Fifty ways to market your work outside of social media
Sure, we have to break free from the algorithm, but what are the alternatives?
It's been almost three years since Lush dropped not a bath bomb, but a truth bomb, leaving major social media platforms to fight for change. And guess what? They're doing just fine!
Despite industry scepticism, they stood strong, focusing on engaging their audience through in-person events and maintaining their presence on Pinterest (a social media, albeit a less exploitative one). They showed us that you don't need to make socials your focus to grow a business with integrity. They chose integrity over convenience, and so far it seems to be paying off.
Why should you care?
Because the story of Lush shows how cutting back on the mainstream content marketing circus doesn’t mean failure. Done carefully, that transition can lead to long-term gains and deeper connections with the people who actually buy from your brand. That’s why, inspired by this iconic blog post by Amelia Hruby, I've compiled my own list of ways to market your work outside of social media. 50 ideas to make the people who buy from you actually remember your name and not just your obsessively curated Instagram profile.
The goal here isn’t to make you think of social media in any specific way, or to get you off of it. Most won't. I won't just yet—(update: I did leave Instagram and am carefully considering my presence on Subtask!). But precisely for that reason, shouldn’t we break loose from its grip? Trial alternatives? Explore ways that better serve us, our team, and our customers?
Just gimme the list
Remember the 4 Ps of marketing. Product, price, place, and promotion. The last is only one of the ingredients. You can’t make a cake with butter alone.
Invite someone you admire for a coffee
Host a workshop at your favourite local spot
Put together a showreel of your best work or customer testimonials
Give your clients something back if they introduce you to a new business
Create or update your website
Rent a page on your website to other small businesses
Make a PDF portfolio. Include a maximum of 5 projects, keep it short and sweet
Launch a course on a platform like Kajabi or Thinkfic
Ask a friend to share your work with their peers
Leave reviews for businesses and freelancers you love
Ask a shop if you can leave business cards by their till or put a flyer in their window
Ask clients and past colleagues to leave you testimonials
Join a coworking space
Hang out at a local café/coffee shop and make friends with the folks who work there
Host a coworking or body-doubling meetup
Set up a booking link with a service like Cal.com, so people can easily schedule time to chat when your calendar is free
Invest in a session with a business coach you respect
Write an article that links to your business and pitch it to a trade magazine editor
Record a podcast series
Improve your site’s accessibility to boost SEO and allow everyone (including people with disabilities) to consider your services
Keep an eye on news, work opportunities, and events from your University’s alumni department
Livestream your work process on Substack, Twitch or YouTube (okay, this might require a level of social media use)
Reach out to people who do very similar work to you and see if you can collaborate on something
Make a playlist
Launch a Telegram Broadcast and share resources, memes, or words of motivation with your audience
Print branded stickers and stick them all over town
Ask a retail media agency to put your ad in shopping trolleys across selected stores.
Open a Discord and invite your community to join you there
Write an article about your work and pitch it to a local publication
Place an ad inside a taxi
Place an ad on a bus stop
Offer your services or product to someone you admire in exchange for something they can do for you (other than money)
Practice telling people who you are and what you do
Put all your info and links in your email signature
Reflect on what made you start your business in the first place
Show up for a community gathering at your local bookshop, library, or literally anywhere else in your town
Send postcards to people that want to follow your travels (if you travel a lot)
Share some of your photos, sounds, or words with a royalty free license so others can reuse them.
Practice writing to your ideal client. Talk to them as if they were in front of you and as if they were one of your friends (some call this exercise building a brand voice)
Sponsor a pub quiz and offer a branded prize
Start an email newsletter
Write a nurturing campaign to welcome new signups to your email list
Ask a photographer you love to take new headshots or promo photos for you
Write and print a zine about a topic related to your work
Go into an independent store and ask the owner if they would consider selling your work/product
Create a free resource and sponsor a podcast to share it for you (helps you reach new folks)
Repurpose behind the scenes material into resources you can offer to patrons in exchange for a monthly fee (e.g. on Patreon)
Rent a booth at a local trade show or craft fair
Join a business directory
Take a walk and look around
Actually listen and respond to people engaging with your stuff!
And that's all. You just got 52 entries for the price of 50!
Thanks for reading 🌼 If you're enjoying this so far, consider subscribing. Your support motivates me to keep writing and helps Not Bad reach new readers.
Thank… but which of these will actually work?
It depends. I know that's probably not the answer you wanted.
There’s no one size fits all. Your business location, experience, industry, niche, and don’t forget your resources, are ultimately the factors that'll determine which non-social media marketing approaches will work best for you.
My unsolicited advice?
Measure your current results so you know where your sales are coming from and where you should be spending your time.
Run small-scale experiments for any new marketing approach you feel confident in. Analyse the return on investment and you customers’ feedback. This data is extremely valuable. Use it to craft a solid plan.
Don’t cram all your eggs into one basket. Spread a handful of those babies around (in moderation) and patiently watch them hatch.
We've been sleeping on the old-school marketing playbook. Outdoor adverts, non-spammy emails, sponsored events, physical mailers, and good press - they're all making a comeback. While sometimes pricier than social campaigns, these aren't just accessories but heavy lifters for your repeated exposure (hello, rule of 7).
Ditch that perfect-on-the-first-try expectation. You can't predict every twist and turn your audience will take, no matter how hard we squint at our crystal balls or our AI Oracle of Delphi. Embrace the beautiful chaos, for how challenging that feels. Trial and error and trial and error. Because you're not going to get it right on your first try, and trust me that is fine.
PS
A big shout out to Amelia and her Off The Grid podcast. She's been doing the heavy lifting for years, spreading the word about growing businesses off the clutches of social media.
Feel free to raid my list for inspiration and let me know if you gave any of the ideas a go and how it went.
Made notes because some of these are excellent for introverts.😊👏
UHM love this. Wow. Thank you for the “gimme the list” section. My attention span thanks you.