment:
No "social" social networks
AKA the networks that are literally designed to keep you addicted + coming back for more.
— Twitter
— Instagram (all parts of the app, including feed, Stories, Reels and live video)
— Facebook Business Page and my personal Facebook profile + newsfeed
(I don't really use them, but this category would also include things like: Snapchat, TikTok, Tumblr, etc.)
Limited use of "search" social networks
AKA the networks that function more like search engines than social networks.
— YouTube (including my channel and limited time to watch educational content - I learn best visually and heck, I still needed my BTS content!)
— Pinterest
(In a nutshell: These are the "traffic generating" networks that I wanted to focus on. Also, YouTube and Pinterest weren’t addictive for me and limiting my use works.)
Other "necessary" aspects
— Facebook Groups (for paid programs that I was a part of, groups I helped manage for clients + groups I managed/co-managed for my own programs at the time
(Note: This category looks different for everyone. For me, whilst I'd wanted to ditch Facebook entirely, Groups were a necessary part of my business at the time.)
“So, you quit social media?!
How’s it all going?”
Let's address some of the most common questions that I received ever since I announced that I was quitting social media.
If you're a video fan, you can watch my quitting social media Q&A in the embedded video below.
Otherwise, keep scrolling because it's all written out for you 💃🏻
1. What do you mean by "quit" social media?
Video timestamp 0:52
As I mentioned earlier, I like to differentiate between "social" and "search" social networks. So, for me, quitting looked like ditching the "social" social networks - including Twitter, Instagram and most aspects of Facebook.
Platforms like YouTube and Pinterest function more like search engines (rather than as a social network), so I used them deliberately and strategically to generate traffic to my website. (And so I could keep creating videos!)
2. Are you deleting all of your content and social media accounts?
Video timestamp 1:55
In a nutshell? No.
A lot of people use the search function within Instagram, Twitter and Facebook to find businesses and people - and I wanted them to be able to find something when they searched for me!
Basically, I kept my accounts up so that they acted as a virtual business card. So if someone happened to stumble across my account on Instagram, or hear my name mentioned on a video interview/podcast, they’d still be able to easily find me (no matter what platform they were searching on).
(Plus, considering that I’d already set these social platforms up, and had been producing content for them for 4+ years, it didn't really make sense to delete all of that content.)
(When I closed my business in 2022, I did end up deleting my Facebook Page and also deleted all my old Instagram content. I now use my Instagram for personal branding and updates.)
For all of the accounts that I wasn’t actively using (and I'd highly, highly recommend that you do this too), I had a note in my bio and a post pinned that basically said, "Hey, I'm no longer here. I'm trying an experiment where I'm quitting social media. Here's where you can find me..." and then had links to my website or to subscribe to my newsletter at the time.
I highly suggest that you do something like this to give people an easy next step.
If they've just stumbled across you, fallen in love with your content, and then the first thing that they see is, "Oh, by the way, I'm not actually here"… instead of feeling crushing disappointment, they now have a next step!
3. Is quitting social media a permanent thing?
Video timestamp 3:35
This question relates to the difference between taking a break and quitting social media, and it's a really important distinction to make here.
So, let’s take a step back for a sec and cover that, shall we?
Taking a break from social media has enormous benefits.
Whether it’s taking the weekend off of social media, a week off, or a 30+ day detox, you’ll notice changes in how you feel mentally, along with increased clarity, saved time (no more mindless scrolling!) and extra brain space for creative ideas.
All good things!
However, there’s a really big difference between taking a break and quitting social media entirely.
Especially as it relates to your long-term marketing strategy and what it actually means for your business.
Obviously, if you were to just up and quit social media without having alternative marketing activities in place, that would have a HUGE impact on your business. I’m talking: a massive reduction in traffic, decreased newsletter subscriptions, not to mention the impact on sales of your products and services!
So, back to the original question: is quitting social media a permanent thing?
Yeah. As permanent as anything is in online business and online marketing.
(Turns out, I stayed off of social media until my business closed in 2022 so that I could pursue a fun marketing job that popped up.)
I really wanted to experiment with and explore different marketing options OUTSIDE of social media. And my goal was really to show you that:
If you want to quit social media as a small business owner, you totally can. And,
That you get to decide what “quitting” looks like for you.
4. How did your audience react after you quit social media?
Video timestamp 5:41
This one was really interesting! After the initial surprise and the realisation that I meant a permanent quitting of social media (and not just taking another detox), most people were really supportive and excited to see where this experiment would go.
The other thing that's really cool was that I had people email me back and say, “Ok, cool. So I'll see you on YouTube and Pinterest then!”
What I really love about this is that it’s another reminder that:
“Your ideal client and audience will meet you where you are.”
Whether that's on social media, your newsletter or some other form of marketing channel, your audience is going to find and support you.
The old days of the one “perfect” social media platform is well and truly over.
5. How is it all going so far?
Video timestamp 6:29
Really good.
(I'm tempted to just leave the question there and move on 😂)
I think the biggest thing for me was something Alex Franzen shared in a Marketing Without Social Media workshop: that you don't realise how much space social media is taking up in your head until you quit.
It’s like when you have a fridge or a piece of technology (that's old and on the way out) that creates a non-stop, low humming sound. And, over time, it gets to the point where you get so used to it that you don't even notice the sound anymore. That is, until you finally get around to getting your fridge/whatever fixed, the sound goes away and you just sit there and it's like...
Total.
Silence.
That's exactly what quitting social media feels like.
6. What about connections and community? Are you missing out because you're not on social media?
Video timestamp 7:32
If you've been around for a while, you know that I love consuming content, not just creating it. And that a lot of the content that I showcase in the content roundups is either found on socials, or from people talking about it on social media.
However, one of the HARDEST things about quitting social media was definitely the not-feeling-like-I-can-keep-up-with-people-as-much feeling. Not to mention the FOMO about all of the awesome projects and things that everyone was working on!
It definitely took some time to adjust and adapt. But I don't think that was necessarily a bad thing to now have to think:
“Ok, how am I actually going to purposefully and intentionally keep up with people? How am I going to intentionally build connections and continue to keep relationships going?”
And I don't think that you need social media in order to build connections and community.
Does social media make it a lot easier? Yes, of course!
But I think that there's other ways that you can do it too.
Have you noticed that when you're in almost constant contact with people on social media, you tend to not actually ask them how they're going or what they're working on? That you mostly just rely on what they're sharing publicly on a social network?
What I found when I quit social media was that because I didn't have that constant backstory, I had to intentionally reach out to people and ask, "Hey, what are you working on right now?" or "How did this project/launch go?".
“I don’t think that quitting social media means that all of your connections and community are going to vanish.
It just means that you have to adapt + change and find other ways to intentionally keep up with those connections.”
7. How are you going to market your business if you are not using social media?
Video timestamp 9:39
As mentioned earlier, the thing to remember here is that all social media is marketing, but not all marketing is social media.
But I'm also not going to pretend that I have all the answers. Marketing my business without social media was an experiment. I took the time to find what made the most sense for me with the results that I wanted to achieve in my business.
The main thing to remember here is that if you're going to reduce how you use social media (or if you're going to quit it entirely) you need to have a plan.
I prepared to go social media free.
I didn't just decide one day that I was going to quit, and peace out, never to be seen again. I took time to actually create a plan:
— Looked at entrepreneurs and other business owners who didn't use social media
— Read, researched, took different workshops and webinar trainings to explore the different marketing options available
— Researched how Pinterest and YouTube can be used as traffic generating sources for my website
I only quit after I'd done all of that preparation.
“If you’re changing any major aspect of your business, pivoting, changing, or adapting in any way, you really need to have a plan in place.”
My email newsletter was a major part of my marketing efforts. I also used YouTube and Pinterest as traffic generating and marketing channels. And then I kept exploring other options (like the ones Alex Franzen covers in her Marketing Ideas workbook).
8. Why quit and not just automate or outsource social media?
Video timestamp 11:52
You totally can automate your social media or hire it out if that's what you want to do.
However, I find that when I take this approach, even though it's not technically still on my plate, I feel the mental weight of it. And I also feel, as a content strategist and copywriter, it's still my responsibility to create that content.
In other words, automation or hiring it out doesn’t stop the low, humming sound (like the broken fridge) in my brain. It just dulls it slightly.
Like Ash Ambirge of The Middle Finger Project wrote:
“That’s one of the problems with Facebook: you’re never alone — at least not mentally... They aren’t mirages! They are there, waiting for you. Forever.
Until…
the..end…
of…
time.”
The other idea that Ash touched on, which I thought was super interesting, is this argument around engagement and how “important” it is for our businesses. (Lots to think about + unpack there!) Ash wrote:
“Engagement is a pseudo form of leadership that is too easily mistaken for mattering.”
Plus. I decided to quit social media entirely and not just automate or outsource it because I wanted to prove that it can be done.
Quitting social media can be more than a clickbait declaration.
Quitting, adjusting, reducing and rethinking your use of social media is an adult + smart business decision.
And it's one that you have the CHOICE to make yourself.
You can choose to use social media, or not.
You can choose to experiment + change your mind + adjust + adapt + grow. Or not.
You can choose to run your business in a certain way, or not.
The choice is entirely up to you.
IF YOU LOVED THIS IN-DEPTH GUIDE, YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE THE Planner collection!
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